Blue Breath Spots

This may seem silly but it works. Stick some blue dots on objects that you encounter during your day. I have one on my office phone and another on my car dashboard. When you notice them STOP for a few moments and take a break. Breathe in slowly for a count of three and then exhale slowly on a count of three. You can close your eyes or not as you do this and imagine yourself recharging and releasing tension as you inhale and exhale. It works and it only takes a few moments.

By doing this you are producing your own relaxation response.

PS. But not while driving!

How stress works. Positive stress can stretch us - but we can all get overstretched

Not all stress is bad. We need positive stress to excite us so we take action and drive ourselves forward. In nature animals produce a stress response as a short term reaction to immediate threat - the body shuts down non-essential activities such as digestion and releases a surge of chemicals such as adrenalin to enable the "prey" to engage in "fight or flight". The problem with humans is that unlike other mammals we produce a stress response for both real and imagined threats. We can end up on permanent stress alert because of the perceived sense of threat we create in our brains. As a result of this many of us may be chronically stressed or suffering from continuous low levels of stress - a bit like living with the house alarm on all the time!

Many of us factor in this constant sense of stress or anxiety as something we can live with or something that just comes with the territory of 21st century living.

Research suggests that ongoing stress is harmful for our minds and bodies and links it to many modern diseases such as high blood pressure and heart disease. Stress doesn't cause disease but it weakens our defences and puts much of our energy into being on high alert. No wonder anxiety and depression seem to be increasing.

We don't have to tolerate living with chronic stress. We can choose to control and use our stress responses to our advantage.

Relaxation and stress management techniques can help us learn to regulate and switch off this alarm system. But it takes practice! Fifteen minutes a day could make a big difference to our mental and physical wellbeing.

Àutogenic Training - AT

NB. There are some contraindications for some relaxation techniques which I will list below.


You can teach your body to respond quickly and effectively to your verbal commands to relax.
If we don't have the chance to recuperate from emotionally and physically stressful experiences our body chemistry can become unbalanced and our mood can be disturbed. We may develop high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, ulcers, migraines or rheumatoid arthritis or we may suffer from imbalance in the form of muscle tension and aches and digestive difficulties.

Autogenics has its origins in hypnosis research conducted by Oskar Vogt in Berlin in the 19th century. He discovered that we can create a state similar to a hypnotic trance just by thinking of heaviness and warmth in our extremities. In essence AT consists of relaxing, undisturbed in a comfortable position and concentrating on verbal messages suggesting warmth and heaviness in your limbs . In 1932 Schultz combined Vogt's autosuggestion with Yoga techniques and published his new system in his book "Autogenic Training"

Not suitable for children under 5 or individuals with severe mental or emotional disorders. It is recommended that you should check with your Doctor before beginning AT as in some cases it may be inadvisable or could lead to a fluctuation in blood pressure levels.

Relaxation Techniques - Body Scan

Just as our stress alarm system can be activated by our perception of threatening events we can also learn how to summon up the reverse of this - our relaxation response. Research has shown that there are 7 ways to control our stress response. Breathing is one of them. The body scan is another and it is very simple. The hard bit is deciding to do it.

Many of us are probably familiar with this if we ever tried Yoga or went to a relaxation class. Essentially it consists of systematically focusing on certain body parts and noticing how they feel as we tense and then relax these parts slowly. As you focus systematically on each part of the body you can use your breath to "carry" awareness into each part of the body.

This is a lying down meditation which can help us to get in touch with and get back on friendly terms with our bodies.

I first tried this last year at a relaxation class and I was horrified to realize just how tense and unwell my body felt. I was far too busy and "in my head" to pay attention to my body unless it was as part of a programme - Crazy Type A behaviour perhaps. A day later my GP sent me to A and E for high blood pressure. I think the experience of "checking in" with my body was important as it made me realise what a toll stress was taking on my physical health and was instrumental in getting me to visit my GP.

With all relaxation techniques you should check with your GP before trying some new activity if you are over 30 or have health issues.

Breathing

The simplest way to relax is to learn to breathe properly. Learn how to control your breathing.

• Sit comfortably or lie down
• Try to adopt an attentive and straight but relaxed posture.
• Now, notice your breath entering and leaving your body.
• Don't judge your breath just notice as you breathe in and out.
• Focus on inhaling and exhaling
• Inhale by slowly taking the air down into your lungs (try to feel the air going down to your diaphragm), hold the breath for a couple of seconds and then gently and slowly exhale.
• Try breathing in and out, counting slowly: IN (one, two, three, four), HOLD (one, two) and OUT (one, two, three, four).
• When you have found the rhythm that suits you and is comfortable, focus on the words 'in' and 'out'. In your mind say, 'In - Out, In - Out, In - Out' in line with your breathing.

As you breathe in imagine the breath recharging or nurturing you. Whatever feels good or makes sense for you.

As you breathe out you may like to imagine yourself relaxing as you let go of tension.

Try to keep thoughts to a minimum by focusing on the breath and your 'In' - 'Out' mantra.

If your busy mind starts to wander don't judge it harshly just notice that that is what the mind tends to do and then gently bring yourself back to observing your breath.

Sometimes I imagine myself like my phone recharging!

Here you can listen to a clinical psychologist explaining the physiological effect of breathing in controlling the stress response and talking about how he uses mindful breathing and meditation to counter anxiety.