Stress is our body’s response when it perceives that we are overwhelmed by a certain situation, being an adaptive process of our body. However, high levels of stress can lead to serious organic diseases and/or psychiatric disorders.
On many occasions when we are faced with high levels of stress, we feel unable to do what we should do and blocked from being able to control it. If you are wondering how to relieve stress and anxiety, relaxation or relaxation techniques can be of great help. Therefore, in this Psychology-Online article, we want to show you 9 relaxation techniques for stress.
What are relaxation techniques?
Relaxation techniques are a set of strategiesthat regardless of the method used in them, They aim to reduce high levels of activation of our autonomic nervous system, on muscle tension, in the presence of anxiety, in the state of alertness of our body in general and other different psychological aspects, such as stress.
To reduce these levels of activation, relaxation techniques are based on exercises of a generally physical and respiratory nature, in order to find muscle and nervous tension.
For this reason, relaxation techniques have become one of the most used psychological intervention strategies in practice, proving its effectiveness both to deal with psychological disorders, such as phobias, anxiety, training in social skills,… as well as a resource to deal with the most everyday problems.
Types of relaxation techniques
There are numerous relaxation techniques, each of them beneficial, and your choice should be based on the technique that makes the person feel most comfortable and produces the greatest effect. Among the different relaxation techniques we can find muscle relaxation, breathing techniques,… but in general all of them are divided into two types of relaxation:
- Active or physical techniqueswhich work from the muscle to the mind and have the objective of reducing muscle tone. Muscle relaxation techniques emerged from Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation.
- Passive or mental techniqueswhich work from mind to muscle, in order to have greater mastery over mental control. In this case, the relaxation techniques with this modality emerged from Schultz’s autogenic training technique.
Benefits of relaxation techniques
Relaxation techniques can bring great benefits to our physical, mental and emotional health. It should be noted that relaxation techniques They are easy to learn and considerably reduce our levels of tension and discomfort, which is why can be used at any time and place in stressful situations. In addition to their ease of application and their effectiveness in reducing discomfort, relaxation techniques contribute to:
- Provide feelings of well-being and tranquility.
- Improve sleep quality.
- They increase the ability to cope with stressful situations.
- It provides benefits to our body, such as reducing heart rate, blood and/or muscle tension, thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular problems.
- They contribute to our state of mind, helping to improve mood and increasing emotional stability.
- Its practice increases the ability to concentrate and remember.
- They reduce physical pain, such as headaches, stomachaches, nausea,…
- They help increase the capacity for self-control.
Relaxation techniques for stress in psychology
Stress can lead us to have problems in both our physical and mental health, due to its high levels of activation in the body and in response to this, relaxation techniques come into play, which have been used as a coping strategy in situations that overwhelm us, in order to counteract the activation we feel due to stress. There are different types that meet different objectives and carry different benefits, such as relaxation techniques for sleeping, relaxation techniques for anxiety, guided relaxation techniques, mental relaxation techniques.
The operation of the techniques will be different in each technique, however they all share one element in common, the ease of application of their practice. Next, let’s look at some of the most common relaxation techniques and how they should be applied:
1. Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation allows us, when faced with high levels of stress and anxiety, to enter a state of drowsiness, through muscle relaxation, which allows us relax both physically and mentally for the relaxation it entails, since muscle distension helps reduce stress and anxiety. How it is performed? Jacobson progressive relaxation step by step consists of three phases:
- Tension-relaxation phase: Exercise seeks to achieve a state of progressive muscle relaxation throughout the body and to do so, the person must understand and feel the difference between the muscle tense and relaxed. To do this, in this phase all the muscles of the body are tense and relaxed, for 5 to 10 minutes, so that the person becomes aware of the two states in which the muscle is. The order of tension and relaxation of the muscles follows a specific order, starting with relaxing the face, followed by the neck and shoulders, then the arms and hands, then the leg region and finally, the chest and abdomen area. and lumbar.
- Checking phase: This phase consists of checking if the different muscles of our body remain relaxed.
