What helps you relax. How to learn to relax if there is a load of worries on your shoulders? Relaxation and relaxation technique: “entering the alpha state”

It's normal to experience stress from time to time, but it's not always healthy for your body. The ability to relax is essential to maintaining health and well-being, and it will also bring joy and positivity back into your life. By allowing stress to control your mind and emotions, you automatically put yourself at risk for depression, illness, and dissatisfaction with life. Learn to recognize the first signs of stress in time and control them - this will help you relax both physically and emotionally. It's a good idea to spend some of your time doing things that make you happy. In addition, you will probably feel more relaxed and calm if you learn how to interact correctly with conflicting people.

Steps

Part 1

Accept stress and change your attitude towards it

Learn to recognize signs of stress early . The fact is that there is so-called “beneficial stress”. In small doses and in appropriate situations, stress helps us stay alert, motivates and gives us strength. But if your stress level is so high that you have to constantly put up with things and situations that cause you harm and generally negatively affect your well-being, you risk experiencing a state of chronic stress. Your stress levels are likely too high if:

• You can't stop thinking about work. This could be your own business, career advancement, hired work, or just housekeeping - any activity that takes up 100% of your life and your time. This excessive concentration on one activity squeezes all the juice out of you, leaving you frustrated, tired, dissatisfied and internally empty.
• You are often irritated, you are very short-tempered and cannot concentrate on any specific task.
• You feel like there is too much going on in your life, so you have to spin around like a squirrel in a wheel.
• You can’t remember the last time you laughed heartily, and your sense of humor clearly leaves much to be desired.

1. Consider whether stress is affecting your physical well-being. The fact is that stress is not just an emotional process that undermines only the psychological sphere of your life. It also causes various changes at the physiological level. You may have too much stress in your life if you:

   • You often feel general tension, headaches, neck and back pain; your general health has deteriorated and you begin to get sick often;
   • If you have difficulty falling asleep (or, conversely, you sleep too much);
   • If you have noticeable changes in appetite.

2. Take some time to really relax and unwind. Once you have accepted the fact that negative stress factors greatly affect your life, it is important to find time to relax and unwind among all other things. Choose a relaxation method that will be most effective for you.

   • Set aside a time in your schedule in advance when you can rest. Treat this matter like a very important meeting with a client that you cannot cancel or reschedule. Write this task in your diary in advance or create a reminder in your phone.
   • For example, you can write: “Go to yoga (Wednesday 14.00-15.00).” Distribute your relaxation time as if you were planning to meet a friend or go to the doctor.

3. Don't give in to the guilt you might feel when you're resting and relaxing. With the advancement of technology, we have developed a feeling of hyperactivity where we are connected 24/7 and feel the need to constantly actively work on something. This routine can quickly wear you down. Make a promise to yourself to rest and relax on time.

   • You can even write down this promise to yourself. Place a sticky note on your mirror and write on it: “You deserve a warm bubble bath after work!” is a great way to remind yourself that it's time to relax.

4. Try to develop positive thinking . Positive thinking can really do wonders for your mental health. Try to start treating yourself differently and change the tone of your internal dialogue with yourself. Stop always criticizing yourself and work on replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. .

   • For example, instead of having the thought in your head: “Why am I so stressed? I should have dealt with all this in time!” - try replacing it with another: "Wow, I really worked really hard all this time. I deserve a good rest."
   • If you make a mistake, don't punish or scold yourself. It’s better to try to figure out what went wrong and why, cheer yourself up and tell yourself that next time it will work out much better.
   • Try visualization techniques. If you can't calm down, try to imagine something relaxing and peaceful - visualization really works wonders and helps us look better. Imagine a beach, sunbathing and lying on the warm sand, going hiking or whatever else you enjoy.

5. Use affirmations - this will help change your attitude towards life. Affirmations are a great way to avoid negative thoughts and conclusions. Affirmations are short but very powerful and convincing statements that make you stronger, increase your self-confidence and help you believe in positive results.

   • For example, here is a good affirmation: “I am very strong and can easily take on any challenge because I have a positive outlook.”

6. Learn to prioritize. Make a to-do list for every day. Rank the items on this list in order of importance and try to be as productive as possible. Try to resolve issues before they become a global problem. The more productive you are, the more time you will have for relaxation.

