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Archive for the ‘Relaxation Practice’ Category

What a world of difference a deep breath can make! It is one thing to know that you need to relax, but how do you find the time? To reach the “relaxation response” at times can seem like you are trying to hit a moving target. Just ask Joan, a 31-year-old full time college student and mother of 2 active preteens. “I needed coffee today just so I could study for my exams, “she panted on her way to a class. Mike, an exhausted engineer is having difficulty sleeping through the night.

Here are some quick tips for relaxing when it seems like you cannot fit in one more thing:

Tip #1. This may require planning, however it will repay you. Eat a breakfast of whole oats or steel cut oats cooked, not micro waved. This will give your body needed fuel. Sprinkle chopped almonds, walnuts, or seasonal fruit on the oatmeal for added variety.

Tip #2. Curve your lips upward into a smile. Smiling is a way to remind yourself that you can handle your life. Practice often. Write notes around your home, office and as reminders to smile often.

Tip #3. Before bed soak your feet in warm water for 5 minutes.

Tip #4. If you are in the habit of multi-tasking, stop. Yes, un-plug the device from your ears and enjoy walking down the street or whatever you are doing. Focus your energy. Develop a habit of doing one thing at a time. It will repay you in increased effectiveness and over time you will accomplish more in less time.

Tip #5. Remember to exhale then inhale again. When we hurry and hold our breath, without awareness, for too long it generates a sense of unease.

Tip #6. Hold your thumb. Wrap your fingers completely around your thumb repeat with your other hand. Do for 3-5 minutes. This position calms anxiety.

Tip #7. Take a trip, in your mind. Sit in your office, car, etc. and visualize yourself calm, smiling and joyful. Take yourself to place that you enjoy and chill there. You did it, you’re calmer.

Mindfulness Meditation for a busy world

Mindfulness Meditation is a relaxation discipline that is particularly appropriate for modern day living. In a world where the demands are greater than they were before, where speed and efficiency seems to be demanded, mental stress can accumulate and lead to physical illness. There are so many illnesses that stress can contribute to such as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBD (Inflamed Bowel Disorder), Colitis, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcers, Hypertension and Panic Attacks to name but a few.

Everybody in this age of the internet expects quicker service and wants more immediate results. Time is becoming such a precious commodity that many people wake up one to realise that dreams and aspirations haven’t been started never mind accomplished. Time has rushed by and they can feel like they are in a rut. As is the case with many enlightened practices, mindfulness meditation has been around for thousands of years and has been a eastern practice. The western world is now catching up with the eastern worlds lead in healthy and balanced living.

CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) now includes mindfulness meditation as a way of helping change a person’s negative thinking or cognitive processing.

Mental Relaxation is Important too

We all know that regular physical exercise is important to help maintain muscles and to release the feel-good hormones known as endorphins. Exercise helps release stress and promotes good sleep patterns. However physical exercise alone is only a part of a healthy lifestyle.

Mental relaxation that encourages balanced and healthy cognitions (thinking and perceiving) is a vital part of our coping skills. Whilst any form of mental relaxation is to be encouraged, mindfulness meditation is proving to be both fast and effective at making lasting positive changes.

Self Hypnosis and Meditation

Steven Harold, the London Hypnotherapist has been practising meditation for over 30 years. As a trained hypnotherapist he also used self hypnosis. Through years of practice and training his clients he has formed a unique blend of the most effective elements of mindfulness meditation and self hypnosis.

At his London hypnotherapy practice, Steven provides a course that teaches his clients mindfulness meditation and self hypnosis that can be learnt in only one hypnotherapy session. This unique blend of east meets west, or mindfulness meditation and self hypnosis takes just 5 minutes of daily practice to gain immediate benefits. In essence it’s a real life changer and can benefit anyone no matter how busy their professional and personal commitments are.

It has been validated that 20 minutes of meditation is the equivalent of 3 hours of sleep. If you are on a plane and onto your next important board meeting, think about how efficient you can be by utilizing 20 minutes of that time to regenerate and renew yourself and be clear and focused for the upcoming event.

