Relaxation Training Introduction

Research indicates that people with conditions partly caused or exacerbated by stress like insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, depression etc., can have an oversensitive fight/flight response and as a result have higher levels of stress hormones circulating in their blood stream than people without.  A useful strategy in helping to lower stress is to learn relaxation which helps to reduce the arousal of the sympathetic nervous system that triggers the fight/flight response creating the opposite biochemical and physiological effect to the fight/flight response.  We are often told to learn to relax but we are not taught how to relax.

Fortunately just as our bodies have an inbuilt fight/flight response mechanism it also has an inbuilt mechanism for triggering relaxation.  This is called The Relaxation Response.  We all experience pressure and stress at some time in our lives.  For most these are brief episodes, however if the flight-flight response is triggered too frequently it can put us at higher risk of developing a stress related health problem.

One of the coping strategies we can use to help us increase our stress resistance is the practice of relaxation techniques on a regular basis.  Relaxation is an excellent cushioning technique that can be used where its impossible to remove the stressor.  Research in USA shows that people under stress who practice regular relaxation have body organs less affected by the stress hormones than do people under stress who do not practice relaxation.

When we become tense one of the actions of the fight-flight response is to cause our bodies muscles to become tense.  This is useful in the short term, however it can cause problems in the long term.  Chronic muscle tension can cause headaches, neck and back pain plus it also maintains our anxiety even after the original difficult even has been resolved.  To help turn off this muscle tension and the fight-flight response we need to become aware that our muscles are tense and to be able to use relaxation techniques to reduce this muscle tension.

Relaxation training is a skill and like any other skill it takes time and practice to master it and it needs to be practiced on a regular basis not only used when we are having difficulty.   Sometimes people say they have not got the time to relax.  If this is correct then this is exactly the time to make time to practice relaxation.  Some people are taught that you must always be active, busy and productive and to sit down doing nothing is almost a sin.  Sitting down doing relaxation is not sitting down doing nothing and being unproductive.  In fact, the opposite is true, if you regularly practice relaxation it will actually make you more efficient and productive.

As a result of the evidence based data; the relaxation response is becoming a part of mainstream medicine.  Approx 60% of US Medical schools now teach the therapeutic use of the Relaxation Response techniques (Friedman, Zuttermeister, Benson 1993).  They are recommended therapy in Standard Medical textbooks and majority of family practitioners now use their practices.

(Mind Body Medicine: Herbert Benson MD congressional Testimony Sept 22 1998)

What Actually is Relaxation

Many people think relaxation is sitting with our feet up watching the television or reading a book but this is not so, the relaxation response is a totally different state. You do not get the same beneficial biochemical and physiological changes while watching TV as you do when practising relaxation.  Research using EEG monitors to monitor brainwave patterns, of people watching television and others using relaxation, show that practising relaxation causes the brain to switch to alpha type brain waves that indicate relaxation.

Relaxation is not Simply Doing Nothing

Contrary to popular belief, relaxation does not simply mean doing nothing.  Instead it involves carrying out a relaxing but purposeful activity, it can be informal - something which takes your mind off the worries of the day, like reading, listening to music or going for a walk.  But sometimes these sorts of things alone are not enough to combat the stress response.  Then we need to try specific techniques such as relaxation breathing or muscle relaxation, which can produce rapid results when used properly.  They can be used just before or after a stressful incident, to produce a calming effect.