Dr. George L. Dixon - "Talking Fitness"

RELAXATION TECHNIQUES

"If a string has one end, then it has another."

The other end of the activity string ("strung-out" is not badly named) is the ability to let down for just 10 or15 minutes once or twice a day and is vitally important to staying well.

The simplest technique is to sit down in a quiet place and breathe. Pretty wild? Lots of people go around holding their breath, full of tension, all day! Proper breathing is not shallow and fast; that is hyperventilation, and it continues your uptight feeling or, worse, it makes you feel dizzy and fall down. The trick is to take deep breaths from your abdomen. Put one hand on your chest and one on your stomach. Taking a slow deep breath through your nose, make your stomach go out but not your chest. It's easy, and you won't need to put your hands there very long to learn the feeling. Breathe out through your mouth. Not very fast. Gently. Even five minutes is very relaxing.

The Jacobson Progressive Relaxation technique prefers that you lie down.Tighten each group of muscles one at a time, and feel the tension increase for two to five seconds. Now let the muscles go limp and feel the relaxation. Think your way from head to toe. This method takes longer, but is well worth it.

Benson Relaxation Response suggests that you sit quietly, eyes closed. Relax your muscles beginning at the toes and breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth. Say one word over and over to empty your mind (called a mantra) for 10 to 15 minutes. Be passive. It will take some practice. Works wonders.

Guided imagery is a self-directed daydream over which you have complete control and in which you travel in great detail. Sit quietly, breathing properly. Think of a pleasant time, then see and feel as vividly as you can all the details--what, where, when, colors, people, seashore, mountains, smells, everything.

Laughing heartily about 50 times a day uses up about 100 calories and does ever so much good! It even is said to increase your immune response. Don't take yourself too seriously. The CEO of that fabulously successful company, Southwest Airlines, is constantly laughing and helping those around him to enjoy life. The flight attendants did, too, but were asked by the FAA to get serious. "SMILE!" says Paul Ekman, Ph.D., psychologist at the University of California at San Francisco. Amazingly, whether it is spontaneous or forced, it stimulates happiness changes in your brain and really does shift your outlook to cheerful!

More help is available in "Exercise a la Carte", here, at your bookstore or call 800-624-4952.