First thing we have to do is demystify meditation. Truly, it’s not this thing that these pious monks do high on the hilltops in Tibet, nor is it exclusive to Eastern philosophy. What is meditation? Actually, let’s rather refer to it as relaxation and that brings me to telling you about Herbert Benson, cardiologist, researcher, educator, a mentor. He had a private practice in Massachusetts and in 1962 some TM students, who requested to do a research study on the effects of TM on his patients, approached him. The first time they approached him, in his own words he threw them out the door. Fortunately, they were persistent and so two years later they were back, knocking on his door. This time, for whatever the reason, he was open to their suggestions and the next thing a research study was set up, incorporating his most difficult patients, those that did not respond to medication etc. They hooked them up to all sorts of electrical devices and then analyzed the data. Guess what! Here were these cardiac patients, medically at risk of dying, literally. The study showed that when they were meditating for 20 minutes twice a day, they were able to keep their medical condition under control. The data revealed not only a decrease in blood pressure but also a slowing down of their heart rate, their rate of breathing, as well as a decrease in muscle tension.

So here’s this doctor, renown as a physician and researcher and his data is showing that something like an esoteric and spiritually associated practice of meditation is truly having a profound effect on his patients. Yes, they were able to control a life threatening medical condition by taking 20 minutes twice a day to be quiet. Imagine that! Well, the first thing that he did was to package it in vocabulary that was going to be easier for his colleagues to digest and so he coined the phrase ‘eliciting the relaxation response’ and he continued to analyze the techniques with more scrutiny and eventually came up with the understanding that the basis of the success of the process was in what he referred to as the ‘refocusing process’.

You see, people tend to think that meditation is hard to do and that you really have to stay focused in order to achieve the benefits and if you don’t do all that, that its a waste of time and of no benefit. Wrong! The benefit is in the doing. Just taking the time to sit there. And the process occurs through ‘refocusing’. In other words, when you take the time to practice eliciting the relaxation response, you choose a focus of attention. Now, it doesn’t have to be the so-called ‘mantra’, which is a harmonic sound that is given to people when they are initiated into the practice of TM. In fact, it can be anything. It can be focusing on your breathing or it may be using a phrase that you choose from your religious affiliation or even a visual image. To elicit the relaxation response, all you need is a focus and then what you do is keep on refocusing on that word, sound, object, whatever. You see, what Benson found was that there was a direct shift in the autonomic nervous system. The body physically switches from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic mode.

Let me take a moment or two and explain this aspect of our human function. When you understand the basis of this function, I know you will feel more open to incorporating the practice because it makes so much sense. The autonomic nervous system is comprised of the two polar opposite responses from the body that put it in sympathetic or parasympathetic mode. The sympathetic nervous system is activated dramatically and manifests what is known as the fight or flight response. This phenomena was first documented by Dr Walter B Cannon of Harvard Medical School early this century who found that when a person is subjected to a frightening experience it unconsciously and automatically sets up a physiological reaction to get ready to fight. In other words, there is a cascade of hormones from the adrenals that flood the body, like the flame of a dynamite stick and causes arousal. The heart rate increases, the rate of breathing increases, so does the breathing rate, blood pressure and metabolism. Because of the stresses of daily living, our bodies are constantly in the sympathetic mode some researchers suggest 50 times a day starting with the alarm first thing in the morning. Now when we are lying on the beach in Hawaii, listening to the sound of the waves and the gulls, our bodies automatically switch into parasympathetic mode.

