Stress is the curse of living in modern times. Everyone suffers from stress. And the stress we suffer takes a heavy toll on our bodies, emotions and minds.
Feeling stressed out, worn out by fatigue or just simply having a miserable day, the best thing to do is relax.
Watching television may be a form of relaxation for some, but is not a recommended method by experts. When we watch TV we are bombarded with commercials, ads, sounds and images. So how do we achieve relaxation? If there are thousands of ways we can get stressed, one of them is not meeting deadlines, there are also many ways we can relax.
In recent studies, experts have determined that heart disease is linked to anger and irritability is linked to mental stress. Too much stress brings about ischemia that can lead to or cause a heart attack. Relaxation takes on added importance in light of this matter. Managing your anger and attitude is significant to heart health, and relaxation can help you manage stress.
One way of relaxation is transcendental meditation. Recent studies have also shown that this method might reduce artery blockage, which is a major cause for heart attack and stroke. People practice transcendental meditation by repeating uttering soothing sounds while meditating, this is to achieve total relaxation. The researchers found that practitioners of transcendental meditation significantly reduced the thickness of their arterial wall compared with those who didn't practice transcendental meditation.
Another study on another method of relaxation, acupuncture, seems to reduce high blood pressure by initiating several body functions for the brain to release chemical compounds known as endorphins. Endorphin helps to relax muscles, ease panic, decrease pain, and reduce anxiety.
Yoga is also another method for relaxation and may also have similar effects like acupuncture. In another study, participants were subjected to several minutes of mental stress. Then they were subjected to various relaxation techniques, such as listening to nature sounds or classical music. Only those who did Yoga significantly reduced the time it took for their blood pressures to go back to normal. Yoga is a form of progressive relaxation.
Breathing is one of the easiest methods to relax. Breathing influences alamost all aspects of us, it affects our mind, our moods and our body. Simply focus on your breathing, after some time you can feel its effects right away.
There are several breathing techniques that can help you reduce stress.
Another easy way to achieve relaxation is exercise. If you feel irritated a simple half-hour of exercise will often settle things down. Although exercise is a great way to lose weight, it does not show you how to manage stress appropriately.
Exercise should also be used in conjunction with other exercise method.
One great way of relaxation is getting a massage. To gain full relaxation, you need to totally surrender to the handling and touch of a professional therapist.
There are several types of massages that also give different levels of relaxation.
Another method of relaxation is Biofeedback. The usual biofeedback-training program includes a 10-hour sessions that is often spaced one week apart.
Hypnosis is one controversial relaxation technique. It is a good alternative for people who think that they have no idea what it feels like to be relaxed. It is also a good alternative for people with stress related health problems.
Drugs are extreme alternatives to relaxation. They are sometimes not safe and are not effective like the other relaxation methods. This method is only used by trained medical professionals on their patients.
These relaxation techniques are just some of the ways you can achieve relaxation. Another reason why we need to relax, aside from lowering blood pressure in people and decreasing the chances of a stroke or a heart attack, is because stress produces hormones that suppress the immune system, relaxation gives the immune system time to recover and in doing so function more efficiently.
Relaxation lowers the activities within the brains' limbic system; this is the emotional center of our brain.
Furthermore, the brain has a periodic need for a more pronounced activity on the right-hemisphere. Relaxation is one way of achieving this.
Relaxation can really be of good use once a relaxation technique is regularly built into your lifestyle. Choose a technique that you believe you can do regularly.
Visual Relaxation Exercise
Start your visual relaxtion exercise by sitting or lying in a nice comfortable spot. Next, you should begin imagining a picture of a beautiful place you'd like to visit — the beach, the mountains, a garden, or wherever else appeals to your personal sense of beauty. Make sure you choose someplace that looks very calm, peaceful, and relaxing.
After you have chosen and visualized this beautiful, calm, peaceful and relaxing place where you'd like to be, prepare yourself to mentally take a vacation there without ever leaving the room. While you're sitting or lying in that nice comfy place, feel free to close your eyes for a moment and take a nice, relaxing deep breath.
Imagine yourself right in the middle of that beautiful, calm, peacful place you’ve visualized. Start trying to imagine what you would be doing if you were actually there. Would you be walking down the beach, feeling the sand between your toes or the water lapping against your ankles while the warm sunlight bathes you?
Maybe you're lying on that same beach just soaking in the warm rays and working on your tan. Perhaps you're standing at the top of a beautiful mountain peak taking in the magnificient view that leaves you awestruck. You breathe deeply and smell that fresh, pine-scented mountain air and feel completely relaxed and refreshed at the same time. If you’re indoors, you might be curled up in your favorite comfy chair in your favorite room.
Imagine the sounds you might hear — birds singing, waves crashing, the gentle breeze blowing, rippling water from a trickling brook, or anything else you want to imagine. Your place is perfect, peaceful and complete. You have everything you need. You can create this place to be anything you’d like it to be. You're there. Far away from the hassles of the everyday events that constantly surround you.
Now, it's time to come back from your perfect place. You know you can go back for a return visit any time you like. This perfect, safe place is always within you. As you bring your attention back to the room, take this feeling of calm, peace and relaxation with you, and find it within yourself whenever you need to.
