With stress being an almost constant, destructive part of our lives, it has become extremely important to make relaxation an equally important one. Stress associated with our everyday lives can lead to physical and mental problems ranging from headaches and colds to heart attacks and high blood pressure.
Learning and practicing a few relaxation techniques on a daily basis can help you lead a life that is healthy and stress free. Students, professionals, homemakers and business owners; everyone can enjoy the benefits of relaxation techniques. A few relaxation techniques that are easy to learn, are risk free and can be done anywhere and everywhere, follow. The aim of these relaxation techniques is to increase the practitioner's awareness of his or her own body and to refocus the attention to calming thoughts and ideas
Progressive Muscle Relaxation Technique: Progressive muscle relaxation is carried out by slowly tensing and relaxing one muscle group after the other. To practice, one starts by tensing the muscles of the toes and then consciously relaxing them as much one can. Tense muscles as much as you can and hold for five seconds, relax them for 30 seconds and then repeat the process. Progressively keep on tensing and relaxing muscles of different parts of the body till you reach the neck and then the head. This technique focuses on relaxation by helping users recognise the difference between tense and relaxed states.
Autogenic Relaxation Technique: This relaxation technique is called autogenic because it leads to calming through ideas and thoughts that come from within the person practicing this technique. Both bodily awareness and visual imagination are used to reduce physical and mental tension. To practice, imagine being at a peaceful place like the beach or an open garden, and concentrate on breathing slowly, thus bringing down the heart rate. You can also keep repeating a mantra like "relax", "calm" or "chill" in your mind, or focus on relaxing each part of the body one by one. Imagine the tension leaving each part of your body as you slowly breathe out.
Visualisation: Visualisation is a relaxation technique where one visualises being in a peaceful or calming situation, which is far away from the current situation which is stressing out the practitioner. Close your eyes and imagine yourself sitting amidst the sea gulls on a beach or sleeping in your bed. The more senses you use – sight, sound, smell and touch – the more you will benefit from visualisation. You can imagine smelling the flowers in a garden or listening to the sound of a brook flowing nearby. While you can practice visualisation almost anywhere, it is best done at a calm and quiet spot.
These relaxation techniques will help you tackle stress and its symptoms by lowering blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. They will also help in reducing muscle tension, frustration, anger and other negative effects of stress that take a toll on your health. Practicing these relaxation techniques can help one de-stress and avoid illnesses and tension related ailments.
Apart from these, rhythmic exercises like walking, jogging, swimming or cycling; yoga, tai chi and other sport forms are also good means of relaxing the body as well as the mind. Massage and meditation are also great ways of relaxing but they might take more time than you have when you need an instant fix of stress relief. You can reap not just instant, but lifelong benefits of these relaxation techniques and exercises by practicing them on a daily basis. Taking time out on a regular basis every day for relaxation will help keep you grounded, happy and healthy, and save you from the adverse effects of the stresses and tensions of modern life.
Note: Please consult your Doctor for more details and guidance. This is just for the general awareness of the readers
Best Regards
Prakash Nair
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