This article is written to remind you of hidden powers of relaxation i.e., what wonders it can create in your life and to make you realize that you do not need to be defeated by anything, that you can have peace of mind, improved health, a never-ceasing flow of energy and a life be full of joy and satisfaction.
It is a pity that some people should let themselves be
defeated by the problems and difficulties of human existence, and it is also
quite unnecessary.
One can live a life without stress and miseries although these both are inevitable
part of our lives, if one knows the technique of handling them. This can be
achieved by relaxing your mind, which in turn gives Inner peace, total relaxation
right from head to toes as mind, body and soul (spirit) are interrelated.
LEVELS OF MIND
Broadly there are two levels of mind, which together give the mind a single identity.
Conscious mind
This part of our mind reasons, thinks, discriminates, observes
and analyzes. Emotions or feelings of all sorts, i.e., likes, dislikes, love,
hatred, jealousy, anger, joy, sorrow, etc., are all experienced in this part
of mind. This part of mind also imagines past, present and future. Through
physical senses, conscious mind remains in contact with the outside world.
All voluntary movements of the body are done through this part of mind. Conscious
mind also remains in touch with sub-conscious mind. Impulses and urges from
our sub-conscious mind induce the conscious mind to behave in a certain way.
Sub-conscious mind
The sub-conscious mind is the storehouse of our memory. This
part of mind is accessed when we go deep inside our inner journey. All that
we have ever seen heard, thought, talked, done whether in this life or earlier
lives get stored here as a sort of permanent record. The urges and impulses
rising from the sub-conscious mind constantly demand satisfaction through
the conscious mind. The emotions make the water of sub-conscious mind impure
and turbulent and which in turn agitate the conscious mind.
Normally, the subconscious mind can't be directly accessed. It is only the
way through the conscious mind that we can gain entry in it. But a branch
of science has been developed called 'hypnotism' through which the hypnotist
makes a direct access to the subconscious mind by bringing his conscious mind
in a semi-sleep or drowsy state by suitable techniques.
All our mental powers and functioning of autonomous nervous system in our
body (breathing, blood circulation, heart, immune system, etc.) belong to
the area of the subconscious mind.
TYPES OF WAVES GENERATED IN BRAIN
Scientists have identified four basic types of brain waves i.e., Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta-corresponding to four levels of brain activity. The frequency of each kind of brain wave, measured in cycles per second (CPS), is visible in graphs generated by an Electro-encephalogram (EEG)
* The brain produces 1-4 CPS in Delta stage. In this stage we are in deep, unconscious sleep and unaware of the things around us.
* The brain produces 5 -7 CPS in Theta stage. In this stage we feel complete satisfaction and comfort.
* The brain produces 8 -13 CPS in Alpha stage. It is the stage of relaxing, sleep and dreaming. Our mind is well controlled in this stage.
* The brain produces 14-40 CPS in Beta stage. It is the stage of complete consciousness and awareness. The average person, during an average day at an average time, is in Beta stage producing 21 CPS.
When the brain activity is above 21 CPS, which is area of normal conscious activity the mechanism that controls the envelope of outer immunity that every normal person has is depleted and the germ/virus community that is ever present is in some manner invited in hence making more prone to diseases.
When brain activity is above 21 CPS, concentration is ruined. The mind flits from thought to thought before the complete formation of one thought you're on to still another.
RELAXATION - ATTAINING OF WINNING PERSONALITY
Relaxation , apart from providing various benefits also helps
individuals to attain a winning personality. Relaxation helps in creating
reality from daily observations and experiences. If we need to change our
environment we need to change the way of thinking.
Wonders of positive thinking, need to change our attitude shifting, of paradigm
lines or our mental maps, which we have developed over the years, is emphasized
in many self-help books.
Relaxation is the foundation of all self improvement methods, all religions,
directly or indirectly aim at re-programming one's subconscious. Relaxation
is the most effective scientific method of activating the subconscious or
establishing a link between conscious of a person.
