Ways to Relax

I've talked about the importance of relaxation in daily life. But relaxation can mean different things to different people.

When I think of relaxation I think about closing my eyes, breathing deeply, relaxing my muscles and very soon I find myself in an altered state. However, I do have other ways to relax...taking a hike through the woods, watching a favourite movie, chatting with a friend on-line or playing a game on my computer are all ways to relax. I'm sure you could list a few more.

As for how I teach people how to relax, i.e. self-hypnosis and I believe the phrase that "all hypnosis is self-hypnosis," I'm talking about the first way I described above. And I always teach my clients how to do this and you can find this on-line...it's no great secret and I don't mind sharing it here with you.

I could get into great detail about the mechanics of self-hypnosis, what happens to the brain, what happens to the body, what you might feel, ways you can deepen the state even more but for the purposes of this blog I'll give you the basic mechanics and you can practise on your own. If you want more in-depth training feel free to contact me through my website http://www.relaxationadvantage.ca or directly at my phone number, 905-537-3300. I do great workshops on it, they are a lot of fun and taken from 1 to 2 hours, ideal for lunch and learn or a short workshop.

First of all, sit quietly and still. Preferably in a place where you won't be disturbed and nothing will disturb you. The better you get at this, the more easily you can do this and eventually you'll be able to do it even with distractions. It's important to sit still and breathe deeply. When people get tense, they breathe in a shallow manner...it's hard to get tense when you're breathing deeply.

Close your eyes and begin to relax the muscles of the body in a uniform fashion such as from your head to your toes or vice versa...in a progressive fashion one group after another. You'll find that the more you practice this, the quicker you can do all this. And you can do all this in 5 minutes. In fact that's what I recommend for people...to take 5 minutes a day and practice this for 2 or 3 weeks and it will become automatic...more on the automatic part later.

As you are doing all this ...breathing deeply while remaining still and relaxing your muscles say a calming phrase to yourself like "I'm calm and relaxed" or something you make up.

And that's it essentially. Now people say this is too easy and I say yes...it is easy...so why don't you practice it on a regular basis?? People will make up all kinds of excuses about not having time, too busy, no where to relax. Trust me...if your life is that hectic and you aren't doing anything to relax, you'll find yourself sooner or later in a nice relaxing place where you do nothing else...like a hospital room totally burned out or in your bed, sick because you haven't been taking care of yourself.

It is so easy and so quick and as I told you earlier it becomes automatic after a few weeks of practice...in fact, you just take a deep breath, say your phrase and the body will take over and you will feel the relaxation automatically. As one of my workshop participants said, "it ain't rocket science." I like to add, "but you'll have a nice, short trip into inner space."