When people feel stressed they usually "carry" anxiety in their body. We often say that people who are anxious are tense people. People who are anxious or tense usually report a variety of aches and pains including headache, sore neck, sore back, and shore shoulders. When you carry anxiety in your body, you feel tense and sore. Feeling tense and sore creates more stress and anxiety...more fuel for the Panic Cycle. Fortunately there are ways in which you can 'download' tension. Box breathing is one way to reduce anxiety and tension. Progressive muscle relaxation is yet another.
We often don't notice the tension we carry. What you do in practicing progressive muscle relaxation is simple. Try tensing ALL of your major muscle groups at once, and then relax. As a result you really notice the feelings of tension and relaxation. Progressive muscle relaxation allows you to relax one muscle group at a time. As you do this you'll learn to notice which parts of your body are tense, and how to relax them.
To do progressive muscle relaxation you'll need a half hour or so. You also need to sit down.
What you're going to do in progressive muscle relaxation is tense a muscle group for 10 seconds, and then relax it for 20 seconds. Basically, we'd like you to tense a muscle group and count to ten, relax and count to 20, then tense the next muscle group. The trick is to tense up for 10 seconds and then really let go. Don’t relax the muscle slowly; relax it all at once, so that you can really feel the muscle go from maximum tension to maximum relaxation.
If you have any kind of muscle or joint problem, take it easy. Don't tense too hard. If it hurts, back off a bit. Use common sense and do NOT tense any muscle group that causes you pain.
Start with your feet and legs, then you back, chest and stomach, shoulders, hands and arms, move to your head and then finish with a body scan. To get the most out of this exercise you'll need at least half an hour and a quiet room.
Let's go over each muscle group. We'll place these instructions in your Session Diary for later reference.
Feet and Legs
Put your feet on the floor. Curl
your toes down to tighten the muscles in your feet. Hold for a count of
10 then relax for a count of 20.
Lift your feet slightly off the floor and point your toes to tense the muscles on the back of your lower legs (calves). Hold for a count of 10 then relax for a count of 20. Repeat.
Put your feet on the back on the floor. Push your knees together to tense the muscles of your inner thighs. Hold for a count of 10 then relax for a count of 20. Repeat.
Tense your hips buttocks and upper legs. Hold for a count of 10 then relax for a count of 20. Repeat.
Back
Gently arch your back to tense the muscles
of your lower back (If you have lower back problems skip this part).
Hold for a count of 10 then relax for a count of 20.
Chest and Stomach
Take a deep breath and tense
all of the muscles of your chest and stomach. Hold for a count of 10
then breath out and relax to account of 20. Repeat.
Shoulders
Try to touch your ears with your
shoulders to tense the muscles of your shoulders. Squeeze the muscles
for a count of 10 then relax for a count of 20. Repeat.
Stretch your upper arms backwards, as if you were trying to touch your shoulder blades together. Hold for a count of 10 then relax for a count of 20. Repeat.
Hands and Forearms
Clasp both hands into fists
and squeeze. You should feel your forearms tighten. To make your
forearms even tighter, curl your fists slightly inward. Hold for a
count of 10 and then relax for a count of 20. Remember to relax all at
once, not slowly. Repeat.
Upper Arms
Curl your arms so you feel your
biceps tense. Make a muscle like a weightlifter. Hold your arms with
your biceps for a count of 10 and then relax for a count of 20 (20
seconds). Repeat.
Triceps
Tense your triceps by locking your
elbows and tensing the back of your arms. Hold for a count of 10 and
then relax for a count of 20. Repeat.
Head
Tilt your head as far back as you can and
tense the muscles in the back of your neck. Hold for a count of 10 then
relax for a count of 20. Repeat
Close your eyes as tightly as you can and tense your lips and smile as big as you can to tense the muscles of your face. Hold for a count of 10 then relax for a count of 20. Repeat.
Close your eyes and open your mouth as wide as you can to tense your jaw muscles. Hold for a count of 10 then relax for a count of 20. Repeat.
Close your eyes and raise your eyebrows as high as you can. This will tense your scalp. Hold for a count of 10 and relax for a count of 20. Repeat.
Body Scan
If you do the above, you're going to
be feeling more relaxed. However, what you want to do at this point is
to scan your body for places that might still be tense. So, starting at
your toes, work your way up your body. If you feel tension somewhere,
for example, in your neck and shoulders, tense and relax that area one
or two more times.
That's all there is to progressive muscle relaxation!
If you had trouble the first time, try it again. It sometimes takes a while for people to get comfortable with Progressive Muscles Relaxation. Some people like to do it lying down while others enjoy listening to relaxing music. Other people get a more complete relaxation experience by going straight from progressive muscle relaxation into five minutes of box breathing. Whatever works for you is fine.
Now would be a great time to take a short break. Try the above exercise before continuing. Imagine all that of the muscles in your body are relaxed. Try some deep breathing.
Ooh, how do you do the progressive muscle relaxation?
Sometimes, when I'm anxious before I sleep, I started to think about when I sleep since I try so hard to sleep that it ends up waking me up. The noises and such doesn't really bother me.. I get scared that I don't know when I fall asleep. I know this is one of my obsessive thinking again.
Well done Miki, you have achieved a lot by going with him, thats fantastic, keep up the good work, and keep posting your travel journal.
