Every day we are bombarded with a huge number of tasks and worries, problems that need to be resolved, obstacles that need to be overcome. All this creates a powerful stream of stress on the psyche, consciousness and even the body. But finding time to rest is not always possible and not everyone can do it, especially since we often think that for this we need to have at least a couple of free hours or even the whole day. In fact, for a completely complete and high-quality rest, a short break of 10-15 minutes, spent wisely and wisely, may be enough.
The main condition for quick and effective rest is a conscious desire to relax and recuperate. So it doesn’t matter whether you’re a teacher or a student, run a business or throw boxes in a warehouse, spend all day driving or sit for hours at a computer - if you really want a quick break (or want to learn how to do it), you’re already halfway there. this goal. All that remains is to find a technique or technique that suits you that would allow you to do this. In this article we have collected several options.
Why am I always tense
Tension can be spontaneous (an hour-long workout in the gym), followed by calm quickly enough, or cumulative. It is the last option that is most difficult for a person. It consists of:
- Physical fatigue - lack of sleep, working on your feet or at the computer, constant chores, due to which there is no time to sit down.
- Stress, psychological pressures, conflict situations - they appear everywhere when there is no harmony within and with the environment.
- Ecology and rhythm of life - the space around us is very depressing and provides a gloomy background.
If you only feel tension in the body that does not go away, then the reason is your inability to hear it.
Relaxation and Relaxation Techniques
If it is a skill, then it can be learned. Different techniques are required in different situations - some are appropriate at home after work, others can be used during a lunch break.
Quick ways
They are suitable for moments when you need to switch to something, throw off the burden of negative thoughts and experiences. For example, before going to a business meeting, you should temporarily disconnect from current work problems.
Quick relaxation techniques:
- Find the cause of stress and mentally push it aside. Awareness is the first and main step towards calm.
- Do some exercise. Many large companies have both a recreation area and a gym. Because sports activities relieve psychological fatigue.
- Several inhalations and exhalations, accompanied by raising and lowering your arms. Breathing is an excellent indicator of stress; with anxiety and nervous tension, it becomes more frequent; it is necessary to force it back to normal.
- Compression of the body in the fetal position. Press your head to your knees and clasp your legs with your hands, freeze for 10 minutes, experiencing conscious tension. Then, exhaling, open your palms and straighten up. This technique will allow you to get rid of internal locks.
How to relax your body and remove tensions
The muscles contract involuntarily and do not return to normal. This physical reaction of the body indicates psychological problems. You may not notice the “muscle shell” for a long time until the muscles begin to ache. If clamped:
- Mouth. Indicates a need for protection and resentment. You need to take the fetal position and make sucking movements.
- Neck. This means that there is fear, as well as control over speech. It is necessary to make several yawns in the morning and in the evening - large, into all the lungs.
- Breast. Speaks of restrained emotions. Try lying crosswise on the bed with your feet on the floor. Place a cushion under your back and take deep breaths.
- Diaphragm. Most likely, you are afraid of something. You can remove the clamp by making static turns of the body to the sides and holding them for a minute.
How to learn to completely relax your body from tension
You need to give small loads to each muscle group:
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- Bends – for the neck and shoulders, lower back, arms, calves and thighs.
- Pull up - for the back.
- Turns to the right and left - for the oblique abdominal muscles.
- Squats are for the legs.
It helps to relax energetic dance for 5-7 minutes. You can also sign up for swimming - water reduces resistance, so the muscles receive moderate, comprehensive development, but without overexertion. If you come home after training, a warm bath with aromatic oils or a contrast shower will work well.
Exercise for the brain
If you work mentally or study, you need to periodically clear your thoughts of worries. You can do it like this:
- using water procedures;
- through aromatherapy;
- drink tea with herbs - chamomile, thyme, linden;
- You can go for a massage or acupressure your body while applying milk or cream to the skin.
How to relax yourself after stress
First, you need to understand the cause of the condition, remove this factor from the environment along with secondary irritants - calls, noise from the street, the TV on. After this, you can do one of the following:
- take a walk in the forest/park, if the weather cooperates;
- play with your pet;
- watch a good movie or enjoy music;
- do yoga or stretching, Pilates - something slow, with elements of meditation;
- take a bath;
- meet good friends, lovers, share problems.