   • Make sure you do your job. You may think this goes against our message to relax and unwind, but procrastination and the habit of procrastinating are hardly as attractive as feeling like you don't have anything else to do. Do everything you need to do now, and then you will have time to properly rest and relax.

Part 2

Try to reduce tension

1. Learn the technique deep breathing when you feel like you can't cope with stress. Slow down your breathing and concentrate on it. Inhale through your nose to a count of 1-2-3-4 or 5, and then exhale through your mouth to the same count.

   • This will help relax your muscles and calm your nerves. As you exhale, imagine the stress and tension leaving your body with the exhaled air.

2. To feel your best, start Healthy food . Eating healthy foods will help you maintain balance and health in your body. Eating well will also make your body less sensitive to spikes in blood sugar and anxiety. This will help you feel more energetic.

   • Start eating fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains - add them to every meal. For example, for breakfast you can make a vegetarian omelet, add a few berries and make toast or just a sandwich with whole grain bread.
   • Eat as many healthy proteins as possible, such as chicken, fish, whole grains, legumes, dark leafy vegetables, and low-fat dairy products. If you are a vegetarian, tofu is a good option.
   • Avoid foods high in sugar, such as granola bars, baked goods, and sodas.
   • Don't drink too much coffee. Excessive amounts of caffeine will make you overactive and irritable. Try not to drink coffee after 13-14 hours. Instead of coffee, try brewing some herbal tea.
   • Drink more water - this will help you maintain water balance in your body.

3. Exercise every day. This is a great way to reduce your stress levels. It is also good for psychological stability. You'll be surprised at how much easier it becomes to deal with stress if you start exercising regularly. Try some of the following:

   • Set a goal to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a day.
   • Take a walk in the park, in the forest, or on a treadmill.
   • Use steps instead of the elevator.
   • If you drive to the store, park a little further from the store than usual.
   • Ride a bike.
   • Swim. For example, you can go to the pool, go with a friend to a lake or other reservoir, or you can just go to the dacha on the river. You don't have to be a good swimmer, the point is just to lie in the water - it's really relaxing.
   • Do some stretching. Relax and lower your shoulders - this will help you relax. Try to feel the tension that will quickly accumulate in your shoulders and neck.

4. Give yourself a massage to relieve muscle tension . Or go to the spa and book a massage. By relaxing your body, you can relax your mind. Ask a friend or family member to recommend a good massage therapist.

   • If you can't afford a massage at a spa, ask your partner or a good friend to rub your shoulders. Or go for a pedicure to get your feet massaged a little.

5. Make it your top priority healthy sleep . Try to sleep 7–9 hours a night. Good sleep will help you feel energized and face the day with ease. Get into the habit of going to bed and waking up at approximately the same time.

   • It is recommended to turn off all electronic devices at least an hour before bed to allow your brain to relax and calm down a bit after a busy day.
   • Create a special nightly ritual for yourself, such as reading a chapter of your favorite book or taking a warm shower at night.

Part 3

Engage in activities that help you relax

1. Dial warm bath . Warm water is very relaxing. First, draw a bath, and then create a special relaxing atmosphere. For example, you can light candles and place them around the bathroom, or you can add bubble bath to the water. We recommend choosing a lavender scent - a very relaxing scent. You can add a little lavender oil to the water.

   • While relaxing in the bath, you can flip through your favorite magazine, listen to music, or just close your eyes and enjoy.

2. Start reading a good, interesting book. Reading is a great way to escape reality for a while. Find a cozy place and sit there with a book. For example, you can climb onto the sofa, wrap yourself in a blanket and take a cup of chamomile tea with you.

   • If you feel too anxious, you should not choose horror or thriller to read. This genre definitely won’t help you relax.

3. Start meditating . Try to clear your mind of all intrusive thoughts and emotions and focus on your breathing. Meditation helps you feel yourself and completely relax. Of course, to learn how to meditate, you will have to spend some time practicing, but it is worth it.

   • Start with 15 minutes of sitting meditation. Then gradually increase the time each time to 45–60 minutes.
   • Try meditating regularly. Believe me, even 5 minutes a day will give excellent results!
   • If you find it difficult to master meditation on your own, find a good mentor.
   • Don't try to be overzealous or compete with anyone, and don't get upset about the results of meditation - all these emotions negatively affect the essence of meditation!

