Relaxation is vital to your health and wellbeing, but many people find it difficult to overcome stress and anxiety. Pamela Allardice offers 10 easy ways to unwind.
Take mini breaks: “Hurry sickness” – being constantly busy – increases your heart rate and the production of cortisol (a stress hormone), and leaves you no time for thinking and day-dreaming, which give your brain a chance to work out sensible responses to challenges. Incorporate mini-breaks in your day: find a corner where you can be perfectly quiet for five minutes, close your eyes and check into the stillness at your centre.
Don’t miss the moment: Multi-tasking is an important skill when you’re running a house and holding down a job. Ironically, it makes you less efficient, because your mind is always somewhere else. Many relaxation techniques involve focusing on one thing at a time. So, whether you’re just drinking a glass of water or washing up, give it your full attention. Focus on the moment you’re in right now.
Clench and let go: If you’re holding tension, squeezing and releasing the muscle areas reminds your body to relax there.
Hands: Squeeze the armrests of a chair or, if you’re driving, the car steering wheel, for a count of five; release and repeat.
Feet: Use your toes to pick up a pencil or marble, squeeze for a count of five; release and repeat.
Gut: Inhale, squeeze your anal and pelvic floor muscles, hold for a count of 10; exhale and relax. Repeat.
Unplug everything: Noise over-stimulates nerves and slows information coming into your brain. Switch off faxes, computers, radios and mobile phones whenever possible. At home, turn off the washing machine and dryer. Listen for everyday “real” noises – birds, an ice-cream van, children playing.
Try the slow lane: Instead of clock-watching, set more realistic goals:
Time your supermarket dash. Next time, take twice as long. Choosing vegies then becomes quite restful.
Every week, do one thing more slowly. Walk to the shops for milk, or eat by candlelight. Focus on the process, not just the outcome.
Absorb yourself: When you’re totally absorbed in a creative activity, your mind takes a break from the incessant chatter that saps your energy. Creative stimulation even grows new brain connections, strengthening your capacity to deal with stress.
Embrace nature: Staying connected to the natural world soothes over-excited nerves and restores perspective. Walk in the bush or on the beach, or just sit in a local park at lunchtime, with no agenda. Feel the sun on your face. Go barefoot.
Shake it up: Chi kung (qi gong) relaxes you by realigning the flow of chi (or qi), the body’s subtle energy.
Stand, feet apart. Moving up, shake your legs, torso, arms, and head vigorously.
Move down, shaking as you go. Kick away the stagnant energy released from stiff areas.
Lift your arms, take a deep breath, then flop over. Swing from side to side, then straighten up.
Walk with gratitude: Walking soothes stress, thanks to hormones that make you calmer. It’s a means of reacquainting yourself with what’s important. As you walk, think of things you’re grateful for. It’s impossible to feel stressed when your brain has to focus on the positive.
Try logic breathing: Sit quietly and shut your eyes. Cover your left nostril with your left thumb and breathe in through your right for a count of 10. Place your index finger over your right nostril and exhale through your left. Breathe in through your left nostril, lift your index finger, put your thumb back over your left and breathe out through the right. Repeat, visualising the breath coming in then going out in a flowing movement.
This article was published in The Australian Women’s Weekly March 2007 and is from Slow Up by Pamela Allardice, published by Allen & Unwin, rrp $24.95.
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