Relaxation therapy offers a useful way to avoid the negative effects of stress. When you are relaxed, you can live a healthier and more enjoyable life. The major benefits of being relaxed are that it reduces stress from your mind and body.
Once you understand the benefits to your health and well being, you will want to ensure that relaxation becomes a major part of your lifestyle routine. People who use relaxation techniques on a regular basis will be rewarded by the following benefits:
- Lower blood pressure
- Improved digestion
- Reduced rate of breathing
- Slower heart rate
- Improvement in quality of sleep
- Reduction of chronic pain and muscle tension
- Reduction of stress hormone activity
- Increase of blood flow to major muscles
- Maintaining normal levels of blood sugar
- Less fatigue
- Improved confidence for facing problems
- Reduced frustration and anger
- Improved mood and concentration
When we are free from stress we are less likely to experience stress related health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. Relaxation therapy can also promote positive thinking habits. When we learn how to think positive we can avoid the risk of mental problems such as depression and anxiety.
If you are interested in the benefits of relaxation therapy, you can join our guided visualisation in Lancaster.
How staying relaxed can reduce the effects of ageing and disease
Most of us understand that relaxation is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. However, many of us don’t seem to find the time to complete useful relaxation techniques which can help us to reduce stress from our lives.
Relaxation is a habit we all need to learn. Once you learn how to stay relaxed, it will become aware of the benefits that come as a result. Regular relaxation threapy will become as important as a healthy diet and exercise.
In fact, it is believed that stress increases the effects of ageing, whilst relaxation acts to reverse these negative effects.
Research has shown that people who practice yoga, meditation and other relaxation methods over a long term period live a healthier life. This is caused by evoking the bodies natural response to stress. Deep relaxation is thought to actually improve the capabilities of your genes in fighting harm.
When your body is relaxed, the disease fighting genes become more powerful and can fight against insomnia, anxiety, hypertension and ageing. There is even evidence that deep relaxation can help reverse the cells that cause breast cancer in women.
Studies have shown that relaxation therapy can help with the following:
If you are interested in the benefits of relaxation therapy, you can join our guided visualisation in Lancaster.
How relaxation can improve your mental health
Relaxation is a valuable activity for improving your emotional, physical and mental wellbeing. Just like exercise and healthy eating, relaxation should be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle.
When we feel physically ill it can often be related to feeling emotionally down. It is also true that when we are emotionally stressed, depressed or anxious, we can experience physical effects.
The effects of stress can effect all aspects of our lives. People who suffer from stress often find that it has negative effects on quality of life. This includes:
- Relationships with friends and family
- Leisure time
- productivity at college, school or work
To combat the negative mental effects of stress, it is recommended by professionals in the mental heath industries that we learn relaxation techniques. This can lower the power that negative emotion and reduce feeling mentally low.
If you are suffering from a mental health condition, then relaxation is not going to cure the underlying cause. But regular relaxation is important for overcoming mental and emotional suffering that is associated with it.
Using relaxation techniques, however, will make you stronger to tackle problems that can make us mentally and emotionally unbalanced. The mental benefits of relaxation include:
- Improves self confidence
- Calmer mind
- A greater feeling of control
- Increased positive thinking
- Improved sense of self worth
- Reduced apathy
- More strength and energy to cope
- Improved relationships
If you are interested in the benefits of relaxation therapy, you can join our guided visualisation in Lancaster.
Why you should stay relaxed during pregnancy
During pregnancy, relaxation can help prepare you for the birthing process and the difficulties of living with a new born baby. Learning to cope with a new baby can be stressful for many mothers so learning relaxation techniques before the birth can help you manage when things begin to feel overwhelming.
There are many benefits of using relaxation techniques during pregnancy. It is a good time to begin the habit of relaxation as you will have much less spare time to yourself after the baby is born. Once you do learn ways to relax you will be able to adopt these techniques to fit into your busy lifestyle once the baby is born.
Relaxation therapy during pregnancy offers the following benefits:
- Makes your mind more focused and able to cope with stress
- Allows you time to rest your mind and body from the effects of stress
- Increases your feeling of well being
- Improves your ability to overcome tiredness and fatigue
- Reduces pains and aches caused by muscle tension
- Reduce high blood pressure
- Change the focus of your mind towards positive imagery
- A more relaxed mother makes less tension for the baby during pregnancy and birth
- You will find the strength to confront fears and anxieties related to the pregnancy
There is also evidence that using relaxation techniques you can have a less stressful labour and delivery experience. The pain of contractions becomes reduced and the progress of labour becomes easier when you are relaxed.