4. Try to resort to self-hypnosis . Concentrate on a thought, then take a few deep breaths and allow yourself to be hypnotized. If you are having trouble with self-hypnosis, consider contacting a good psychologist. You should not dabble with hypnosis if the person is not an expert in this field, otherwise the session can bring even more stress.

5. Do something that really helps you relax. The most important thing in the relaxation process is to choose the method that best suits you. Think about what activities bring you pleasure, what you enjoy, and make time for those activities. For example, you can:

   • Go fishing, sew, sing, draw or take up photography.
   • Try singing a song for fun, replacing words with numbers and numbers. Singing helps you take your mind off stress and relax.
   • Music can be a real relaxation therapy. Adjust the volume to whatever you like and enjoy.

6. Spend time with your pet. Play with him and cuddle him to your heart's content. This will be pleasant not only for you, but also for your pet. Tell your pet how you feel, how much stress you are under, how anxious you are - and you will feel much better. This pet therapy is one of the best ways to relax and unwind.

   • If you don't have a pet, ask your friends if you can spend time with their pets. In addition, in many large cities, special cat cafes have appeared where you can relax and cuddle animals for a small fee.

7. Smile and laugh. Laughter is the best medicine. Find or download a funny comedy on the Internet. A smile and laughter stimulate the release of special hormones into the blood - endorphins, which help fight stress, relax and remind you that life does not consist of just work. Even if it seems quite strange at first, try to smile as often as possible.

   • In addition, you can go to a comedy movie or meet a friend who is really good at telling jokes.

Part 4

How to Stay Calm Around People Who Stress You

1. Try to distance yourself a little from people who are on edge all the time. Associating with such people can have an adverse effect on you. If for some reason you still have to be surrounded by them, try to imagine an invisible obstacle (for example, a wall) that separates you from these people. This visualization technique will help you create a kind of psychological cocoon that will protect you from a tense, negative atmosphere and stressed-out people. Observe the behavior of these people, their attitude, notice how stress negatively affects them, but do not allow it to penetrate your cocoon.

   • It will be quite difficult at first to protect yourself from negative people and stress, especially if you have a well-developed sense of empathy. But don't stop practicing until distancing becomes your natural reaction to other people's negativity and stress.

2. Stop communicating with toxic people. Turn off your phone, close your email, or simply leave the room. As soon as you feel like you are being negatively influenced and starting to get angry at someone, try your best not to give in to it. . When we feel angry and stressed, we are more likely to misinterpret situations and relationships and react to them inappropriately. When a person reacts or responds in a negative tone, anger and anger manifest themselves, without effort on our part. Try to calm down and continue to use relaxation techniques.

   • Write your angry response on a draft and set it aside for one day. If, after 24 hours, what you wrote still seems fair and relevant to you, you can send this message. But if not, you will be grateful to yourself for pausing.
   • Distance yourself and relax. Instead of reacting angrily to a particular situation, try to distance yourself from it for a while until you calm down.
   • Again, limit your interactions with toxic people! Spend as little time as possible around people who try to manipulate you or get it into your head that you are not good enough. Even if it's your family.
   • Stay away from people who constantly complain. Stress is highly contagious, so avoid any interactions with people who are stressed. Of course, supporting people and empathizing with them is a wonderful good thing. But if a person clearly doesn’t need your help, if he just wants to piss you off, it’s time to step away.
   • Sometimes you need to think about yourself first. We very often think about other people's problems, which is why stress controls us more and more every day.

   Warnings

   • If stress is causing you more serious symptoms (loss of appetite, chronic headaches, general fatigue), it's best to see a doctor.
   • Hundreds and thousands of people are especially susceptible to alcohol and drug addiction during periods of stress. One of the most difficult aspects of dealing with stress is recognizing it and deciding to stay away from the sources of stress, as well as imaginary ways of dealing with it that only mask stress, but do not relieve it.

In the modern world, people are exposed to stressful situations every day, every minute to a small or large extent. We all work and have a social circle, a loved one or are looking for one. There are times when it is difficult to concentrate, or you make a mistake in your work, or there is a conflict in a relationship or communication. Sometimes it’s even just that today was a hard day. Because of this, our body is tense and psychologically we are also tense. And often we ask ourselves: “How to relax?” And in this article we will give the answer, breaking it down into the following points:

How to learn to relax psychologically?

Learning to relax psychologically is the first stage of knowing yourself. Unfortunately, nowadays people rarely do something they love. We get used to living in a work-home rhythm.

