Learn relaxation techniques

Are you feeling overworked or stressed during work, have migraines, restless, insomnia, headaches, etc.  I think these symptoms don't match every one. There are some other problems faced by people because of different culture and work environment. Any way I found some relaxation techniques which can be used according to your conditions but remember one thing consult to your physician first.

Various techniques are used by individuals to improve their state of relaxation. Some of the methods are performed alone; some require the help of another person (often a trained professional); some involve movement, some focus on stillness; while other methods involve different elements. Certain relaxation techniques known as "formal and passive relaxation exercises" are generally performed while sitting or lying quietly, with minimal movement and involve "a degree of withdrawal".

These include:

1. Autogenic training is a relaxation technique developed by the German psychiatrist Johannes Heinrich Schultz and first published in 1932. The technique involves the daily practice of sessions that last around 15 minutes, usually in the morning, at lunch time, and in the evening. During each session, the practitioner will repeat a set of visualizations that induce a state of relaxation. Autogenic Training restores the balance between the activity of the sympathetic (flight or fight) and the parasympathetic (rest and digest) branches of the autonomic nervous system. This has important health benefits, as the parasympathetic activity promotes digestion and bowel movements, lowers the blood pressure, slows the heart rate, and promotes the functions of the immune system. Autogenic Training is contraindicated for people with heart conditions or psychotic disorders.

2. Biofeedback is the process of becoming aware of various physiological functions using instruments that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will. Processes that can be controlled include brainwaves, muscle tone, skin conductance, heart rate and pain perception. "Biofeedback is a process that enables an individual to learn how to change physiological activity for the purposes of improving health and performance. Precise instruments measure physiological activity such as brainwaves, heart function, breathing, muscle activity, and skin temperature. These instruments rapidly and accurately give 'feedback' information to the user. The presentation of this information — often in conjunction with changes in thinking, emotions, and behavior — supports desired physiological changes. Over time, these changes can endure without continued use of an instrument." Biofeedback may be used to improve health or performance, and the physiological changes often occur in conjunction with changes to thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Eventually, these changes can be maintained without the use of extra equipment. Biofeedback has been found to be effective for the treatment of headaches and migraines.

3. Diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, belly breathing, deep breathing or costal breathing is the act of breathing by contracting one's diaphragm creating room for the lungs to expand down, rather than laterally through the expansion of the rib cage. This deep breathing is marked by expansion of the abdomen rather than the chest when breathing. It is generally considered a healthier and fuller way to ingest oxygen, and is often used as a therapy for hyperventilation, anxiety disorders and stuttering. To breathe diaphragmatically, or with the diaphragm, one must draw air into the lungs in a way which will expand the stomach and not the chest. It is best to perform these breaths as long, slow intakes of air – allowing the body to absorb all of the inhaled oxygen while simultaneously relaxing the breather.

A common diaphragmatic breathing exercise is "sit or lie comfortably, with loose garments. Put one hand on your chest and one on your stomach. Slowly inhale through your nose or through pursed lips (to slow down the intake of breath). As you inhale, feel your stomach expand with your hand. Slowly exhale through pursed lips to regulate the release of air. Rest and repeat." During stress and anger, we tend to inhale and hold our breath. The most significant, therapeutic aspect of this breathing is the exhalation – which is at least twice the length of the inhalation. The exhalation alerts the body that it can relax and resume essential body functions and not remain in a state of "fight or flight".

4. Meditation is generally an internal, personal practice and done without any external involvement, except perhaps prayer beads to count prayers, though many practitioners of meditation may rely on external objects such as candle flames as points on which to focus their attention as an aid to the process. Meditation often involves invoking or cultivating a feeling or internal state, such as compassion, or attending to a specific focal point. Meditation can be practiced in many different ways. With meditation, your thinking mind becomes quiet. You stop focusing on the stressors of your day or your life’s problems, as well as solving these problems. You just let that voice in your head be quiet, which is easier said than done. Meditation increases brain activity in an area of the brain associated with happiness and positive thoughts and emotions, and some evidence shows that regular practice brings prolonged positive changes in these areas. Researchers generally classify meditation techniques into two different categories: concentrative, and non-concentrative. Basic Meditation Techniques: This involves sitting in a comfortable position and just trying to quiet your mind by stop thinking.  It’s not always easy to do this if you don’t have practice with it. But a good way to begin is to think of yourself as an ‘observer of your thoughts,’ just noticing what the narrative voice in your head says, but not engaging it. As thoughts materialize in your mind, just let them go. Meditation can also be a spiritual practice. (It does not have to be, and certainly isn't specific to any one religion, but can be used as a spiritual experience.) Many people experience meditation as a form of prayer.  Many people experience ‘guidance’ or inner wisdom once the mind is quiet, and meditate for this purpose. Since the 1960s, meditation has been the focus of increasing scientific research of uneven rigor and quality. In over 1,000 published research studies, various methods of meditation have been linked to changes in metabolism, blood pressure, brain activation, and other bodily processes. Meditation has been used in clinical settings as a method of stress and pain reduction.