- Mental relaxation phase: While our entire body remains relaxed, we must mentally evoke an image, with the aim of also relaxing our mind while our body relaxes. This exercise will last between 10 and 15 minutes and it is essential to do it thoroughly, without rushing.
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2. Autogenic training technique
The autogenic training technique is a technique aimed at controlling stress through self-regulation, starting from becoming aware of one’s own bodily sensations. One piece of advice to be able to perform this technique is that you have previously mastered progressive muscle relaxation and once acquired, it is easier to perform it. Let’s see what their steps are, in their shortened training formulas:
- Heaviness exercise: In this first exercise, the person must concentrate on the heaviness of their extremities, starting with the right or left arm. To do this, he must repeat the phrase “the right-left arm is very heavy” six times and then repeat once “I am very calm.” The two sequences will be repeated for each arm and will end with the phrase “firm arms, breathe deeply and open your eyes.”
- Heat exercise: In this exercise, the concentration that we have placed on our arms will produce a sensation of heat and in front of it, we will have to repeat to ourselves the phrase “the right-left arm is very hot” and then: “I am very calm”, in the same way. which in the previous exercise, must be done with both arms. With the daily practice of both exercises, we must be able to change from one state to another, going from the sensation of heaviness to that of heat and vice versa.
- Pulsation regulation: The formulation to perform this exercise consists of repeating the sentence “the pulse is calm and regular” six times followed by the formulation “I am very calm” once.
- Breathing regulation: In this exercise, thanks to the low body activity, a calming influence is exerted. In this case, the phrase that we must repeat to ourselves six times is “very calm breathing,” followed by the formulation “I am breathing” once.
- Abdominal exercise: The person must repeat six times “the solar plexus is like a current of heat”, the solar plexus is a network of nerves that allows blood to be made available for the functioning of the muscles in situations of stress. After these 6 repetitions, the person must repeat once: “I am very calm.”
- Head exercise: Finally, in this last stage, we must repeat to ourselves 6 times the formulation “the forehead is pleasantly cool or clear and clear”, followed by “I am very calm”.
In summary, its global composition would be the following:
- Repeat the phrase 6 times: “The right arm is very heavy”
- Repeat the phrase 1 time: “I am very calm”
- Repeat the phrase 6 times: “The right arm is very hot”
- Repeat the phrase 1 time: “I am very calm”
- Repeat the phrase 6 times: “The pulse is calm and regular”
- Repeat the phrase 1 time: “I am very calm”
- Repeat the phrase 6 times: “Very calm breathing”
- Repeat the phrase 1 time: “I am breathing”
- Repeat the phrase 1 time: “I am very calm”
- Repeat the phrase 6 times: “The solar plexus is like a current of heat”
- Repeat the phrase 1 time: “I am very calm”
- Repeat the phrase 6 times: “The forehead is pleasantly cool.”
- Repeat the phrase 1 time: “I am very calm”
- Finish with the phrases: “Firm arms” “Breathe deeply” “Open your eyes”.
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3. Diaphragmatic breathing
The , which induce relaxation, have demonstrated great effectiveness in combating stress. One of the most characteristic is diaphragmatic breathing, which in addition to reducing stress levels, contributes to increasing concentration and performance, as well as enhancing feelings of self-efficacy and self-confidence.
The first step to perform this technique is to sit in a position in which you feel comfortable, while placing one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. While your hands are in this position, you should inhale the air through your nose and concentrate on observing how The hand that rests on your abdomen follows your breaths. Maintaining this position, inhale and hold the air through your nose for 4 seconds and then slowly exhale it through your mouth for approximately 8 seconds.
The technique must be performed for 5 minutes Approximately, performed twice a day. The greater the practice of the technique, the easier it is to control the stressful circumstances that may appear.
4. Transcendental meditation
Transcendental meditation is a mind control technique, which has the objective of controlling the stressful stimuli that pass through our mind, through a passive procedure. The technique consists of repetitive repetition of a word, with the aim of avoiding carrying any other image or…