If you often feel tense and constantly cannot relax, it’s time to think about the fact that you are not paying enough attention to yourself. You are so carried away by your rhythm of life and solving problems or household chores that you have forgotten the most important thing - yourself. You forgot that you need to pay attention to yourself. First of all, you must be aware that you are under the influence of stressful situations, that your body can be tense, and that you may feel depressed. Each person has individual needs and each has their own methods for relaxation. It all depends on your tastes and hobbies.

In order to learn to relax psychologically, decide what you would like to do. Someone may like to do handicrafts, someone once wanted to write a book, maybe you dreamed of working with children. It could even be playing sports. Ask yourself the question: “What do I need to relax?” Look inside yourself and you will definitely answer it. Look at your daily schedule and set aside time for yourself, at least one or two hours a day for yourself.

Meditation techniques and some yoga practices also help you learn to relax. They consist of a set of activities to obtain a guaranteed result: relaxation and inner peace. Start going to yoga or take up relaxation classes at home.

How to relax without alcohol?

It is considered a misleading opinion to say that I relax with the help of alcohol. In principle, in small quantities, alcohol gives relaxation, but in practice, in fact, alcohol does not relax, since after a stressful situation, a person trying to relax with alcohol, most often after the first glass, already reaches for the second and subsequently becomes heavily intoxicated, and this will only aggravate stress and give the opposite reaction, the person will become irritable and nervous.

What to replace alcohol with? In fact, stress is a surge of adrenaline into the blood. A person begins to think faster in a stressful situation, and his body requires physical action.

One option to solve the problem is to play sports. What type is at your discretion. The main thing is that you can throw out your emotions. Or if you feel depressed after stress, a walk around the city or park will help.

How can you relax at home before bed?

After a hard day, especially if it was very active. There are times when it is simply very difficult to fall asleep. There are thoughts swirling in your head that don’t allow you to relax, and you’re spinning on the bed like a spinning top. What to do? How to relax yourself? There are several options:

1. Clear your head of thoughts that make you tense and constantly think about the situation. Just force yourself not to think about your problem, since tomorrow it will definitely be resolved with a positive result. You need to distract yourself with something, for example, think about something pleasant for you. Can be used to relax meditation techniques.


2. Exercise. This does not mean that you need to get up and jump and overload your body even more. No, just do a few exercises to relax your muscles, the main thing is that they are light and not forced, without heavy load.


3. You can also get a massage. It will definitely relax all your muscles and give your body and inner world peace. During massage, you can use aromatic oils for relaxation and tranquility.


4. Take a warm bath, it will help relax your body muscles, and you will begin to feel sleepy. Your body is relaxed and you will fall asleep peacefully.

How to learn to relax during pregnancy?

During pregnancy there can also be stress. And when the expectant mother is worried not only alone, due to stress, but also at this time thinks about the child, her worries double.

If your tension is caused by worries about future childbirth, do not hesitate, tell this experience to your doctor, or to relatives and friends who have also been pregnant and know and remember how you also worried. They will definitely advise you and dispel your worries. Always remember that you are already responsible for the life of your unborn child, and what you experience, he experiences with you. Learn to relax. Give yourself time to relax. Even if you do not attend any classes and are constantly at home, you can do this at home:

• First of all, you need to find a place where no one will distract you and where it is quiet.


• Turn on relaxing music that you like, preferably classics.


• Sit comfortably, this could be your favorite chair, or reclining on the sofa. Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Feel how energy spreads throughout your body as you inhale, bringing you warmth and happiness.


• Remove all interfering thoughts. To do this, you can use the following technique: your thoughts are clouds, behind the clouds is a clear blue sky. You mentally push the clouds away, clearing the sky.


• Dream about how good it will be when your baby is born. Give free rein to your imagination, enjoy the feeling of love and happiness. After the end of relaxation, the main thing is not to get up suddenly.


• Open your eyes, move your arms and legs. Tighten all parts of your body in turn. Now you are ready to stand up. And if at this moment you look inside yourself, you will understand that it is warm and calm there.

Give yourself 10-15 minutes every day to practice.

How to relax after stress?

If something happened in your life and your body experienced stress, what to do in such a situation? When common sense flies out of your head, when you yourself don’t understand what’s happening around you. Naturally, at the moment of stress and for several minutes or hours after it, a person does not think about how to avoid a stressful situation or how to calm himself down. The nervous system is overstrained. In such situations, people behave differently. More often they withdraw into themselves, they think and do nothing.