By relaxing scientifically we can reprogram our subconscious utilizing any
of the most suited method.The subconscious mind is something we can explore
and harness to our advantage or ignore at our peril. It is a source of enormous
potential energy.
It is the computer with all the information. It is the messenger of all our hidden fears. It regulates the quantities of hormones produced by our ductless glands. It can make us afraid of any unpleasant thing, or fearless in the face of danger.
If we do not understand or control our subconscious mind, then we are bound to live life at the mercy of our mind.
After years of research researchers have concluded that
habits can't be given away but they need to be substituted by good one's by
putting right thoughts in our mind. Whatever we habitually think or do is
because of the thoughts in our mind.
TECHNIQUES OF RELAXATION
Despite using many methods spontaneously or intuitively, we are sometimes more tense than we realize. Unfortunately, sometimes tension remains undetected: the brain pushes the information coming from the body into the subconscious. Control of mind is certainly the most difficult thing in the world, but it is possible by constant practice and adopting proper techniques.
One such technique is meditation. In meditation you shut
off your mind from the outside world and turn it inwards. This is done by
some special forms of concentration in which you focus your mind on a single
point stimulus. This process quietens the mind and turns it inwards. In this
state of mind the subconscious desires, impurities, and emotions become activated
and start rising to the surface of consciousness. You witness them like a
spectator and they are released from your consciousness. Gradually your subconscious
mind is purged of all impurities, emotions, desires, phobias, passions, fears,
etc. and becomes clear like a crystal. At this stage you are a self-realized
person with a complete mastery over your mind.
No external condition or circumstance can disturb the balance of your mind.
You are much above the petty worldly things.
Apart from meditation there are so many other methods which helps in relaxation like Yoga, Exercises, Breathing exercises, Trataka, etc. These methods are effective to an extent because these methods are firstly time-consuming and secondly needs extra efforts from body and mind. In present society's context, a person can neither devote any extra time in such activities after their routine work nor can he demand extra efforts from his already tensed mind. So these methods hardly serve his purpose.
Meditation is the only method, which doesn't demand any extra time or efforts. We can do meditation at any place and at any time as per our convenience.
LETTING GO
Some people think that the way to one's development and happiness is to accumulate as many things as possible, encounter as many people and relationship in life as possible, change as many jobs as possible, travel as many places as possible, etc.
In fact the truth is that happiness consists not in accumulating things but rather in giving up and letting go. The more you let go the more relieved and relaxed you become. The letting go doesn't mean throwing and leaving everything you have. You may have everything and still you may be mentally detached from it. This is what is true letting go. This letting go is applied not only in case of material possessions and experiences but also in respect of various emotions rooted in your mind.
When you get attached or stuck to certain thing, freedom of your thought and
action is lost and you are likely to think and act in the world in terms of
those attachments. Thereby you won't be able to see the reality as it is.
This ignorance of reality creates discomfort and disharmony and stops your
further growth in life.
BENEFITS OF RELAXATION
Creative visualization:
Creative visualization is the technique of using your imagination to create
what you want in life, and is based on the principle that mind and body are
intimately connected. Changes in the physical state of our body create changes
in our mind and, similarly, every mental image leads to physical changes in
the body.
Images are an important part of our everybody experience. We are equipped
with the capacity not just to see what is around us, but to see beyond our
imagination 'with our mind's eye'. Whenever we create something, we always
create it in the mind or thought first. Without thought there is no action.
Meditation:
Meditation has been a part of most cultures and religions, both eastern and
western, throughout the ages. Only recently, however it has been realized
that it can be used without any religious connotation in the promotion of
health. Apart from physiological and psychological effect on our body it also
has benefits of physical, emotional and spiritual well being of its practitioners.
It also enables us to bring into consciousness all the ideas and memories
associated with a particular subject, which is helpful in seeking a solution
to a problem. There are further practical advantages with meditation. It is
said to enable us to function more efficiently, to feel more complete in ourselves
and to enable us to realize more of our human potential, and help us to relate
to both others and ourselves.
