Why (re-)learn to relax?

Relaxation enables you to take an break and switch off from the stresses of life whenever you wish.

It provides a few precious moments in which to re-charge your mental and physical batteries.

Relaxation is the bed-rock of effective stress management.

It enables you to stand back and switch off from problems - so that, often, when you return to them you can perceive solutions that had previously escaped you.

If you have intense fears or phobias you will find your relaxation skills essential for using methods such as systematic desensitization to dissolve your fears.

Relaxation has been scientifically proven to be health enhancing (See Beyond the Relaxation Response, by Herbert Benson & William Proctor).

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Tips for your Relax Session

Years of `normal' stressful living undermine our natural ability to switch off and relax anywhere, anytime. You are now simply re-learning this natural ability.

Relaxation is something you allow to happen. You cannot force the issue. It is a gradual process of discovering your personal forms of emotional and physical tension and then  discovering the ways of releasing these which work best for you.

At first most people find it much easier to relax the body rather than the mind. This is normal. You can certainly learn to allow your mind to become quieter - it simply takes a little longer.

For the first few weeks relax in a sitting position. It is easier to relax lying down but if you make yourself too comfortable you risk falling asleep or becoming too drowsy and this negates some of the benefits.

There is no right way to relax! So rather than attempting to `get it right' experiment to discover what works best for you.

The quality of your relaxation will vary considerably during any session. One moment you may think you are losing the experience and the next you may be even more relaxed than before.

So if you think it is not working decide to calmly stay at ease for another minute or so. Then, if necessary, give up and have another session 30-60 minutes later.

How to relax

The following is a simple method of relaxing which you can develop by using mental imagery aided, perhaps, by soft relaxing music:

1.   Make yourself physically comfortable. Initially shrug, stretch, and then sit comfortably upright with hands resting on your thighs or lap. Use a few long exhales to help you settle. Keep your eyes open for now.

2.   Pay attention to what you can see, hear, and feel.

3.   Close your eyes. This gives your brain a break by reducing the amount of incoming data it has to process.

4.   Now pay attention to what you can see, hear and feel with your eyes closed.

5.   Do five long exhales. With each exhale relax, in turn, a different part of your body as follows (1) Your feet and legs, (2) Your hands and arms, (3) Your torso, (4) Your head and neck, (5) Your entire body. Pay attention to the relaxing effect of each of these out-breaths. 

6.   Now continue to allow yourself to switch off - breathing normally - paying attention to how your body can relax a little more each time you exhale.