Well, we don’t want to have to wait for that opportunity to be lying on the beach. We want to be able to access that state of mind everyday. That relaxation does not result in inactivity and disassociation. Instead, it results in clarity and focus. The mind is able to rid itself of the cobwebs and utilize its potential without interference of unwanted thought processes. Of course, the most challenging aspect lies in the execution of the technique. We are creatures of habit and its very difficult to change our daily priority list so that it includes taking the time to be quiet twice or even once a day on a regular basis. You see Benson’s studies went on the verify that as long as the patients continued to execute the practice, their hypertension was under control, but if they stopped doing it, the hypertension slowly became a problem again. The real benefit of the technique is truly incorporating the practice on a regular basis. Another interesting fact is that when you regularly practice relaxation it reduces end-organ sensitivity to the stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenalin. In other words, we still secrete the hormones when we’re stressed but they no longer have the same over-stimulating effect on our tissues, muscles and organs.

It is not the same as sleep. When you sleep it takes 3-5 hours for the metabolism to slow down. It takes 3-5 minutes when eliciting a relaxation response:

So back to the idea of refocusing. Sometimes there are a lot of thoughts that are passing endlessly through our minds and when we close our eyes and start to focus on the pattern of our breathing, say, we are interrupted by these thoughts that keep coming back and demanding attention. Now here’s the secret to success. It doesn’t matter how many thoughts there are, it doesn’t matter how restless it makes you feel. As soon as you notice that you are focusing on the thoughts instead of focusing on whatever you have chosen as your ‘distraction’ you remind yourself that you don’t want to be paying attention to that thought right now, and gently refocus your attention. That’s the process. And its so simple and easy. And it works. You just have to take the time to do it. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Sometimes, while you’re doing it, it feels like it is not doing anything for you, but when you open your eyes, you notice the distinct change in how you feel.

Of course, the most remarkable aspect of the practice is in the cumulative effect. The more you do it, the easier it is to access the state of relaxation, and the benefits of the practice creep into your daily activity where you experience that sense of clarity and calm throughout the day and not only immediately after doing it.

Here’s my mom, 85 years old and going strong. What an amazing lady. My greatest gift to her and to me, mind you, was taking her with me to the TM center when I first went there 25 years ago. Not only did has it given her clarity of mind and incredible stamina, but it helped us to resolve many discordant issues that were primary stumbling blocks that prevented us from having a loving relationship. You see, for as long as I can remember, I was this renegade. I don’t know why I didn’t want to conform. I wasn’t trying to be difficult. I just thought differently and was pretty strong-willed at that. You can imagine how this attitude was not well received by a very authoritarian parent who only knew one way, her way…. and a very conservative way at that. Well, interestingly enough, over an extended period of time, my mother and I were truly able to resolve most of the issues that put us at loggerheads with each other. I can see now, very clearly, that what developed was a mutual respect for one another that never existed before. We were able to disagree without it having to be a major issue. In fact, my friends that were around while I was a teenager, were amazed by the visible change that occurred. Instead of screaming at each other as our buttons got pushed, we found ways of interacting that were supportive and tolerant. It was probable the evolution of my relationship with my mother that kept me committed to the practice all these years.

Actually the true around came about in 1987, only 10 years ago, when Deepak Chopra was invited as the keynote speaker at the Acupuncture symposium which was held at the Bahia Hotel in Mission Beach. Now you have to understand that I had been engaged in the practice of meditation since 1972. But there were many days that there just wasn’t time to meditate. I would get caught up in my daily activities, kids, work, studies, dead lines, social activities, whatever. After several days of I would notice a subtle shift towards feelings of anxiety and tension that would come up internally, and so not enjoy the sensations and knowing what I could successfully count on to help, I would then resume my practice. The night that Chopra gave his presentation, I got it! A light bulb went on in my head. I can’t even recall all the things that he said. It was almost as if the practice over all those preceding years allowed me a true understanding of what he was saying. Why was it that I could clearly see the ways in which I nurtured my body externally on a daily basis and yet failed to make the connection of how equally if important it was to do the same internally? I came away from that experience committed to my daily practice and I can truthfully say that I haven’t missed a day since. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, and I do alot of traveling, whatever the time is that I have to be up, I just wake up 20 minutes earlier, sit up in bed and take 20 minutes. It’s the best thing that has happened to me, truly.