Character building:
As a deeper state of concentration is developed, the process becomes more intimate and compelling, and this power of the subconscious can be used to build character. It is known if a person constantly perceives him or herself to be in possession of a desired trait over and over again, the new image can become a fixed part of his or her character.
Self Hypnosis:
Hypnosis is a state of altered awareness in which the person focuses on a
set of suggestions and allows him or herself to be receptive to them. In self-hypnosis,
instead of an external hypnotist, you yourself become the operator of your
mind. Here you still your conscious mind to have an access to your subconscious
mind to correct various behavioral deficiencies in you. In this operation,
you fully remain aware of yourself unlike the other states of consciousness.
In the hypnotic treatment of anxieties, continuos suggestions of relaxation
are given. The person is asked to imagine stress-producing situations but
to stay calm - when similar situations arise in real life the person will
have learned how to cope without stressful reactions.
At the time of stress the user of self-hypnosis technique can immediately
produce in them a relaxed and altered state, free from anxiety.(Hypnotism
has found a place in medicine, psychology, entertainment, etc. The benefits
are self-improvement, curing mental, emotional, and physical ailments, controlling
weight, past life regression and anesthetic benefits during surgery. Hypnosis
helps change attitudes, the key to changing behavior. A person is made independent
enough to solve his problems. But the primary aim is healing. If you can think
yourself sick, you can think yourself well too. Hypnosis is especially useful
in tapping the awesome power of the human mind.
Coping with imagination:
Rehearsing how to deal with a particular situation, something that we have
all done at some time, can be deliberately practiced as a stress-reducing
maneuver. It involves confronting, in imagination, a stressful situation without
becoming panicky or retreating from the scene. Tell yourself not to worry
but to work out how to cope with the situation; rehearse in your mind various
ways of dealing with it.
Affirmation:
Affirmation is the statements we repeat to convince ourselves that they are
true. What is to be done is engaging us in some 'mind talk' or 'self talk'.
We do this all the time but unfortunately, we keep repeating negative affirmations.
Thus a short tempered person may keep repeating in his mind that he is excitable
and prone to losing his temper so that over a period of time he realizes that
the 'fuse gets shorter and shorter' and he is prone to blowing his top at
the slightest provocation. Such person could start with the affirmation 'I
will stay calm'. In the above example the affirmation will conflict with the
previously held behavior/belief pattern. But repetition will help the mind
accept/evaluate the alternative pattern. In other words the affirmation sinks
to the subconscious.
Affirmation can be thought of for any thought/behavior pattern one wishes
to change. Affirming in relaxed state gives desired results because, at this
stage the subconscious mind is in our control and we can put the desired thoughts
in it.
Effective decision making:
Decision-making may, on the surface of it, appears to be an easy job. But
it is not. In fact, it is one of the difficult tasks we have to face in our
every day life. Scores of decisions on a variety of matters have to be taken
without realizing the importance of decision making or of the process involved
in it and perhaps without too much of bothering about the results. Everybody
knows that a bad decision makes oneself lose the gainful share in effect.
How correctly, quickly, and easily one is able to decide, depends upon his
state of mind. If he is stressed then he is liable to make bad decisions without
giving it a thought, as he has no control over his mind. So while giving a
decision on anything the person should feel completely relaxed so that there
is free flow of ideas and suggestions in the mind which aids in judging good
or bad regarding the decision.
Medical uses of Relaxation:
Research has found some small correlation between stress-including life events and subsequent frequency, severity and duration of several disorders. High level of stress depresses the body's immune system, making illness more likely. Relaxation aids in overcoming many diseases and disorders.
Allergy:
An allergy is a reaction to a substance, which in itself is normally not harmful,
called an allergen. Many of the symptoms of allergy are due to the release
of histamine into the blood stream. Treatment is generally by antihistamine
drugs. Relaxation can help considerably in relieving the symptoms like nasal
streaming and wheezing.
Asthma:
Stress does not 'cause' asthma, but in some people it is the initiating factor;
in others, stress is the factor which prolongs the attack. If stress can contribute
to attacks of asthma, reducing stress should be of benefit. There is evidence
that training in relaxation, not repressing anger and not panicking when minor
changes in breathing occur, reduces and asthma sufferer's attacks.
