Relaxation techniques
Relaxation techniques are a huge part of successful stress management. They help to decrease the incessant wear and tear of your daily challenges. Again these techniques are often free, low cost and easy to learn. The benefits of relaxation techniques include lowering your blood pressure, slowing a racing heart, slowing your breathing, increasing blood flow to major muscles, and reducing muscle tension. There are a variety of relaxation techniques and three of the more popular types include autogenic relaxation, progressive muscular relaxation and visualization (mentioned earlier). Others include yoga, tai chi, listening to music, exercise, hypnosis and massage. Relaxation takes practice so expect to log some hours of perfecting your technique. These are skills and skills improve with practice.
The American Heart Association has a vested interest in you learning to manage stress. If you can't or don't, you can be well on your way to a cardiac event. One unique condition called broken heart syndrome is a temporary heart condition brought on by stressful situations such as death of a loved one. People who have this condition may have sudden chest pain and think they are having a heart attack. Chronic stress in general can be definitively linked to a list of health conditions. Certainly exercise, because of its health benefits and its ability to help you manage stress, should be a cornerstone of your stress management program. The organization then recommends much of what has been mentioned earlier. Think ahead and try to avoid stressors when possible. Be positive not negative. Use deep breathing to help defuse an acute situation. Talk to a health professional especially if you have family history of hypertension, stroke or heart disease. Learning to accept what you cannot change can go a long way to helping you manage stress.
Recent research suggests that IBMT - Integrative Body-Mind Training - can improve tension and reduce stress better and more quickly than concentration meditation and other conventional stress reduction techniques. Based on Taoist and Confusian concepts, the technique focuses on entering a state of "restful alertness," so that you have keen body-mind awareness. It uses posture, relaxation, body-mind harmony and deep breathing. It typically requires a good coach but studies show its impact can be felt in less than a week's time. It is not widespread in the US yet, but the technique is growing in popularity.
Finally, if you have chronic unrelenting stress then the best way to deal with it is to take care of the underlying problem. In addition to the above techniques, counseling can help you to handle emotional issues so you can relax and calm down. Medications may also be needed, short term or long term to help you manage stress and other complicating issues like insomnia. Simply recognizing and acknowledging that you have stress is a big first step in coping with stress.
