anonymous asked:


rry through your day, rushing from one high pressure activity to the next? Do you view taking a break as a waste of time? If this sounds like you, you may be headed for burnout.

Most of us face a tottering tower of to-do. You may regard any break as unthinkable, fearing it will steal too much of your precious time. Yet, taking a few moments to relax will enable you to return to work refreshed. Your increased efficiency, effectiveness and productivity will more than make up for the time you’ve used relaxing.

We are all hard wired to work hard and then to recuperate from our exertions. Just watch a young child and you will observe this natural cycle so essential to life balance. They run around like crazy and then conk out.

Failure to honor this rhythm creates mental and physical stress. When you drive yourself hard throughout your day, going from one activity to the next with no respite, you put demands on your body and your mind that they were not designed to handle. Over time this stress can lead to burnout. Yet reestablishing your necessary life balance is easy to do. While taking a nap may not be practical for you, there are ways you can relax that take only a few moments and will really help.

Here are five simple ways you can relax and restore balance to your life. Each of these exercises takes less than 10 minutes to do. When you take regular re-creation breaks throughout the day, you refresh yourself and return to work better able to focus and accomplish your goals.

1. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)

PMR entails tensing and relaxing various muscle groups in turn. The power of PMR comes from the rebound effect: muscles which have been tensed relax more deeply once the tension is released. Like any physical activity – playing a musical instrument or a sport – the more you practice PMR, the better you get and the more effective it becomes. Through regular practice you will enable yourself to induce a deep feeling of relaxation and calm in just moments.

For each muscle group – your jaw, your neck and shoulders, your abdomen – first tense the muscles you are focusing on as hard as you can, hold that tension for a moment and then release it. Repeat this process with each muscle group in turn. You can start at your head and work down or begin at your feet and work up. Either way, just make sure to include all parts of your body.

An additional benefit of PMR is increased awareness. PMR teaches you to notice muscular tension when and where it occurs in your body. Those muscle groups where you habitually hold tension will feel familiar to you when you practice the exercises. Develop the habit of checking out these muscle groups throughout the day and when you notice tension learn to relax. Over time you will train your muscles to stay relaxed even when you are under stress.

2. Calm Scene

Close your eyes, put both feet flat on the ground, take a deep breath or two and imagine a scene that for you is very calming. For many people this is a beach scene. Others find themselves in a beautiful meadow or in bed on a lazy morning with nothing to do and nowhere to go.

Carefully observe everything you see and hear and smell and feel in your calm scene. Really relax into the comfort you find here. By imagining your calm scene at the conclusion of practicing PMR, you will come to associate the scene with the deep feeling of relaxation you achieve. Then, when you do not have the time to go through the entire PMR exercise, you will be able to experience deep calm simply by immersing yourself for a moment or two in your calm scene.

3. Imagine Relaxation Throughout Your Body

You can achieve relaxation by simply imagining calm and peace filling every part of your body. Imagine yourself breathing in calm and peace. Imagine that tranquility circulating throughout your body, the way the oxygen you breathe finds its way to every cell in your entire body, with no effort whatsoever on your part. Then, with each exhalation, imagine yourself breathing out any stress and tension. Or you can imagine relaxation like a warm liquid that flows gently down over your head, your neck and shoulders and down through the rest of your body, bringing calm and peace as it flows.

To gain maximum benefit from any of these relaxation exercises, make sure you remain uninterrupted. Turn off your cell phone and tell those around you that you are not to be disturbed. You may need to leave your office or work station to find a quiet spot. You will be able to relax more deeply, confident that nothing will bother you.

Relaxation is just like any physical skill. The more you practice it, the better you will be at it and the easier it will become.

4. Stretch

Stretching creates a break from mental activity while stimulating blood flow. This extra oxygen delivery helps you become more alert and invigorated.

You don’t need to leave your desk to stretch. Sitting straight in your chair, swivel your head to one side as far as you can, hold this position for a moment and then release. Then turn your head to the other side, hold and release. Repeat this several times. Now tilt your head to each side, pulling your ear toward your shoulder without letting your shoulder rise.

If you keyboard regularly, you can help prevent carpal tunnel problems by extending your fingers as far as they will stretch. Make a fist and then stretch your fingers out. Repeat this several times every hour.

To do more elaborate stretching, you may want to close your office door or find a private place, succh as the restroom. Raise your hands high above your head and then bend over to touch the floor. Do a few side bends. You can also place your hands flat on the wall at shoulder level, place your feet directly under your hips as far back as you can reach and extend your hips backward, enjoying a great stretch in your legs, your back and your arms.

5. Walk

Taking a walk gets you moving. When you exercise, your body produces endorphins, those neurotransmitters that create a natural high. Walking puts you into the meditative state in which creativity flows.

If there is something bothering you, walking around for a few minutes helps you calm down. When you create a bit of distance you gain a different perspective on the challenge you face. You’ll be better able to deal with the situation when you return.

