Why I'll never tell you to relax.
One Minute For Your Health #11
Have you ever been told to “RELAX” when you are upset?
How did that go for you?
I’m guessing you instantly felt more tense and upset.
In fact, I’m willing to bet it’s a pretty universal human experience to feel tenser when told to relax or calm down.
And it’s not just when other people tell us to relax. The same thing happens when we tell ourselves to relax.
It’s the whole pink elephant scenario - the harder you try not to feel something (or think of something) the more you will feel it.
What does work?
Research shows that we are most relaxed when our brain is not focusing on anything in particular - so focusing on relaxing gets in the way of relaxing.
If any of you have tried meditation you probably initially had a similar experience. The more you focus on having an empty mind the fuller your mind becomes.
Just like in the post on not trying to sleep, the answer is to focus on something other than how relaxed you feel.
Activities that can help absorb your mind in a way that allows your body to relax include:
listening to music
stretching
running, walking or swimming
dancing
doing something crafty
reading a book
writing or journaling
nature gazing or forest bathing
progressive muscle relaxation
Why does it matter?
There are certain functions our body can only carry out when we are relaxed - or in the so called ‘rest and digest’ state.
These functions include vital things like:
digesting food
repairing tissue damage
detoxifying
sleeping
sex (and conceiving)
Unfortunately, we spend most of our lives in the ‘fight or flight’ state.
We are running around completing our to do lists during the day and unwinding with TV, social media and computer games at night.
Unfortunately, anything to do with a screen won’t help your body enter the ‘rest and digest’ state.
That’s why you might feel relaxed while watching a movie, but you won’t feel recharged.
A little gift…
To help you get into the habit of relaxing I have recorded a progressive muscle relaxation exercise for you.
I often begin or end my nutritional therapy sessions with an exercise like this to help my clients switch gears into the ‘rest and digest’ state.
This exercise takes less than 10 minutes and I promise you will feel an instant difference in your body - no matter how tense you’re feeling right now.
If you like this exercise and know others who might like it too, then please share this post with them. It helps me and I hope it helps them too.
If you’re new here and you loved this post then please subscribe below.
Links and References:
Aletta, F., Oberman, T. and Kang, J. (2018) "Associations between Positive Health-Related Effects and Soundscapes Perceptual Constructs: A Systematic Review", International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(11), p. 2392. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15112392.
Livni, E., 2016. The Japanese practice of ‘forest bathing’is scientifically proven to improve your health. Haettu, 29, p.2019.
Stress and Health: A Review of Psychobiological Processes (2020). Available at: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-psych-062520-122331 (Accessed: 8 September 2020).
"The effects of yoga on stress and psychological health among employees: an 8- and 16-week intervention study" (2020), p. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10615806.2017.1405261 (Accessed: 8 September 2020).
Tsitsi, T. et al. (2017) "Effectiveness of a relaxation intervention (progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery techniques) to reduce anxiety and improve mood of parents of hospitalized children with malignancies: A randomized controlled trial in Republic of Cyprus and Greece", European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 26, pp. 9-18. doi: 10.1016/j.ejon.2016.10.007.
Georga, G. et al. (2019) "The effect of stress management incorporating progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback-assisted relaxation breathing on patients with asthma: a randomised controlled trial", Advances in Integrative Medicine, 6(2), pp. 73-77. doi: 10.1016/j.aimed.2018.09.001.
Gökşin, İ. and Ayaz-Alkaya, S. (2018) "The Effectiveness of Progressive Muscle Relaxation on the Postpartum Quality of Life: A Randomized Controlled Trial", Asian Nursing Research, 12(2), pp. 86-90. doi: 10.1016/j.anr.2018.03.003.
Kermane, M.M., 2016. A psychological study on stress among employed women and housewives and its management through progressive muscular relaxation technique (PMRT) and mindfulness breathing. J Psychol Psychother, 6(244), pp.2161-0487.
Elephant image from www.canva.com
Find out more about me at www.efiaskitchen.com