5. Zen yoga, believed to increase vitality and heal stress, has been claimed as a proprietary yoga style by some of its practitioners and schools. There is no ownership of yoga, though, since all types (Hatha, Laughter, Hot Yoga, etc.) are based on the primary movements and breathing of classical yoga. Zen Yoga does differentiate itself by originating not from India but from China. Before Buddhism there was yoga. Zen monks who did yoga would have called their yoga Zen Yoga. Zen Yoga is a holistic practice that unites the three parts of the self - body, mind and spirit. It combines the graceful movements of tai chi, the energized breathing of qigong and the relaxed stretching of Shanti (peace) yoga. The basic principle of Zen Yoga is that the benefits of simple breathing, movement and stretching exercises are available to anyone regardless of age, fitness ability or health status. While many modern yoga practices tend toward dynamic poses, Zen Yoga is more concerned with helping people feel better with simple and effective breathing and movement practices.

Zen yoga is very different in attitude and experience to traditional Indian yoga. Like tai chi, it is very gentle, and well suited to helping people prevent ill health.

Progressive muscle relaxation (or PMR) is a technique for reducing anxiety by alternately tensing and relaxing the muscles. It was developed by American physician Edmund Jacobson in the early 1920s. Jacobson argued that since muscle tension accompanies anxiety, one can reduce anxiety by learning how to relax the muscular tension. PMR entails a physical and mental component. Jacobson trained his patients to voluntarily relax certain muscles in their body in order to reduce anxiety symptoms. He also found that the relaxation procedure is effective against ulcers, insomnia, and hypertension. There are many parallels with autogenic training, which was developed independently. The technique has also proven effective in reducing acute anxiety in people with Schizophrenia.

6. Progressive relaxation involves alternately tensing and relaxing the muscles. A person using PMR may start by sitting or lying down in a comfortable position. With the eyes closed, the muscles are tensed (10 seconds) and relaxed (20 seconds) sequentially through various parts of the body. The whole PMR session takes approximately 30 minutes. As this is a technique, practice with PMR does make perfect and will usually not work effectively as it should the first couple of times.

Patients with generalized anxiety disorder who first try PMR with anxiety may become frustrated, feel rushed, or feel an increase in anxiety for various reasons such as being afraid to "let your guard down." As with doing anything new, this is to be expected and simply practiced again once or twice a day. 

7. A power nap is a short sleep which terminates before the occurrence of deep sleep or slow-wave sleep (SWS), intended to quickly revitalize the subject. The expression was coined by Cornell University social psychologist James Maas. The power nap is thought to maximize the benefits of sleep versus time. It is used

to supplement normal sleep, especially when a sleeper has accumulated a sleep deficit. Scientific experiments and anecdotal evidence suggest that an average power nap duration of around 15–30 minutes is most effective. Any more time, and the body enters into its usual sleep cycle.

Studies demonstrate that naps are as good as a night of sleep for some types of memory tasks. A NASA study led by David F. Dinges, professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, found that naps can improve certain memory functions and that long naps are better than short ones. 

8. A mental image is an experience that, on most occasions, significantly resembles the experience of perceiving some object, event, or scene, but occurs when the relevant object, event, or scene is not actually present to the senses. Common examples of mental images include daydreaming and the mental visualization that occurs while reading a book. When a musician hears a song, he or she can sometimes "see" the song notes in their head, as well as hear them with all their tonal qualities. According to psychologist and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, our experiences of the world are represented in our minds as mental images. These mental images can then be associated and compared with others, and can be used to synthesize completely new images. In this view, mental images allow us to form useful theories of how the world works by formulating likely sequences of mental images in our heads without having to directly experience that outcome.

Some educational theorists have drawn from the idea of mental imagery in their studies of learning styles. Proponents of these theories state that people often have learning processes which emphasize visual, auditory, and kinesthetic systems of experience. According to these theorists, teaching in multiple overlapping sensory systems benefits learning, and they encourage teachers to use content and media that integrates well with the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic systems whenever possible.

Educational researchers have examined whether the experience of mental imagery affects the degree of learning. For example, imagining playing a 5-finger piano exercise (mental practice) resulted in a significant improvement in performance over no mental practice — though not as significant as that produced by physical practice. The authors of the study stated that "mental practice alone seems to be sufficient to promote the modulation of neural circuits involved in the early stages of motor skill learning.

Planned relaxation calms anxiety and helps your body and mind recover from everyday rush and stress. Music, a long soak in the bath, or a walk in the park do the trick for some people, but for others it's not so easy. Read more........