Taking a walk is not taking a hike. A walk can be very, very brief. Just taking a walk around the hallways in your office building or leaving the building to walk around the block can make a difference.

Practice these relaxation techniques repeatedly – at least once and preferably twice or three times a day – and you will improve your life balance. You will find that you are better able to deal with stress. You will be more focused and productive when you return to your work. All of this will help you to achieve your goals and make your good life better.



No Nonsense Muscle Building

Howard Platt asked:


ng to relax is a vital skill because our instinctive responses to stress are often more harmful than the stress itself. When things are not going as planned and we begin to feel the anxiety building up we have a tendency to overreact to some of the most insignificant situations. Think about the times you have endured stress just by thinking about something that might happen. My Mother used to tell me that I was just borrowing trouble when I did this and now I can see how right she was. We are going to learn some techniques we can use that will help us deal with or even avoid stress altogether while helping us to enjoy some relaxation in our hectic lives.

Relaxation is that wonderful feeling you have when the pressures of life seem to be non-existent and you have a positive mental outlook about your surroundings, your work and the day ahead of you. Relaxation is really a wonderful feeling and we all should make concerted attempts to enjoy the peaceful feelings that relaxation invokes. Reducing stress, creating peace of mind and just easing all the tension throughout your body has so many positive affects on your life.

Meditation is one way to bring about a sense of calmness, quietness and peaceful relaxation. Meditation allows the mind to settle down and really experience an inner state of calmness. When you use meditation on a regular basis, after a short amount of time you will begin to notice an improvement in your memory and your problem solving skills. The more you use meditation to help yourself relax the easier it becomes to bring yourself to that peaceful state of mind. Using meditation on a daily basis will help you to focus more on the positives in life, you will notice an increase in your creativity and you will find joy in the small things in life. The use of soothing music such as the sounds of nature or symphonic harmonies are perfect for relaxing your mind allowing you to enter that peaceful meditative state.

The use of visualization is another powerful tool that you may use to rid yourself of stress and bring about true relaxation. To effectively use visualization you should find yourself a place where you can be alone with no noise around you. Close your eyes and try to quite your mind then vividly imagine that you are in the most peaceful place you can think of, picture that place in your mind. Completely immerse yourself in the picture as though you are really there experiencing the whole event involve all your senses, feel the wind, imagine how it smells, hear all the sounds allow yourself to be a part of the scenery. The practice of visualization is so powerful it can remove you from the stress of real life in a matter of moments. Practice it often as the more you use it the easier it becomes to relax and really get yourself swept up into a beautiful fantasy. I visualize the perfect outcomes of many events in my life, the more you visualize something the easier it becomes for your sub-conscious mind to accept the visualization as reality.

Slow easy stretching is a wonderful exercise to use to bring you into a state of complete relaxation. When we become stressed our muscles tighten up and get sore leaving you uncomfortable and tense. Slowly stretching the muscles and tendons loosens you up in a couple of ways, first it stretches the muscles helping you to feel like your not all tied up in knots and just the act of stretching takes your mind off anything that may have been causing you stress. Stretching exercises can be done almost anywhere and while your stretching you can add to your relaxation by adding visualization as you perform your stretches. Now you have connected the body and the mind which helps to bring about a complete state of relaxation.

Muscle relaxation is a very effective technique that involves concentrating on one muscle group at a time. When using this technique you focus on tightening and then relaxing the muscle group. Using this method helps to take your mind off any worries you might have and it allows you to focus on the physical sensation of bringing your muscles to a state of relaxation. You should start tensing and relaxing your muscles in your toes then your feet and progressively work your way up through all the muscles in your body in a methodical pattern. You should tense your muscles for five to ten seconds and then relax for 30 seconds then repeat this process for every muscle group. You will find this exercise to be very relaxing and stress relieving as it frees your mind from the pressures of the day.

Bringing yourself to a state of total relaxation takes practice but the benefits you will receive such as stress relief make it all worthwhile. Whether you have a lot of stress in your life or a little and you believe you have it under control, you can always benefit from the many types of relaxation techniques. The use of soothing music such as the calming sounds of nature will only enhance the benefits you receive from using these forms of relaxation. Music therapy itself has the strong ability to bring you into a peaceful state of relaxation or to help you avoid stress altogether by playing it in the background while at work in the car or at home.

No Nonsense Muscle Building

Mark Boardman asked:


Use this simple self-hypnosis process to quickly and easily relax in just ten minutes. Practice and soon you will be able to relax at will! A great way to help you fall asleep.

Some people find it easy to relax, others find it very difficult. This article is aimed at those who find it difficult. This process is excellent to use if you are having trouble falling asleep at night or just find it hard to switch off from the stresses of life!

Sit yourself down somewhere comfortable and relaxed where you are unlikely to be disturbed for a few minutes.

Step 1. Take a deep breath and hold it for a couple of seconds, then release it as slowly and steadily as you can. Then repeat this just one more time and as you let out the breath very gently allow your eyes to close.

