8 Relaxation Exercises to Release Tension
- by admin
Here’s a look at some exercises that will help to ease
tension. And, by the way, these are great exercises to do
if you can’t sleep!
What happens when we are under tension?
Our bodies trigger the ‘fight or flee’ response – the
natural reaction to a perceived threat. This generates
extra adrenaline to give us a burst of energy so we can deal
with the threat. It also thickens the blood to stop us
bleeding more quickly in case we’re injured while ‘fighting
or fleeing’, and tenses up certain muscles so we can defend
ourselves more effectively. We have no control over this –
it’s totally natural and instinctive.
In ancient times when we faced danger we used up the extra
energy by fighting the danger or running away from it, but
in modern times we can’t do that. .
The causes of stress or tension in modern times often come
from the office or home – an unreasonable boss, a
relationship breakdown, a new job or a death in the family.
In these cases we don’t remove the danger by physically
fighting or fleeing. As a result we don’t disperse the
adrenaline or allow our blood to thin out – our bodies
remain in a permanent state of readiness to deal with the
danger.
What is the effect of this?
This permanent state of readiness over time leads to tension
headaches, stiff neck and shoulders, stomach upsets, back
pain and other symptoms of stress.
What can we do about this?
When we are under physical threat the body naturally tenses
up certain muscles in order to protect itself. It basically
hunches and curls up into a ball to protect vulnerable areas
and expose the better-protected ones.
Remember – the body reacts to stress in the same way as it
reacts to perceived danger. So when we are under stress the
body will naturally try to react in the same way. While we
don’t normally curl up into a ball in the middle of a
meeting if we are under tension, the same muscles that would
allow us to do so are the ones that become tense.
These are the muscles that tense up under stress:
We tend to frown We tend to clench our jaws Our shoulders tend to hunch up Our chest tends to close Our arms tend to come into our sides Our hands tend to bunch into fists Our legs tend to close Our knees tend to be drawn up Our feet tend to be drawn up, so our feet are pointing upwards
So how do we relax these muscles?
Muscles tend to resist external pressure that’s forced onto
them. Try this: rest your wrist and hand on a table, palm
facing up. Your fingers will be curled inwards. With your
other hand try straightening out your fingers. Your will
feel a resistance and, once you let go, your fingers will
bounce back to their original position. We need to find
another way to relax those muscles.
Each joint in our body is supported by muscles on both
sides. This enables us to move the joint in many
directions. If we move a joint in one direction the muscles
on the opposite side of the direction we’re moving in have
to relax so as to allow the movement. For example: if we
bend our knees the muscles at the front of our upper legs
have to relax to allow the movement. If they didn’t relax
our legs would stay straight.
Here are 8 relaxation exercises:
In order to relax the muscles that tense up under stress we
need to move the affected joints in the opposite direction
to the natural danger response.
Here are some relaxation exercises to release tension:
Try to move your forehead or hairline backwards over the top of your head – the opposite of a frown. It may help to imagine your hand stroking backwards from your forehead over the top of your head and down to the back of your neck – but don’t actually do the stoking. Open your mouth as wide as you can, hold and release Push your shoulders down and back, hold and release Stretch your arms up and link your hands above you head. Open your hands as wide as you possibly can, hold and release. Lie on your back and roll your knees outwards. No need for a big movement on this one – a few millimeters is all that’s needed to relax your inner thigh muscles. Straighten your knees so that your hip is opened out and stretched. Point your toes downwards as far as you can. Hold and release.
The ideal way to start learning these exercises is to lie
flat on your back. Once you have got the hang of it you can
do them at any time: sitting at your desk, waiting in a
queue, waiting at a stoplight. Wherever you have a few
moments to wait.
Good luck and remember: if we don’t do anything different
we’ll keep getting the same results!