The muscles in lungs are governed by the subconscious mind, in the same way
as our digestive and hormonal systems. When we are excited sometimes a wrong
information is fed to the subconscious mind and an asthmatic attack can be
triggered by the muscles going into spasm.
If we feel an attack coming on, the first step will be to try to relax; if we have learned how to relax deeply, the attack will usually pass. The second reaction might be to go quietly and get whatever medication is used to prevent it.
Cancer:
A theory which is being followed up by researchers is that emotional factors,
such as stress, could be a contributing factor in some cancers (for example,
that stress altering hormone levels may, perhaps, promote breast cancer).
It has been suggested that the body's immune responses, which defend it against
cancer cells, may be impaired by stress. Stress induces secretion of adrenaline
and non-adrenaline and it is possible that these hormones, in turn, tend to
suppress or reduce certain immune responses.
Diabetes mellitus:
Although it seems doubtful whether diabetes can actually be caused by physical
or emotional stress, it may be that a stress can bring into the open diabetes
that was hitherto hidden, rather than provoking diabetes in a previously normal
individual.
Physical stresses such as infections, heart attacks, accidents, can provoke
the symptoms of untreated diabetes, in particular thirst and excessive urine
flow.
Like any chronic disorder, diabetes can give rise to emotional stresses, particularly
when diagnosis is first made. Relaxation is known to reduce the requirement
of insulin and other anti-diabetic drugs.
Heart attack:
When the blood supply to the heart muscle is abruptly stopped, this causes
a heart attack. It is generally due to clotting in a coronary blood vessel,
that is, one surrounding the heart and supplying it with blood. Stress can
contribute to this -clotting of the blood takes place by a complex mechanism
and stress factors increase the stickiness of blood making it more likely
to clot. A stressful existence leads to the sustained production of the hormone
adrenaline and nonadrenaline which, among other things, mobilizes fatty acids
which are a source of energy. In the absence of exercise to burn up these
fatty substances, it is thought that they accumulate and interact with other
fatty substances to form atheroma, a deposit in the wall of blood vessels.
Change in lifestyle themselves could actually cause stress. Learning to relax,
mentally and physically, can be very helpful.
High blood pressure:
In most people, the blood pressure goes up and down greatly during the day
in relation to emotion and exercise. There is evidence that acute stress is
associated with a rise in blood pressure. In most cases, the blood pressure
will revert to normal if the stress is removed. However, if the rise in the
blood pressure has been severe and prolonged, changes can take place in the
arteries of the body which result in the raised blood pressure being maintained
even after the stress has been reduced or removed. Combining non-drug methods
with a smaller dose of drugs, if necessary, would be ideal. A number of studies
have shown that regular practice of relaxation or other stress -management
techniques can significantly reduce high blood pressure. Raised blood pressure
is by no means necessarily due to stress but it make sense for a person suffering
from high blood pressure to examine his or her life style and attempt to change
it of it is stressful.
Irritable bowel syndrome:
This condition, also called spastic colon or irritable colon syndrome, is
very common and is now widely recognized. The symptoms are colicky pain, usually
in the lower abdomen, variable bowel habit with periods of diarrhea, constipation
or both; distension of the abdomen, and occasionally belching or heartburn.
Symptoms can come and go over long periods of time, and are often made worse
by stress. Stress can make the colon go into spasm, particularly if it contains
insufficient bulk and this exacerbates irritable bowel syndrome. Drugs that
relieve colonic spasm are sometimes prescribed at first, but generally trying
to deal with the sources of stress treats irritable bowel syndrome. Obviating
stress can help a great deal in avoiding frequent attacks.
Migraine headaches:
Although the term is sometimes used indiscriminately to refer to any severe,
prostrating headache, migraine is a specific type of headache due to spasms
and relaxation of blood vessels in the coverings of the brain. The attack
usually starts with a visual phenomenon, which can take the form of flares
around objects, or flashes of zigzag patterns. The headache is severe, usually
accompanied by nausea, vomiting etc. The pain may affect one side of the head
only.
