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SIMPLE RELAXATION EXERCISES
WARNING: DO NOT DO ANY OF THESE EXERCISES IF THEY HURT
Sit comfortably in an upright chair, legs uncrossed, feet flat on floor, hands resting comfortably in lap, back fairly straight but not rigid.
- Screw your eyes up tightly. Then relax and smooth out the muscles around your eyes and forehead.
- Clench your teeth and tighten the muscles around your jaw. Then loosen and relax them. Let your jaw sag open slightly.
- Repeat 1 and 2 together, tightening and then relaxing all the muscles in your face.
- Imagine you have a very long chalk attached to the top of your head, going straight up to the ceiling. Keeping your shoulders as still as possible, and looking straight ahead of you, pretend to draw a circle on the ceiling with this chalk by making a clockwise circular motion with your head. Repeat, using anticlockwise motion.
- Try to get your right ear down onto your shoulder, as far as you can. As you do so, notice the tension at the other side of your neck. Then straighten your neck and feel the tension going away.
- Do the same with your other ear.
- Put your chin down onto your chest. Feel the tension across the back of your neck and shoulders. Lift your chin up again and notice the tension going away.
- Imagine you have strings on your shoulders, like a puppet, and someone is pulling them up. Bring your shoulders up as far as you can towards your ears. Then imagine the puppeteer drops the strings, and let your shoulders flop down as if they're made of jelly. Repeat this a couple of times.
- Imagine you are picking up two very heavy buckets of coal or bricks, one in each hand. As you lift them a couple of feet off the ground, your hands and arms should be very tense with the effort. Drop the buckets suddenly and let your arms flop down, as if made of jelly. Repeat this exercise. Then shake your arms around loosely.
- Pull in your stomach muscles, as if trying to get into clothes that are too tight, then relax them.
- Press your thighs together tightly, then let them flop apart.
- Cross one leg over the other. By moving your ankle, draw an upright circle in the air with your toe. Repeat, changing the direction of the circle.
- Curl your toes up tightly, in the shape of a Turkish slipper. You will feel a lot of tension in your foot and leg. Straighten your foot, and notice the tension going away.
- Point your toes like a ballet dancer. Feel the tension in your foot and leg. Straighten your foot, and notice the tension going away.
- Repeat 12-14 with the other leg.
- Uncross both legs and relax. You are now ready to go on to the breathing exercises if you wish.
Breathing Exercises
This exercise is good if you just want to relax (for dealing with panic attacks, see below.)
To relax:
Get into a comfortable position. Close your eyes and take a slow, deep breath, hold it for a second, then breathe out SLOWLY.
Take another deep breath, and as you do so, imagine you are breathing in 'peace': give 'peace' a colour, and breathe in that colour. As you breathe out, breathe out 'stress': give 'stress' a different colour, and breathe out a cloud of that colour, until it's all gone.
Repeat this in your own time, SLOWLY breathing in peace and breathing out stress, for as long as you want to, or until you feel less stressed.
You can then get on with whatever you have to do, feeling calmer and more relaxed, or you can continue the relaxation, e.g. with a guided visualisation (more about that coming later.)
Panic Attacks
During panic attacks, a person's breathing often becomes too fast and shallow. This worsens the other symptoms and adds to the panic, creating a vicious circle. The following exercise helps to counteract the fast shallow breathing, reduce the symptoms, and help the person to feel calm and in control again. But please note that it works BEST if you PRACTISE it daily, when you are feeling OK. This is because, if you have practised, you will still be able to do it, even when anxiety is high and it's hard to concentrate.
Lie down in a comfortable position. Place one hand on your chest, the other on your abdomen, just above the navel. Imagine that you have a balloon under your lower hand (the one on your abdomen).
The object is to inflate this balloon as your breathe in, so that your lower hand rises. It falls as you breathe out. Your upper hand (on your chest) may move up and down a little, but should not move much. Breathe in slowly to a count of three, pushing up your lower hand; then out slowly, counting from 4 to 7, causing your lower hand to sink.
Repeat this at least ten times when practising. (You can extend the counting if you like, to make the breathing slower. If you do that, make sure you breathe out for slightly longer than you breathe in.)
Once you have practised this breathing, you should be able to do it (without hands) anywhere, at any time that you need to, and in any position (standing, sitting etc) (The hands are only necessary when practising, to help you make sure you're doing it right.) It will stop you from breathing too fast and will help you to calm down. Try to start it as soon as you first notice yourself beginning to get anxious, before the anxiety gets a grip on you.
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