Relaxation and Serenity - Customizing Your Personal Methods

There are as many forms of physical relaxation and mental serenity as there are people. And the ingredients have a lot in common because we are all human.

Rest is part of being human - essential to body maintenance and disease immunity. Healthy people relax when needed. Abundant long-term evidence shows that good coping skills for stress help prevent heart attacks, cancer, diabetes and other diseases.

The skills include awareness of body tension and self-communication of calming messages. If we have over-learned constant activity, we may have to learn how to take breaks. We may have to coach ourselves into relaxing our bodies and serenely focusing our minds.

One way of guiding ourselves into relaxation are positive words or affirmations. More powerful than words, are vivid images of any peaceful scenes using memories of sounds, sights and feelings as internal cues. Focusing on relaxed breathing and calming music are helpful.

These methods, as well as additional ways of relaxing to select and combine as personally useful, are in the menu above. The point is that at every moment, there is a possibility to tune into calming cues: wherever we are, whenever. For serenity to last, we have to carry the ways to serene places within us.

A man who tried relaxation methods in his teen years says this: "When I was about 16, I had aching pain in my lower back. My family doctor sent me to a specialist who gave me a shot with a long needle. When I asked him what it was he said it was a muscle relaxant. That was the first it dawned on me that my back pain was a symptom of tension. I didn’t want to get regular drug injections or take pain medication, so I started exploring alternatives.

Eventually, I found books about self-relaxation: one was called "Autogenics" and had a lot of supportive research studies. I started trying that method and another called "Progressive Relaxation". Before long, it had positive effects on my back. And I was able to study better.

Later I began "Transcendental Meditation. The meditation was more difficult to apply because my mind wandered, but with practice I became better at getting into a more serene state. After a deep meditation, I was so tranquil that it seemed like I was taking a tranquillizer drug.

The relaxing was naturally reinforced and rewarded by enjoyable feelings. There were many times I don’t know how I would have survived without practicing the relaxation and serenity. I still had an anxious personality ambitiously trying to achieve that made for high stress. At different times, I had to deal with painful stomach aches and headaches by applying the techniques. When the tension shifted to my chest, it became apparent that I had to make other life changes as well.

With time, the extremes of tension decreased and I was aware of lesser tensions that were overshadowed before. These include tightness in my neck, shoulders, hands, arms, feet, legs, eves, mouth and cheeks. I also noticed anxious, over- attentive and angry patterns that were greatly lessened along with the physical up-tightness.

I found that a variety of different sensory methods were valuable to clear my mind, especially to go to sleep. Of course, I used music and hypnotic recordings. However, using my own hum, images and words work best for me. It has help in every area from work, relationships, sports and learning in general."

Examples of well tested formula for relaxation and serenity are at Relax Well.
As with all skills, the learning may be easier and quicker with a helping specialist. For medical conditions, a professional should be consulted for advice.