Some sufferers recognize that their attacks are closely related to episodes
of tension and stress in their lives. Relaxation techniques help these sufferers
to overcome this condition. It is helpful if the sufferer can sit or lie down
in a quiet, dark room and if possible, sleep so that he/she can achieve complete
relaxation. Once a person has identified what triggers an attack, he may be
able to avoid one.
Peptic ulcer:
Peptic ulcer is a breach or defect in the lining of the upper part of the
gut. Acid appears to play a leading role in the causes of peptic ulcers. The
stomach usually produces a strong acid but protects itself from being digested
by this acid by secreting a coating of mucus. It is thought that stress may
increase the secretion of acid and decrease the secretion of mucus. The main
symptom of this ulcer is pain in abdomen.
Controlling pain:
If the subconscious mind has not fully understood that the pain has been investigated
and everything has been done for it, then it will continue to allow the pain
sensations to be felt at the maximum degree. If, on the other hand, the subconscious
mind has accepted the fact that the pain has been treated and that there is
no more to be done for the moment, then it is capable of cutting off the sensation
of pain or reducing it.
If we relax and remain relaxed, while at the same time knowing for certain
that all is being done for us that can be done, then we can either lose pain
completely or, at least, be better able to bear it.
There are two types of pain - physical and psychosomatic. Migraine for example
is probably psychosomatic. It is brought on by unresolved conflicts in the
mind. It will respond to hypnosis if we allow the conflicts to disappear.
This may be a big job, but once the mind is at ease and the true facts are
absorbed by the subconscious, then we are free. When the subconscious mind
is in harmony with the conscious, unhelpful stimuli are prevented from reaching
the conscious. When a person is relaxed, pain is much easier to bear; if he
is tensed, alarming doses of painkillers may have to be administered.
Relieving Dermatitis:
Hypnosis is one of the most effective techniques in the treatment of skin
diseases. Skin conditions have two primary causes. The first is physical (caused
by bacteria, fungi, accidents, etc.). The second cause of skin disorders results
from a failure in communications between the mind and the body. The skin is
so readily affected by our feelings that it has been described as the mirror
of the mind. People who cannot sort out their problems or see a way of dealing
with them may easily suffer a rash or similar flare-up of the skin. The psyche,
or mind, is sending wrong messages to the soma, or body. The ensuing conditions
are then known as 'psychosomatic'.
We all know how stroking and massaging the skin can waft away anxieties and
make you feel calmer and happier. The itch of a psychosomatic rash is usually
alleviated within a matter of minutes, simply through practicing deep relaxation.
The rash itself also improves dramatically as the urge to scratch disappears.
Since the human mind has a built-in ability to disregard what is unimportant
and unhelpful, an understanding of the root cause of the condition can often
help the sufferer to recover and to avoid the itch returning.When the conscious
mind is unable to face or think out its difficulties and come to a rational
conclusion, this leads to the subconscious mind receiving muddled information.
The resultant disharmony may lead to an overproduction of adrenaline and consequently
to the wrong amount of other hormones being secreted by the individual endocrine
glands.
When we understand clearly how rational thinking enables the subconscious mind to give the correct stimuli to the endocrine glands, then we can see how a well-adjusted person can have a healthy skin.
Curing Insomnia:
Countless millions go to bed every night, hoping they will sleep. But when
they go to bed, they cannot sleep. They suffer from insomnia. Normally when
we go to sleep, we drop into a state of relaxation in which ordinary sounds
do not disturb the little aches and us and pains we usually suffer disappear.
The terrible, exhausting problem of insomnia can be helped with self-hypnosis.
The first thing to do is to make sure you are tired and that there is nothing
on your minds to keep you awake. If there is, try writing it down on a pad
beside the bed. We can relax one part of the body after another, starting
with the feet and moving upwards. We can count slowly and with each count
drift deeper and deeper into sleep.
Deep relaxation is a far better method to develop and one, which can be used
as you reduce the nightly dose.