What do we have to do? The first thing is to rid yourself of thoughts. Do something. Go, walk around the city, take a contrast shower, go to the gym, tell the situation to a loved one. Do something - don't isolate yourself. After you have done something, a few hours will pass and the stressful situation will no longer seem so shocking. When your brain is freed from unnecessary thoughts, it will begin to work and look for ways to solve the problem.

It is impossible to rid yourself of stressful situations in life altogether. And for what? In minor stressful situations, we think better and find ways to get out of the current situation. That is, stressful situations help a person. But how you perceive stressful situations is another question. There is no need to try to run away from stressful situations, because running away is already stress. You just need to start perceiving the world not from the black side, but from the white side. Look at it from the other side, as an optimist. Know that everything that is not done is done for the better.

Tense muscles of the body, as well as tense nerves, make it difficult to concentrate on current affairs, as well as to relax. A person simply biologically needs sleep and rest, but due to constant work, often even night time does not bring proper rest. In this article I will tell you how to learn to completely relax psychologically and physically.

What is the skill of relaxation

Paradoxically, each of us must relearn what is inherent in us by nature. In a state of constant stress and fatigue, the body does not restart; at the mental level, we do not allow ourselves to calmly put our hands down, exhale, stop running somewhere, close our eyes and forget about problems. As a result, we get a complex of diseases and bad mood.

Relaxation is the ability to temporarily escape from worries, peace and a state of peace.

Why am I always tense

Tension can be spontaneous (an hour-long workout in the gym), followed by calm quickly enough, or cumulative. It is the last option that is most difficult for a person. It consists of:

• Physical fatigue - lack of sleep, working on your feet or at the computer, constant chores, due to which there is no time to sit down.
• Stress, psychological pressures, conflict situations - they appear everywhere when there is no harmony within and with the environment.
• Ecology and rhythm of life - the space around us is very depressing and provides a gloomy background.

If you only feel tension in the body that does not go away, then the reason is your inability to hear it.

Relaxation and Relaxation Techniques

If it is a skill, then it can be learned. Different techniques are required in different situations - some are appropriate at home after work, others can be used during a lunch break.

Quick ways

They are suitable for moments when you need to switch to something, throw off the burden of negative thoughts and experiences. For example, before going to a business meeting, you should temporarily disconnect from current work problems.

Quick relaxation techniques:

• Find the cause of stress and mentally push it aside. Awareness is the first and main step towards calm.
• Do some exercise. Many large companies have both a recreation area and a gym. Because sports activities relieve psychological fatigue.
• Several inhalations and exhalations, accompanied by raising and lowering your arms. Breathing is an excellent indicator of stress; with anxiety and nervous tension, it becomes more frequent; it is necessary to force it back to normal.
• Compression of the body in the fetal position. Press your head to your knees and clasp your legs with your hands, freeze for 10 minutes, experiencing conscious tension. Then, exhaling, open your palms and straighten up. This technique will allow you to get rid of internal locks.

How to relax your body and remove tensions

The muscles contract involuntarily and do not return to normal. This physical reaction of the body indicates psychological problems. You may not notice the “muscle shell” for a long time until the muscles begin to ache. If clamped:

• Mouth. Indicates a need for protection and resentment. You need to take the fetal position and make sucking movements.
• Neck. This means that there is fear, as well as control over speech. It is necessary to make several yawns in the morning and in the evening - large, into all the lungs.
• Breast. Speaks of restrained emotions. Try lying crosswise on the bed with your feet on the floor. Place a cushion under your back and take deep breaths.
• Diaphragm. Most likely, you are afraid of something. You can remove the clamp by making static turns of the body to the sides and holding them for a minute.

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How to learn to completely relax your body from tension

You need to give small loads to each muscle group:

• Bends – for the neck and shoulders, lower back, arms, calves and thighs.
• Pull up - for the back.
• Turns to the right and left - for the oblique abdominal muscles.
• Squats are for the legs.

It helps to relax energetic dance for 5-7 minutes. You can also sign up for swimming - water reduces resistance, so the muscles receive moderate, comprehensive development, but without overexertion. If you come home after training, a warm bath with aromatic oils or a contrast shower will work well.

