Archive for the ‘Relaxation and Stress’ Category
Deep Breathing Exercises for Stress and Relaxation
March 8th, 2011 >> Relaxation and Stress
Do you do deep breathing when you get stressed or anxious? It seems to be an instinct that we usually do this whenever we are in stressful situations. Breathing exercises make you relax since they give your body the feeling of being relaxed.
Also, breathing exercises help the body achieve the amount of air it needs to carry out various processes. This may also explain why it is important to do deep breathing in times of stress when the demands for oxygen increase to keep up with your physical activity.
Deep Breathing and Relaxation
Have you noticed how your body feels after breathing-in deeply when you are tired or exhausted? Think of how you feel when you do deep breathing before you fall asleep or upon waking up. You might have noticed how it relaxes your body and even your mind just by doing so. This is because it sends the brain a message to relax. In turn, the brain will release electrical signals for the body to calm down.
Deep Breathing and Stress
When you are under stress, the body compensates by increasing its level of functioning to meet up with the needs. The heart beats faster, the production of hormones becomes faster and your brain even works double-time. If this continues for a long period of time, you may reach the point of exhaustion. This is when illness sets in.
Deep breathing technique is a proven approach against stress. It allows your brain to command your vital organs including the heart and the lungs to relax after vigorously doing their work all day. It may cause your increased blood pressure, rapid breathing and heart rate to lower down.
Here is How It is Done
First, place one hand on the chest and the other above your belt line. This may help you to know if you are using the right muscles and body parts during this exercise. This time, you have to sigh gently by opening your mouth. This will help your muscles relax and not really to exhale the air in the lungs. Pause for several seconds with your mouth closed.
Using the nose, inhale slowly. The stomach must be pushed out during inhalation. This will allow the air to reach the lower lobes of the lungs where the oxygen binds with the blood to be transported to the body. When you get the enough air to fill your lungs comfortably, stop. Pause and count from 1 to 10 or until when you can tolerate holding your breath. Just be careful that you don’t experience light-headedness. This may be a sign that you are having larger breaths compared to what your body is used to. This is just a signal though that you need to do the breathing more slowly.
Now, you have to exhale. Open your mouth and let out the air through it with your belly moving inwards. This facilitates the exhalation of the air in the lungs. You need to pause after exhalation just before you start with the inhalation and do the steps all over again.
Tips To Help You Sleep Better
December 13th, 2010 >> Relaxation and Stress
A lot of people have trouble sleeping at night. This may be due to stress, loads of tasks to do and the responsibilities need to uphold. Every person deserves a good night rest. Resting shakes off all the tiredness and exhaustion the whole day. It prepares your mind and body for the next day. Without adequate rest and sleep, your ability to function is decreased. It totally affects your mood, emotion and capacity to work.
Here are several tips to guide you in setting aside everything that bothers you for you to have a quality sleep:
1. Make your room conducive for sleeping. You can sleep better when you’re in your room rather than by just lying on your couch, on a table or office. Make sure your linens are clean and dry. Discomfort can disrupt your sleep. Darken the room and adjust the temperature to which you’re comfortable. A tidy and organized room will also help you in sleeping well.
2. Shower before sleeping. A hot shower can help you relax, feel clean and comfortable. It’s necessary that you’re comfortable when you sleep. Wear soft clothing when sleeping.
3. Shut down all noises. When the environment is quite, you can sleep better. Turn off the television. There are some people that prefer to listen to music while sleeping. If you want that music is playing while you sleep, you can choose those which are soft and with slow melody. Loud and aggressive music will just awaken you up.
4. Make a routine before sleeping. This will prepare your body and signal it that it’s sleeping time. Sleep and wake up the same time everyday. To help you sleep, you can drink a glass of hot milk. Milk contains tryptophan that relaxes muscles and aid in making you sleepy. Read a book to tire eye muscles and make them shut down. Other people meditate or pray before sleeping to relax muscles to easily get sleep.
5. When you’re fond of napping at the middle of the day, limit it to no longer than 30 minutes. This will just help you recharge for the whole afternoon. Sleeping more than 30 minutes may make you sleep the whole afternoon which makes it tempting to sleep longer. When you sleep the whole afternoon, you will most probably be having difficulty sleeping at night. Disrupting your sleeping schedule may break your pattern making it difficult for you to sleep again at night.
6. When it has been two weeks that you’re sleep doesn’t get any better with all your trying, then it’s time to see your doctor. You probably need a supplement to help you sleep and restore your sleeping pattern. Sleeping pills aren’t best to be used for long-term since you can rely on them. They’re best to be taken a few days just to get you back to sleep. When stress is the problem, it’s better to manage stress properly so your sleep won’t be affected.