What I like about the practice is that it allows you to maximize your own potential. We tend to think that the only way to process stuff is by talking to others. What you realize and begin to experience is that a lot of that stuff can get taken care of by you, and with very little effort. You don’t necessarily need to be focusing on a particular problem. Your body just needs to be in a better frame of mind to access the solutions and a lot of those you know yourself, you just enhance the ease of access.

Meditation has been a practice known to relieve stress in our lives. Stress can be helpful at certain levels but constant exposure to high levels of stress can also be detrimental to your body, your mind and your life. It is therefore important that you can find some relaxation techniques for stress management that will be truly be beneficial in promoting your general well-being.

Sources of Stress

Managing stress in your life starts from understanding what causes your stress. Most often, in this fast-paced world, we find stress in our demanding jobs, crisis in our relationships or financial problems. Although there are also short-term causes of stress such as going on a job interview or marriage or getting pregnant, and many other small or big things. Your thoughts and your emotions are also among the contributors of stress in life. Indeed, stress can come from the many things that happen in your life each day and the things that run in your mind.

As you are exposed more often to these stressors, it can show signs like headaches, tiredness, poor concentration, irritability as well as depression. The effects of stress can also be more than just these signs and can truly have harmful effects on your health and your body.

What Meditation Can Do

Meditation has been one of the great relaxation techniques for stress management. This ancient practice used to be associated with spiritual development but it has also become a practice that is used to relieve and manage stress – especially in the busy city life.

When you meditate, you practice breathing techniques, you learn how to train your mind to focus and concentrate, and you get to spend a few minutes each day that will help you calm your mind and relax your body. This practice allows your heart rate to slow down as well as your breathing. It will also normalize your blood pressure. It will also reduce the levels of cortisols, which is the associated with stress in the body, thus allowing you to go into a deep relaxation.

Meditation is also said to be effective to both physical and mental stress. It can also help you stay in a good mood everyday and it can also be a training for you to practice positive thinking, which is very important to deal with stress in life. Especially that stress is present everyday in our lives, meditation as a ‘weapon’ against the negative thoughts and a tool to help you stay positive is indeed one of the best relaxation techniques for stress management that you can use.

How Meditation is Done

Meditation is done by sitting in lotus position in a place where it is quiet and has no distractions. It is then done by focusing on your mind on your breathing and on a certain thought – depending also of your purpose in meditation. If you practice meditation to relax your mind, it may involve concentrating about your breathing until you are able to reach deep relaxation.

Others may also involve guided meditation to relax themselves, where your mind will be guided to focus on some relaxing thoughts and views to bring your body and mind to relaxation.

The practice of meditation is truly one of the great relaxation techniques for stress management, and aside from that, it has also become a great practice to improve your health and total well-being. You just have to practice it correctly and consistently.

The clinical research is clear – Guided Breathing helps the majority of people permanently reduce their blood pressure. How could something as simple as breathing control blood pressure?

As with so much in medicine, we know that it works, but the precise mechanisms aren’t fully understood. There are four main theories:

1) One theory is that it’s actually not so much about relaxation and has more to do with helping the body get salt out. When people are under stress, they tend to take shallow breaths. This “inhibitory breathing” in turn makes the blood more acidic and makes the kidneys less efficient at removing sodium from the blood.

In research conducted by Dr. David Anderson of the National Institute of Health, inhibitory breathing was linked to elevated salt and higher blood pressure.

“If you sit there under-breathing all day, as most people do, and you have high salt intake, your kidneys may be less effective at getting rid of salt,” said Anderson.

When people do slow, deep breathing, “They may be changing their blood gases and the way their kidneys are regulating salt,” Anderson hypothesizes.

2) Another theory is that Guided Breathing increases nitric oxide transmission in our blood. “Nitric oxide is a substance that helps keep our blood vessels open,” says Dr. Elijah Saunders, head of hypertension research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Cardiology Department.

The endothelium cells (the inner lining of our blood vessels) use nitric oxide to tell the muscles that surround them to relax. This process is known as “vasodilation” and results in increased blood flow.