Exercise for the brain

If you work mentally or study, you need to periodically clear your thoughts of worries. You can do it like this:

• using water procedures;
• through aromatherapy;
• drink tea with herbs - chamomile, thyme, linden;
• You can go for a massage or acupressure your body while applying milk or cream to the skin.

How to relax yourself after stress

First, you need to understand the cause of the condition, remove this factor from the environment along with secondary irritants - calls, noise from the street, the TV on. After this, you can do one of the following:

Discord in the family always begins with misunderstanding, so the main trump card is a heart-to-heart conversation. Perhaps the problem lies in the presence of complexes - you are embarrassed by your appearance, afraid to express your opinion, or do not feel loved.

I recommend being together more often in places where you feel most comfortable - on joint walks, picnics, at your parents’ house. Even a room in an apartment matters, where it is easier and more free for you to speak, there are more ways to open up. A prerequisite is a conversation, gradually explain the problem to him, find a joint solution.

Techniques and methods of relaxation and relaxation

Leave yourself 20-30 minutes during the day to restore peace of mind and physical relaxation. In this half-hour period, you can use techniques that in psychology are called relaxation. They contribute to the smooth removal of clamps and eliminate nervous tension.

Effective techniques

There are many types of methods, among which auto-training, meditation (especially good for those who practice yoga), and listening to music of a certain direction are especially popular. I made a selection of 6 techniques. To complete them, you need 15 minutes and complete privacy in comfortable conditions: order, silence, comfortable temperature, fresh air (you need to ventilate the room), absence of irritants.

Respiratory

It involves controlling the breath as the most important force guiding our body and mind. To do this you need:

• lie down in a comfortable position;
• close your eyes and concentrate on inhaling and exhaling through your nose;
• feel the coolness of the air;
• hold your breath for a while;
• exhale and feel the warmth.

This combination should be repeated 30-50 times. At the same time, you cannot think about extraneous things, only about enriching the body with oxygen. This exercise can be done anywhere, even while sitting. At the same time, the heart rate decreases, the nerves gradually return to order.

Relaxation technique progressive muscle relaxation

It is based on the opinion that if you tense each individual muscle in turn, then the whole body will come to calm in just 5-10 minutes. To do this, you need to move one muscle at a time - the neck (turns), the abs (twisting), the arms (raising small dumbbells).

Calming Visualization

Our subconscious “I” does not distinguish between real events. Therefore, you need to visualize images that bring peace. You need to act like this:

• Sit or lie down in a comfortable position and close your eyes.
• Normalize your breathing if it is lost.
• Imagine a place where you like to be, hold this picture, feel all the sensations (smells, tactile touches, sounds) that you experience there.
• Use maximum detail.
• Gradually return to reality, mentally recalling the furnishings of the room, focusing on real feelings.
• Open your eyes.

Relaxation and relaxation technique: “entering the alpha state”

Our brain works as a wave generator, and its activity can be at 4 levels, where:

• β – active work;
• α – state of rest;
• θ – meditation or hypnotic influence;
• δ – sleep.

The task of technology is to switch to frequencies from 8 to 14 Hz. This can be done according to the algorithm:

• lie down more comfortably;
• count from 3 to 1, mentally pronouncing these numbers;
• list the values ​​from 10 to 1, thinking in the phrases “I calm down”, “I relax”, “I sink deeper into calm”, “I am calm”, etc., at ten say “I am in alpha”.

This is similar to self-hypnosis and requires repeated repetition to learn how to dive deeper at each stage.

How to relax well when you have neurosis

This condition is accompanied by panic, fears, irritability, as well as depressive thoughts and a general negative attitude. Autogenic training helps a lot, during which a person, for a short time, but every day, inspires himself with correct, positive thoughts. Basic recommendations:

• mantras should not have a negative particle “not”;
• they must have simple language;
• During the exercise, development should occur - from the easiest to the more complex.

Examples of self-hypnosis: “I am happy,” “I am calm,” “I respond well to any situation.”

According to Jacobson

According to his theory, it is necessary to tense and then release tension from the muscles - this method of relaxation should be used not only for physical fatigue, but also for psychological fatigue. Thoughts need to be concentrated on sensations.

Regardless of which method you choose, follow some tips.

