I will be selling my own stress management, CD's in the near future, they will be covering a number of skills, from gentle relaxation, breathing and healing, each containing some verbal information and professional music. For those interested please Email:
michellepearson@worldonline.co.uk each CD will be priced at £10 plus P&P and I will inform you by email when they have been produced.
With relaxation, it can open some internalised repressed memories / issues that come to the fore. We may not be aware of these memories, emotions etc hence the need for some professional guidance especially in the beginning. When in a relaxed state our subconscious barriers are lower so our conscious mind relaxes its control over emotions. This may just prove sufficient for an old memory to surface. It is always a risk we take when we try relaxation exercises, but the overall potential benefits normally outweigh any possibility of unpleasant memories resurfacing. It is not the object of relaxation or any coping technique to make you feel worse etc, but one should be aware that this is a possible side effect. There are side effects to everything we do in life, normally termed consequences. As in life, there can be positive and negative side effects to some techniques and I will attempt to name them so you will have more information at hand. Please Email:
michellepearson@worldonline.co.uk if you want further assistance
What is the use of relaxation exercises? Ultimately it reduces the physiological effects caused by stress on the body. All relaxation exercises aim to do this, and there are many types. I will discuss two, passive progressive muscular relaxation and active progressive relaxation. The passive progressive relaxation exercise starts with relaxing the mind and body, the muscles and then thoughts and feelings. To provide a person with calm thoughts and feelings, guided fantasy/imagery/visualisation is often used; I will explain this in a later section. The aim of a relaxation exercise is not just to relive stress, but also provide a coping technique, which can be used as and when needed. There is a need to be able to relax after a stressful event, but it is even better if one can be relaxed before and during a stressful event. This can be done when a technique has been learnt and practised sufficiently.
Progressive muscular relaxation was developed by Edmund Jacobson 1920's. It reduces your pulse rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate. When mastered it is a very good exercise to do, to help reduce anxiety. His belief was that the body under stress would respond with muscular tension. I use two exercises firstly a passive exercise, which does not involve any muscle tensing. The second one is based more closely with Jacobson's original exercise as it involves actively tensing and relaxing different muscle groups. The first exercise I use - passive progressive muscular relaxation is used because it is easy to learn, it has a pleasant feel to it, as it causes no discomfort. In addition, with it being passive, it involves no physical exertion. The exercise includes visualisation and mental relaxation. Instead of asking for muscular tensing and relaxing, it uses visualisation to form a feeling of relaxation and it is this feeling that moves from the different parts of the body leaving each section relaxed. It also does this by using an element of autogenic training, which will be discussed later.
The body is split into sections, it helps to focus ones attention on awareness of how different parts of the body feel. Each part of the body is gently relaxed following a set sequence. Generally, starting with the:- Face, Scalp, Neck, Throat, Shoulders, Arms, Elbows, Forearms, Writs, Hands, Fingers, Chest, Stomach, Abdomen, Spine, Upper back, Lower back,Thighs, Knees, Calves, Ankles, Feet, Toes. It is all done by being aware of the tension in each part of the body; the visualisation and the feeling of being heavier and relaxed induce a feeling of total relaxation, - the complete resting of the body. It then starts with a mental imagery to provide a safe place where one can enter a deeper level of relaxation, feeling very calm. By using, an image the feelings felt in that place can be used in everyday events because one can always recall the memory and the feelings.
Within this exercise and others not only is one learning how to relax, one is also using a coping technique that can be used in a stressful event. The point of a coping technique is to use it to reduce the effects caused by a situation. If this can be used before, during and after the situation one can feel in control of their life more. However, it takes practise before something is or can be used without thought. By practising the exercises, one is gaining the benefits of relaxation from the moment the exercise starts. When benefit is felt, it also becomes more 'impressive' to an individual. Within this exercise, the coping technique is the actual ability to reach a deep level of relaxation, feel safe and calm. This is achieved by using guided imagery, counting down from ten to one begins the deep relaxation, imagery of a safe place which brings feels of safe, and calm, when this place is recalled the feelings associated with it come too. One client had a boss that would be verbally abusive, which would make her feel extremely emotional. After practising this exercise and using it during their lunch break, counting down from 10 and being in their safe place, they felt stronger. To the point where co-workers actually asked what they were doing, because they no longer appeared stressed, even though the boss continued to be abusive. The client though initially very sceptical, continued using this exercise, this has resulted in an increased confidence. Due to their continued practice, they no longer require the tape, as the exercise has become second nature. Their partner was also surprised at the result and both were pleased!
Passive muscular relaxation is a gentle exercise, which is good for those who suffer with a lot of pain but are unable to do anything physically. This is the first exercise I use because it is gentle, easy to get into and benefits do soon appear. I have also found that many people can fall asleep on listening to this exercise, because it is passive, with no need to do anything physically. This has helped people with M.E. CFS, PVFS, and FMS etc. The other good thing about this is the more you do it the more benefits you receive, it can help reduce tension and anxiety, as well as help people who have difficulty in sleeping!
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