Coping with Stress: Relaxation Therapy

This year one of my goals was to learn how to relax. People deal with stress in many different ways. Some use food, alcohol or drugs to deal with stress. These are not good ways of dealing with stress because they frequently cause us to have more stress in the long run. Positive ways of dealing with stress are exercise and relaxation therapy.

I've often thought that it would be great to find some justification for sneaking in an afternoon nap on the weekends. Resting and relaxation are really good for our health. Stress can be good for us, but continued prolonged stress can take its toll on our bodies. In fact, some medical people would say that many illnesses we suffer in our modern age occur because of stress. Some of our physical symptoms tell us about thestress in our lives. Our bodies really do try to tell us some things ... if we only listen. For instance, if you're prone to getting pain and stiffness in your neck muscles, your body is telling you that something in your life is a "pain in the neck." Frequent stomach upsets may indicate that you cannot "stomach something" any longer. If we take a few minutes to listen to our bodies, we can learn quite a bit.

Relaxation therapy has proven to be a benefit to those who practice it and can help us to listen to what our bodies are trying to say. It can be used to relieve stress, alleviate fears and help patients in the hospital setting to feel less isolated.

Relaxation therapy is very easy to do and anyone can do it. You can use an audio cassette or just imagine a tranquil setting. This may be a tropical island, a quiet place in the woods ... it should be a place that is meaningful to each person. Once you imagine this favorite setting, you are encouraged to just relax and take some deep breaths. There is scientific evidence to indicate that relaxation and guarded imagery exercises do have an impact on recovery from surgery or illness. Relaxation therapy can lower heart rate and increase circulation in patients recovering from heart attacks

You may have read one or more of the late Norman Cousin's books in which he advocates the use of laughter, relaxation, music and art to help promote wellness. When was the last time you took a few minutes to relax,
listen to a good tape or record and imagine being in your most favorite restful place? This is also a good thing to do before bed time if you have difficulty getting to sleep.

There is proof positive that stress has a definite negative effect on your body, especially the immune system and the endocrine system. Your body and mood will benefit if you can find a few minutes several times a day to imagine yourself in our special place

Source: The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook by Martha Davis, Elizabeth Robbins Eshelman, Matthew McKay, and Patrick Fanning