Find these tips useful in helping you sleep better. Be energetic and feel good the next day because your sleep was complete and sound. Work with full functionality and be more productive because of your improved well-being.
Relaxation: How To Live A Good Life
August 19th, 2010 >> Relaxation and Stress
Everyone dreams of a good life. This may be subjective because each person has his own problems to solve and challenges to face. There are just lots of stresses in life. Life is a hard path to take but not all the time. For sure, there are more positive things than the negative. One way of enjoying life is to rest for a while and relax. After days of work, you’re looking forward for offs and vacations so you can slow down and forget all your stresses.
The Importance of Rest
Rest refers to the ability of the mind and body to relieve stress and feel calm. You can do this a few minutes of your break-time or at night after work. Short hours of rest is not enough. You need a minimum of a day or two to get loose and bring back the motivation in you. Take some time to rest by sleeping at least 8 hours. Dig in your favorite sport or hobby during the weekend and enjoy playing. Go shopping with your friends if it makes you feel good. Indulge over good food in known restaurants with your loved ones. Drink good wine and eat delectable food. This promotes balance in your life and prevents you from getting exhausted and burnt out in your work.
Rest Isn’t Enough. Relax
You have rested and enjoyed it but there’s more. You deserve leisure and pleasure. You can do this by relaxing. The best way to relax is to have a wonderful vacation. It may be just a few hours from home, in another town or country or anywhere you want to spend your extra time in. For months or even years, you have been confined in the 4 walls of your home and office. You need to experience a delightful getaway and experience the bliss of life. You can go to the beach with your family. The sun, sand and breeze can make your forget major blunders in your career. Visit theme parks like Disneyland with your kids and laugh all those difficulties you had faced. Tour to beautiful cities and countries and experience varied cultures not similar to yours. If you just want a nearer place, you can go fishing, read a good book, watch great movies or stay in a hotel with your loved one. You will definitely feel relaxed with the hotel’s services and you get to eat good food.
By learning how to get enough rest and relaxation at the same time, you can enjoy and live a good life. Life is just short and you don’t know when it will end. While you still can and while you’re still alive, you deserve to all the pleasure there is in the world. Life is not all about working hard. You need to rest for a while and relax to keep you going. People who don’t find time for leisure are prone to depression and sickness. Live healthily and happily because you have the right to do so.
Bath Meditation for Stress and Relaxation
February 19th, 2010 >> Relaxation and Stress
You may have heard about the importance of meditation to stress and relaxation. What you may not know of is you can do it while enjoying a hot tub bath. Today, many researches done about stress yielded findings on what can be done to manage it.
Bath Meditation
This approach in stress management combines the basics of meditation and the relaxing and soothing effects of soaking in a hot tub. This may allow you to relax your muscles that are tired after a long day’s work. Also, the relaxing atmosphere in your bathroom may even allow you to relax and escape from the stressors outside. Through this, you may allow your mind and body to rest out of what keep you stressed out and exhausted. Here are ways on how to do this:
Find Time
First, you need to find time to do this Bath Meditation Technique. This can last up to 15 minutes. So tell your family members not to interrupt in your hot tub session or put your cellphone in silent mode while you do this stress management activity. Fifteen minutes is not too much after all unless certain emergencies arise and there’s a need for you to get out of your tub.
Aromatherapy
Aromatic baths may also be helpful in relieving stress. This may be done by adding bath oils and bath soaps to the tub. They come in different scents such as lavender and chamomile that are found to be effective in relaxing the mind through the scent they give. This will allow you to add another technique to the approach you use to shun away stress. Also, you can light scented incense to give you the pleasing smell that causes you to relax.
Breathing Exercises
Assuming you have read about how breathing exercises allay anxiety and stress, you can use it while you are enjoying a warm soak in the tub. Breathe slowly and deeply and feel the air as it fills your lungs and it relieves the body from tension and even pain. Just make sure you don’t overdo the steps that may lead to light-headedness.
Focus on What You Feel
Focus on certain sensations you may feel while you are in the tub such as the warm water where your body is soaked, the fragrance of the bubble bath and the sensation on your back as it lies on the tub. Try to avoid other thoughts and focus on what you feel that very moment. This is a form of meditation that can allow your mind to relax.
If meditation is proven to be effective in stress coping mechanisms, it may be more helpful if you let your mind and body benefit from the relief that a warm aromatic bath may give you. Also, you can use music while you do this approach. Music therapy is also used in relieving stress because it calms the mind and allows the body to relax as well. You might be amazed on how these simple activities can help you deal with stress. Bath meditation can give you the health benefits just by relieving stress which is one of the root causes of various diseases.