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eLearning Series:
I've Got Way Too Much Stress!
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2
Body Targeted Relaxation Exercises
Try these relaxation techniques that target specific parts of the body:
The Five Finger
Exercise
- In a relaxing
chair, sit back and take a few deep breaths.
- Next, establish
an easy, regular breathing pattern.
- Take in a deep
breath and as you exhale, touch your index finger to your
thumb. Imagine a time when your body felt a healthy tired,
like how you felt after
a good tennis match, or just stepping out of a hot tub or sauna....
- Now, take another
good deep breath, and as you exhale, touch middle finger
to your thumb. Imagine a time when you had an especially
loving experience,
when you felt warm and safe. Take a moment to really feel that same feeling
as vividly as you had experienced it....
- Next, take another
deep breath, and as you exhale, touch your ring finger to
your thumb and imagine a time when you performed especially
well, when
you aced something that was important to you. Take that feeling of accomplishment
in now and feel it as fully now as you did then...
- Lastly, take one
more very deep breath in and as you exhale, touch your little
finger to your thumb and as you do, imagine seeing the most beautiful place
you have ever experienced...or imagine how you would feel being there now...Take
a moment to fully absorb the fullness of what you feel being there....
and when you're entirely ready, and bringing with you all of these same
feelings for the rest of your day, come back...
Practice Progressive
Relaxation
In the early 1920’s, Edmund Jacobson developed Progressive Relaxation. Jacobson
was one of the first to measure the electrical activity of the muscles.
He believed that anxiety showed itself through tension in the muscles,
and he believed that if we could reduce the muscular response, then we
would also reduce the amount of stress in our bodies, as well.
This is a relatively
straightforward relaxation technique and is widely used today.
It requires very little imagination or even willpower. Practicing
this technique will quiet a racing mind or heart and will help you to focus
better and concentrate better.
This technique
teaches the difference between tension and relaxation as
many have come to associate the tension of every day life
to be entirely normal.
Many have forgotten what it is to truly relax.
This relaxation
approach involves tightening and then relaxing various muscle
groups throughout the body, a little bit at a time. One group
of muscles is worked on and then, slowly, the next.
It does work best
when you can coordinate inhalation of breath with the tightening
of the muscle phase and then controlled exhalation with the relaxation
phase.
For example:
- Tighten your
left fist, slowly, inhaling as you do.
- Hold the tension
now, about 5 seconds, continuing to inhale and focus on the feelings
of tension.
- Really focus on what
the tension feels like.
- Feel the burn, the
lightness, the tightness and the restriction.
- Label how the tension
feels in your mind.
- Now just let go, slowly,
and relax, exhaling all of the stale tension and air.
- Notice any
of the relaxation sensations, label those.
- Slowly exhale as you
name those sensations of relaxation, utter relaxation.
Whatever terms you can think of to label the feeling,
and then relax, slowly, exhaling as you do.
Repeat the same
technique for the right fist. As you feel the change
and are totally relaxed, move on to the next muscle group.
Go with about
15- 30 seconds per contraction/relaxation cycle.
If relaxation
imagery appeals to you during this technique, go ahead and
imagine what you can to the feelings of both tension and
to extreme relaxation. It is important
to compare and contrast the differences you feel from tension
to relaxation.
Try doing one
entire side of your body and then the other.
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