What to do if there is tension in your relationship with your spouse
Discord in the family always begins with misunderstanding, so the main trump card is a heart-to-heart conversation. Perhaps the problem lies in the presence of complexes - you are embarrassed by your appearance, afraid to express your opinion, or do not feel loved.
I recommend being together more often in places where you feel most comfortable - on joint walks, picnics, at your parents’ house. Even a room in an apartment matters, where it is easier and more free for you to speak, there are more ways to open up. A prerequisite is a conversation, gradually explain the problem to him, find a joint solution.
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Effective techniques
There are many types of methods, among which auto-training, meditation (especially good for those who practice yoga), and listening to music of a certain direction are especially popular. I made a selection of 6 techniques. To complete them, you need 15 minutes and complete privacy in comfortable conditions: order, silence, comfortable temperature, fresh air (you need to ventilate the room), absence of irritants.
Respiratory
It involves controlling the breath as the most important force guiding our body and mind. To do this you need:
- lie down in a comfortable position;
- close your eyes and concentrate on inhaling and exhaling through your nose;
- feel the coolness of the air;
- hold your breath for a while;
- exhale and feel the warmth.
This combination should be repeated 30-50 times. At the same time, you cannot think about extraneous things, only about enriching the body with oxygen. This exercise can be done anywhere, even while sitting. At the same time, the heart rate decreases, the nerves gradually return to order.
Relaxation technique progressive muscle relaxation
It is based on the opinion that if you tense each individual muscle in turn, then the whole body will come to calm in just 5-10 minutes. To do this, you need to move one muscle at a time - the neck (turns), the abs (twisting), the arms (raising small dumbbells).
Calming Visualization
Our subconscious “I” does not distinguish between real events. Therefore, you need to visualize images that bring peace. You need to act like this:
- Sit or lie down in a comfortable position and close your eyes.
- Normalize your breathing if it is lost.
- Imagine a place where you like to be, hold this picture, feel all the sensations (smells, tactile touches, sounds) that you experience there.
- Use maximum detail.
- Gradually return to reality, mentally recalling the furnishings of the room, focusing on real feelings.
- Open your eyes.
Relaxation and relaxation technique: “entering the alpha state”
Our brain works as a wave generator, and its activity can be at 4 levels, where:
- β – active work;
- α – state of rest;
- θ – meditation or hypnotic influence;
- δ – sleep.
The task of technology is to switch to frequencies from 8 to 14 Hz. This can be done according to the algorithm:
- lie down more comfortably;
- count from 3 to 1, mentally pronouncing these numbers;
- list the values from 10 to 1, thinking in the phrases “I calm down”, “I relax”, “I sink deeper into calm”, “I am calm”, etc., at ten say “I am in alpha”.
This is similar to self-hypnosis and requires repeated repetition to learn how to dive deeper at each stage.
How to relax well when you have neurosis
This condition is accompanied by panic, fears, irritability, as well as depressive thoughts and a general negative attitude. Autogenic training helps a lot, during which a person, for a short time, but every day, inspires himself with correct, positive thoughts. Basic recommendations:
- mantras should not have a negative particle “not”;
- they must have simple language;
- During the exercise, development should occur - from the easiest to the more complex.
Examples of self-hypnosis: “I am happy,” “I am calm,” “I respond well to any situation.”
According to Jacobson
According to his theory, it is necessary to tense and then release tension from the muscles - this method of relaxation should be used not only for physical fatigue, but also for psychological fatigue. Thoughts need to be concentrated on sensations.
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Recommendations for relaxation
Regardless of which method you choose, follow some tips.
Simple exercises
Normal breathing actions and physical movements can be done for 1-2 minutes in any place - at work, at home, in line at the store. Take a break from your computer or phone right now, close your eyes, take a deep breath as you raise your arms, and exhale as you quickly lower them. Feel how the fatigue leaves you with the air, all the tension falls off your shoulders. Now stretch your hands, elbow joints and shoulders with rotational movements, twist your back from side to side, shake your limbs. In these couple of minutes you will already feel light.
