Learning How to Relax

How much challenge is too much? How much emotional, physical or psychological stress can one handle?

The question is not how much challenge can we handle but how well can we recover and return to homeostasis after we have been challenged? One of the first questions I ask my clients is how do you relax. Most are taken back by the question because in the fitness industry, it is only recently that the value of relaxation has been recognized by medical health professionals to be directly related to our ability to have a healthy and happy life.

The ability to relax and recovery from a sympathetic nervous system stimulation varies from person to person and is influenced by a host of factors including but not limited to history, temperament, and type of challenge. What is stressful for one person may be difficult for another person to assimilate. Knowing what challenges you and tracking your reaction is key. Do this by listening to how your biology responds. Does your heart rate increase, can you sense tension in your body, is your breathing restricted?

Exercise: Practice a full body scan. Begin in a comfortable place where you can focus on your body like in your bed, chair, or lying on the floor. Start by tensing the muscle in your feet, then while maintaing the tension in your feet began to tense your entire leg. Then both legs are tense. Continue to systematically tensing the muscles in your body until your entire body is tense. Once every muscle is tightened, hold a few seconds, then all at once relax everything. Let go of all the tension more and more, breathing freely and deeply. Repeat the exercise until you feel a deep sense of release on the letting go phase of the exercise.

This exercise will help you to learn what tension feels like and what relaxation feels like. Practice checking in on your state of relaxation throughout your day. This is a good beginning in learning how to sense your body, feeling the contrast between contraction and release.