Simple exercises

Normal breathing actions and physical movements can be done for 1-2 minutes in any place - at work, at home, in line at the store. Take a break from your computer or phone right now, close your eyes, take a deep breath as you raise your arms, and exhale as you quickly lower them. Feel how the fatigue leaves you with the air, all the tension falls off your shoulders. Now stretch your hands, elbow joints and shoulders with rotational movements, twist your back from side to side, shake your limbs. In these couple of minutes you will already feel light.

One of the most common methods of psychotherapy today is muscle relaxation.

Its action is aimed at reducing the level of stress on the body, which directly depends on the dysfunction of the neuromuscular system.

A person must be able to differentiate between tension and relaxation, and also be able to manage them. You can learn this at any time.

As a result of complete relaxation, it is possible to master a universal remedy that can cope with almost all diseases of the nervous system caused by constant stress. You can recover from insomnia, hypertension, headaches, persistent feelings of anxiety and prevent the development of a number of other diseases.

Effective Muscle Relaxation: Progressive Neuromuscular Relaxation Method

First, the patient should visit a doctor and consult with him. It will help identify any contraindications for this type of procedure. Deviations such as neurological disorders, insufficient training or muscle damage, and bone tissue pathology are possible.

The place for exercise should be comfortable, quiet and dark, which will allow you to completely relax and concentrate your attention on the processes occurring in the body. Nothing should hinder a person's movements.

It is best to wear loose clothing and perform exercises without shoes or accessories, such as glasses. The patient's body must have stable support (this does not apply to the neck and head area) so that he cannot fall asleep during the session.

Each person should recognize the difference between spontaneously occurring muscle spasms and directed muscle tension.

• In the first case, pain occurs in the joints and ligaments, accompanied by unpleasant spontaneous muscle tremors. Excessive stress leads to this state.
• In the second case, only a slightly unpleasant feeling of compression occurs in the tensed muscle, nothing more.

During the exercise, the patient should never hold his breath. It should be normal or consist of inhaling at the moment of muscle tension and exhaling at the moment of relaxation.

First of all, you should pay attention to the muscles of the lower parts of the body, and lastly to the facial area. Repeated tension of the muscles of the organs is unacceptable.

Even before the start of the relaxation session, you should give yourself a clear goal of consistently relaxing every muscle in your body. This will allow you to achieve the most effective result.

How to achieve complete body relaxation

Lean back a little and find a comfortable position. Get rid of clothing, shoes and accessories that restrict movement. Close your eyes. Concentrate on your breathing, it should be correct and calm. Feel how your lungs fill with air, pausing for 30 seconds when inhaling.

Let's consider relaxing the body, or rather each part of it separately.

• Rib cage

Take a deep breath, hold your breath, relax and exhale. Try to empty your lungs completely and restore your normal breathing pattern. As you inhale, some tension should arise in the chest area, and as you exhale, complete muscle relaxation should occur. Repeat the exercise several times in a row, resting for 5-10 seconds.

• Feet and legs

Both feet should be in contact with the floor with their entire surface. Stand on your toes, stay in this position for a while and relax. You should lower yourself onto your heels smoothly, without making sudden movements. If there is a slight tension in the back of the calf muscles, then the exercise is performed correctly. At the moment of relaxation, a slight tingling sensation and a rush of warmth may appear.

To strengthen the opposite muscle group, stand on your heels while raising your toes as high as possible. A few seconds of tension and relaxation again. After these actions, a feeling of heaviness should arise in the lower parts of the legs. After each exercise you should take a break of 20 seconds.

• Hips and abdomen

Straighten your legs, lift them and stay in this position. The calves should be relaxed. After some time, gently lower your feet to the floor. At the same time, the thigh muscles should feel some tension.

• Hands

Clench both hands into fists, hold them in this state and relax. This exercise is good for those who write or type a lot and often. You can spread your fingers in different directions, hold them in this state and also relax them. A feeling of warmth or slight tingling should appear in the area of ​​the hands and forearms. Between exercises you should pause for 20 seconds.

• Face

Smile as broadly as possible, hold it there and relax. Do the same with pursed lips. Pay attention to your eyes. Close your eyes tightly, raise your eyebrows, then relax. Pause between exercises 15 seconds.

Thus, it is achieved complete body relaxation .

When muscle relaxation has been achieved, you can move to the wakefulness stage. Count from 1 to 10, focusing on yourself and the world around you. Open your eyes and feel cheerful, energized and fresh.