In research conducted by Dr. Nick Vaziri, of the UC Irvine College of Medicine, high blood pressure was linked with impaired nitric oxide pathways. It appears that Guided Breathing may help keep our bodies’ nitric oxide levels in better balance – allowing our blood vessels to relax naturally.

3) A third theory is that slow, deep breathing helps us oxygenate. Our brains are only 2% of our body weight yet they consume 20% of the oxygen we inhale.

“Slight changes in oxygen content in the brain can alter the way a person feels and behaves,” says Dr. Daniel G. Amen, author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.

The shallow breaths associated with stress and negative emotions don’t allow us to get enough oxygen. “The oxygen content in the stressed person’s blood is lowered,” says Dr. Amen, leading to more stress in a downward spiral.

The answer is to break the cycle by recognizing when our shallow breathing isn’t serving our best interests. Slow, deep breathing gives our body the oxygen it needs and signals the body to get things back in balance.

4) The fourth theory centers around a concept known as “entrainment.” This is the tendency of the brain to mimic a stimulus. For example, when you hear slow, mellow Jazz, the electrical currents in your brain will get calm too. It’s thought that through slow, deep breathing, your brain takes a cue to break the stress cycle.

The fascinating thing is that the break in the stress cycle isn’t just temporary. After a few weeks of regular deep relaxation practice, the “calm” centers of our brain start to become permanently more active.

Research conducted by Dr. Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison compared brain activity and immune response in two groups: “deep relaxation” vs. control group. The “deep relaxation” group showed increased immune response and increased activity in the left prefrontal cortex (associated with positive temperament) of the brain. It appears that regular relaxation isn’t temporary – it actually helps the brain rewire.

“What we’ve found is that the [deep relaxation] trained mind, or brain, is physically different from the untrained one,” says Davidson.

Whatever the exact mechanism is, the great news is that we know Guided Breathing is highly effective in permanently reducing blood pressure for the majority of people. Double-blind clinical trials have shown reductions of up to 36 points diastolic and 20 points systolic.

Do you suffer from anxiety insomnia? If your worries are keeping you awake, you can overcome them and get a good night’s sleep. It’s important to take action as soon as possible however, because insomnia can become a habit.

Everyone has the occasional sleepless night, especially before a big event. If you’re giving a major presentation the next day, or even are looking forward to a happy event like your vacation, it’s hard to get to sleep. However, chronic insomnia, when difficulty in sleeping is a regular event, occurs for ten per cent of the population.

The challenge with insomnia is that the more you try to go to sleep, the more wakeful you become — you can’t force sleep. You can however prepare for it, and make sleep more likely.

For long term insomnia prevention, ensure that you get into a nightly routine which encourages healthy sleep. Remove any distractions from your bedroom, including your TV and computer, for example, and don’t exercise or watch an exciting movie in the last couple of hours before bedtime.

The Relaxation Response: Take Charge of Your Stress

To deal with your current insomnia, you need to learn how to completely relax your body, so that you feel as relaxed and limp as cooked spaghetti.

Relaxing your body is vital, because to relax your mind, you need to start with your body. If your body is totally relaxed, it’s impossible to feel stress. Therefore, develop a daily relaxation practice, in which you completely relax your body, one muscle group at a time. You can find books and tapes which will help you to learn the “relaxation response”.

Slowing Your Mind With a Body Scan

Once you’re in bed at night, settle down, on your back, and take several long, slow, deep breaths. Close your eyes, and relax your eyelids. Now, starting with your toes, relax every part of your body in turn. Just become aware of the body part, and say “relax…”

You can start your body scan in this way. “Left toes… relax… left foot, relax… left ankle, completely relax…”

Gradually, taking as much time as you need, relax every part of your body.

You’ll usually find that before you complete your body scan, you’re asleep. If you’re still awake when you’ve relaxed your scalp, start again with the left toes.

A nightly body scan, combined with practicing daily physical relaxation, cures anxiety insomnia. Try it tonight — you’ll get a restful night’s sleep.