Relaxation

This last weekend was again a little deviation from the normal rowdiness of the class. We discussed relaxation. I was thinking about the spectrum and how we move from active to not so active. I by nature am an active person and I do not slow down very easily. I know others that relax very easily. Finding a balance between these two is like most things hard to do.

It is well documented the benefits of deep relaxation. This is to be distinguished between rest or sleep. During deep relaxation you make a conscious effort to relax muscles, breathing, slow heart rate, raise extremity temperature. There are mechanisms out there that you can attach to yourself to give you feedback so you know if you are successful such as temperature sensors, heart rate monitors, EMG (to measure muscle activity)

We did not have fancy equipment but played a sound track of ocean waves. This rhythmic and calming to many people but any sound can be used. We all lay flat on our backs and placed our hands on our stomachs and started to breath deeply using the diaphragm. This means expanding your lungs with the diaphragm and your stomach will rise and fall not your shoulders.

Next we moved to contracting our feet which in turns contracts many of the muscles of the leg. We counted down and then released the muscles and with some imagery let the legs fall heavy onto the floor not to be picked up again. We visualized the blood vessels getting larger and blood flowing to the toes. We then did the same with the arms by clinching the fists.

We moved to the heart and allowed it to sound very loud and slowing down and with each beat a wave of relaxation go over the body. There are great benefits to allowing blood vessels to relax and letting the tissues of the body receive blood and oxygenate all tissue around it.

The head is one of the hardest but most important to relax. The forehead and jaw are key to getting relaxed. It's not often that people like to let their jaw down and mouth open but this is were the focus comes in. After getting fully relaxed we kept this position for 10 minutes. For some of the group this was too long for the position they were in and it caused some low back pain. This was okay as we discussed finding a good spot to be in so pain does not interrupt your concentration.

All in all this was a good class to take a step back and shut the world outside and focus on 30 minutes of full relaxation. This leaves the body rejuvenated and ready to return the stresses that beat it down. Remember that relaxation is a conscious effort and we can learn to stay relaxed even in times of stress.

My challenge is to take time each week to deeply relax. It does not take more than 10 minutes. The better you are the faster you can get into a state of deep relaxation. Try it out!