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Stress
Coping: Relaxation Techniques
Discover
Your Stress Level
Stress
in Today's Workplace
Reduce
Your Stress
Stress And Your Health
Body
Awareness Exercise
You
can quiet your mind and break the automatic tie with emotions that
send your body into a health crisis by practicing relaxation techniques.
These techniques encourage calm and relaxation so that you can free
your mind of mental chatter and experience serenity, peacefulness,
and a greater sense of clarity.
Relaxation
techniques train your mind to become less responsive to stress and
readjust your mind so that your baseline level of stress is lower.
Practicing the relaxation techniques enables you to maintain the
calm and peaceful feelings you obtain during and just after a relaxation
exercise throughout your day. You will become more efficient in
your everyday life and better equipped to deal with life’s
stresses and challenges.
Three
important things to remember about the techniques you will practice:
- There is no one RIGHT way to practice — the way that will
work for you as an individual becomes the right way for you. Explore
the many approaches available and choose what works best.
- The techniques are not external—they are always within
you to call upon when you need them.
- Have
no fixed expectations or goals — otherwise the cure becomes
the stressor! Allow the techniques to just happen, and observe
the difference.
There are a number of techniques available to break the stress cycle
– but they will only work if you choose to use them. These
calming techniques allow you to quiet your mind, reduce the concentration
of stress hormones in your blood, and contribute to an enhanced
sense of well being.
Some have a rapid onset and are useful when you need a quick calming
effect. Others train your mind to become less responsive to stress
and are useful to readjust your mind so that your baseline level
of stress hormones is lower. Regular relaxation results in long-term
physiologic changes that counteract the harmful effects of stress
throughout the day.
Listening
to relaxation exercises or watching videos requires the latest version
of RealPlayer, download
RealPlayer Basic (free version available).
)
You
can reset your stress thermostat with regular use of these techniques:
- Mindfulness
The practice of paying attention to what you are doing
when you are doing it.
Listen
to a mindfulness exercise (13 minutes, 27 minutes)
- Guided
Imagery
A
form of directed daydreaming
Read
more about guided imagery
Listen
to guided imagery exercise #1
(15 minutes, 8 seconds)
Listen
to guided imagery exercise #2
(11 minutes, 30 seconds)
- Meditation
The
process of concentrating the mind on an object or activity
Read
more about meditation
Listen
to a meditation exercise (11 minutes, 3 seconds)
- Progressive
Muscle Relaxation
A muscle relaxation technique involving the systematic tensing
and relaxing of muscle groups
- Yoga
A technique that disciplines the intellect, mind, and emotions
Read
more about yoga
- Tai
chi
Slow,
smooth body movements to achieve a state of relaxation of body
and mind
Read
more about tai chi
- Repetitive
Physical Exercise
Repetitive
movements that do not require exertion but do require focus to
lead to a relaxed state
- Deep
Breathing
A
quick way to calm your mind and lower stress hormone levels
Read
more about deep breathing (pdf file)
Listen
to a deep breathing exercise (6 minutes, 21 seconds)
View
deep breathing exercise video (3 minutes, 5 seconds)
- Writing
A
quick way to calm your mind and lower stress hormone levels
Read
more about writing to cope with stress
- Other
activities
Other
activities that induce a sense of peace and relaxation include
saying prayers, listening to beautiful music, and reading books
on serene or calming topics.
Listen
to soothing music track #1
(10 minutes, 41 seconds)
Listen
to soothing music track #2 (6 minutes,
17 seconds)
For
many, a combination of all of the techniques becomes part of a personal
health regimen. For others, one or two of the techniques prove to
be most helpful. Be aware that not every technique will be suitable
for you. Different individuals will be more comfortable with different
techniques. However, there are common components to all of the techniques,
which include repetition and directing attention away from the thoughts
that are bothersome to you.
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