Step 2. For the next couple of minutes focus on nothing but your eyelids. Allow them to relax as fully as they can. Imagine them becoming heavier and heavier over your eyes, picture them becoming relaxed. The eyelids have some of the smallest muscles in the human body and are the easiest to relax.

Step 3. After a couple of minutes picture, and feel, the relaxation in your eyelids spreading down your entire body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes in a flowing wave of relaxation and comfort. Then feel that relaxation double.

Step 4. Next, on each outward breath, say inwardly to yourself, while keeping your lips perfectly still, the word ‘relax’. Your breathing should stay completely unaltered. On every outward breath just think to yourself ‘relax’ and feel the stress and tension leaving your body.

Step 5. Now, as you continue to think ‘relax’ on each outward breath allow your body to slowly relax one section at a time. Start at the head and face, move down through the neck and shoulders and into the arms, hands and fingers. Let all the tension flow away from your body. Then move on to the back and spine, the chest, stomach, waist and hips. Finally feel the relaxation flow through your legs and on into your feet and toes. Each step of the way let your body relax deeper and continue to think ‘relax’ on each outward breath.

Step 6. When you feel fully relaxed enjoy the sensation for as long as you like, then when you are ready slowly open your eyes, take a short while to stretch and revive yourself and then move on with the rest of your day, feeling relaxed and energised!



End Anxiety And Panic Attacks

Albert Alexander asked:


Stress is the curse of living in modern times. Everyone suffers from stress. And the stress we suffer takes a heavy toll on our bodies, emotions and minds.

Feeling stressed out, worn out by fatigue or just simply having a miserable day, the best thing to do is relax.

Watching television may be a form of relaxation for some, but is not a recommended method by experts. When we watch TV we are bombarded with commercials, ads, sounds and images. So how do we achieve relaxation? If there are thousands of ways we can get stressed, one of them is not meeting deadlines, there are also many ways we can relax.

In recent studies, experts have determined that heart disease is linked to anger and irritability is linked to mental stress. Too much stress brings about ischemia that can lead to or cause a heart attack. Relaxation takes on added importance in light of this matter. Managing your anger and attitude is significant to heart health, and relaxation can help you manage stress.

One way of relaxation is transcendental meditation. Recent studies have also shown that this method might reduce artery blockage, which is a major cause for heart attack and stroke. People practice transcendental meditation by repeating uttering soothing sounds while meditating, this is to achieve total relaxation. The researchers found that practitioners of transcendental meditation significantly reduced the thickness of their arterial wall compared with those who didn’t practice transcendental meditation.

Another study on another method of relaxation, acupuncture, seems to reduce high blood pressure by initiating several body functions for the brain to release chemical compounds known as endorphins. Endorphin helps to relax muscles, ease panic, decrease pain, and reduce anxiety.

Yoga is also another method for relaxation and may also have similar effects like acupuncture. In another study, participants were subjected to several minutes of mental stress. Then they were subjected to various relaxation techniques, such as listening to nature sounds or classical music. Only those who did Yoga significantly reduced the time it took for their blood pressures to go back to normal. Yoga is a form of progressive relaxation.

Breathing is one of the easiest methods to relax. Breathing influences alamost all aspects of us, it affects our mind, our moods and our body. Simply focus on your breathing, after some time you can feel its effects right away.

There are several breathing techniques that can help you reduce stress.

Another easy way to achieve relaxation is exercise. If you feel irritated a simple half-hour of exercise will often settle things down. Although exercise is a great way to lose weight, it does not show you how to manage stress appropriately. Exercise should also be used in conjunction with other exercise method.

One great way of relaxation is getting a massage. To gain full relaxation, you need to totally surrender to the handling and touch of a professional therapist.

There are several types of massages that also give different levels of relaxation.

Another method of relaxation is Biofeedback. The usual biofeedback-training program includes a 10-hour sessions that is often spaced one week apart.

Hypnosis is one controversial relaxation technique. It is a good alternative for people who think that they have no idea what it feels like to be relaxed. It is also a good alternative for people with stress related health problems.

Drugs are extreme alternatives to relaxation. They are sometimes not safe and are not effective like the other relaxation methods. This method is only used by trained medical professionals on their patients.

These relaxation techniques are just some of the ways you can achieve relaxation. Another reason why we need to relax, aside from lowering blood pressure in people and decreasing the chances of a stroke or a heart attack, is because stress produces hormones that suppress the immune system, relaxation gives the immune system time to recover and in doing so function more efficiently.

Relaxation lowers the activities within the brains’ limbic system; this is the emotional center of our brain.

Furthermore, the brain has a periodic need for a more pronounced activity on the right-hemisphere. Relaxation is one way of achieving this.

Relaxation can really be of good use once a relaxation technique is regularly built into your lifestyle. Choose a technique that you believe you can do regularly.



The Fat Burning Furnace