Food
Part of the heaviness in the stomach is the cause of the general drowned state. Adviсe:
- do not eat at night;
- avoid large amounts of fatty foods;
- give preference not to buns and chocolates, but to fruits;
- drink more clean water.
How to calm down easily
If you feel excitement (anxiety, fear, resentment), then your breathing and heartbeat quicken. The first thing you need to do is stay alone with yourself and normalize them with the help of deep breaths, short holds and exhalations.
Sport
25. Do yoga
Put your feet up against the wall—literally! The Viparita Karani yoga pose looks like this: you need to lie on the floor with your feet resting on the wall. It not only provides stretching to the muscles, but also gives peace.
26. Stretch
Get up from your chair and do a couple of simple exercises to relieve muscle tension. Some exercises don't even require you to stand up!
27. Run in place
Of course, you won’t run away from stress, but running itself won’t hurt you. Try running in place to get your endorphin fix. A short burst of physical activity will significantly help you combat stress.
28. Take a walk
Take your stress out! If you feel like the clouds are gathering, take a short walk around the nearest neighborhood. You will enjoy solitude and physical activity and will be able to organize your thoughts.
How to relax: 9 sensible tips
- Give up cigarettes and alcohol as stress relievers.
- Brew soothing teas with healing aromatic herbs - chamomile, lemon balm, thyme. It is better to buy natural ones at the pharmacy than to buy tea bags with flavors.
- Use aroma oils - in aroma lamps, when taking a bath, for massage.
- Avoid people and situations that make you nervous. No matter what it is - communication with your mother-in-law or the sound of a leaking faucet, fix it.
- Change your activity - if you have been sitting at the computer for a long time, get up and walk, if, on the contrary, you have worked a lot physically, read a chapter of a book or a newspaper article.
- You are more in contact with nature and animals. If you can’t visit zoos or go out of town, plant a few homemade flowers and get a kitten.
- Make it a spa day with a massage, jacuzzi and chocolate wrap.
- Unleash your creativity - now there are a lot of handicraft products, clay modeling courses, as well as intuitive drawing lessons, find a hobby you like.
- Sign up for my consultation and I will help you find tensions and psychological internal conflicts, together we will find solutions without the use of antidepressants and sedatives.
Smells
33. Smell the flowers
Just stop and smell! Some smells can change our mood. It's hard to be angry when everything smells like roses, right? Place a vase of fresh flowers at work or in your living room and go smell them every time you feel a wave of anxiety.
34. Try aromatherapy
Apply a few drops of lavender or tea tree oil to your palm and inhale deeply. It does not take a lot of time! Calming scents can help relieve stress and anxiety by stimulating receptors located in the nose that connect to the part of the brain that controls emotions.
35. Smell lemons or other citrus fruits
Oranges don't have stress! The smell of citrus fruits helps you relax by influencing the production of the hormone norepinephrine, which is associated with stress.
36. Smell the coffee
Stick your nose in a mug of fresh latte! The mere smell of coffee reduces the production of stress hormones. Drinking coffee is optional. (Try not to get burned though!)
What happens to the body during moments of stress?
In moments of stress, the human body prepares for long-term work and begins to use not all resources, but to save them. That is why everything falls out of hand, concentration disappears - there is simply no energy supply for the brain. The condition can be compared to starvation. With a rapid transition to minimal nutrition, the body begins to actively store calories because it is preparing for a period of hunger.
Signs of severe stress
To begin with, let us note that stress is a normal phenomenon in human life. It is no different from fear or fatigue. It is important how STRONGLY and how LONG a person experiences any negative emotions. Sometimes the period of residence drags on, and a person no longer knows how to live without stress. This is not normal!
Signs of severe stress include:
- insomnia;
- apathy;
- decreased performance;
- periods of nervousness;
- various psychosomatic disorders;
- decreased immunity.
Of course, the longer a person remains under stress, the more dangerous the health threat.