Once the baby is born you will find it easier to settle the baby if you are relaxed. You will also find it easier to unwind and rest when you are deprived of sleep.
If you are interested in the benefits of relaxation therapy, you can join our guided visualisation in Lancaster.
Top benefits of reducing stress through relaxation
Improve your immune system
Research has shown that relaxation can reduce our risk of catching a cold. Stress has been shown to increase the risk of someone catching a cold. Stress is thought to make immune cells less sensitive to the hormone that fights inflammation.
Keep your heart healthy
Relaxation therapy can reduce high blood pressure and help our heart function properly. High blood pressure can put us at risk of heart problems and heart attacks. By reducing our stress levels, we can avoid the risk of hypertension and other related conditions.
Avoid Depression
When our brain becomes stressed it produces the stress hormone cortisol. When we produce cortisol for prolonged periods, it can reduce dopamine and serotonin which can lead to depression. By using relaxation techniques, we can manage our stress levels to avoid negative mental health and mood problems.
Give your memory a boost
Studies have shown that stress can effect the parts of the brain that are involved in memory and learning. It is also thought that stress can increase the chances of developing Alzheimer’s.
Reduce the risk of breast cancer
It is thought that there is a link between stress and the aggressiveness of breast cancer. Relaxation is thought to speed up the recovery and delay the progress of the disease.
Reduce acne
Stress is often linked to the amount of oil produced by the skin which can cause acne. Other skin problems and flare ups such as psoriasis are also thought to be activated by stress. It was found that people who participated in meditation were able to overcome the effects of psoriasis plaques more quickly.
Stay in the mood for love
When we are stressed we loose our interest in love. Women often find that when they are stressed they find love making too demanding. Men often see sex as a release from stress but about 30 percent see a reduced libido caused by stress.
Improve decision making
When we are stressed we are unable to weigh up the risks and rewards associated with the decisions that we make. Relaxation helps us to think more clearly and focus on important decisions.
Stay a good weight
Stress can often lead to comfort eating food which is bad for us in large quantities. When cortisol is increased so does our appetite. This is particularly a problem when we get stronger cravings for junk food which are hard to resist.
Lower the risk of stroke
Keeping relaxed and overcoming work related stress can help reduce the risks of stroke. People who find it hard to deal with stress are often more at risk of stroke. Psychological stress has been linked to 10 percent of strokes in middle- and upper-class men.
If you are interested in the benefits of relaxation therapy, you can join our guided visualisation in Lancaster.
How does deep relaxation work
Regular deep relaxation has been shown to strengthen the immune system and offer a range of physical and psychological benefits. When we are relaxed, we experience a reduction in tension, stress and we can see other health benefits.
Relaxation techniques are also shown to have beneficial effects on the immune system. When we are relaxed, our body produces a positive shift in hormones that defend our bodies against infectious disease.
Patients who are trained to relax properly are shown to actively reduce blood pressure and they are able to maintain the reduction for up to four years later.
Some of the health problems which are thought to be helped by relaxation techniques include:
- Widen respiratory passages for asthmatics
- Lower blood pressure and cholesterol
- Helps regulate glucose for diabetics
- Alleviating chronic, severe pain
- Kidney dialysis side effects
- Cancer chemotherapy side effects
- Gastrointestinal problems like irritable bowel syndrome
- Insomnia
- Emphysema
- Skin disorders
Relaxation techniques which seem to offer the greatest health benefits are regular use of deep relaxation techniques. Whether you choose ancient relaxation techniques such as yoga or meditation or more contemporary methods such as progressive muscle relaxation, they produce the benefits of relaxation.
Relaxation therapy has been used by hospitals to encourage faster recovery in patients. These techniques are ideal for patients as they can be learnt to be used in hospital beds.
When we are stressed, our bodies activate the fight or flight response. This is a natural reaction to dangerous situations. The problem comes when this response is triggered by everyday pressures and worries.
When we are relaxed, our body is able to overcome the effects of stress. We are able to lower blood pressure, muscle tension and slow heart rates.
If you are interested in the benefits of relaxation therapy, you can join our guided visualisation in Lancaster.
References
Helpguide
Huffington Post
Mayo Clinic
Mercola
Mental Healthy
Mind
The Pregnancy Centre
NY Times
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