Think about it and honestly tell yourself how susceptible you are to stress and how well do you deal with it? Identifying symptoms such as fatigue at the beginning of the working day, irritation, impatience, insomnia, anxiety over any little things, and anxiety in general will help clarify the answer. Do you often hear the phrase from friends and family: “It’s time for you to rest and relax,” but do not react to such remarks? If you easily recognize yourself in the previous sentences, it’s time to learn how to relieve tension through relaxation exercises.
And if this topic seems interesting to you, and you want to develop even more in it, we recommend, where you will learn real practical techniques for self-motivation, stress management and social adaptation in order to always control your emotional and mental state.
Getting Started different techniques relaxation, remember the following. Learning the basics of relaxation techniques is not difficult, but it does take time and some effort. Most experts recommend exercising at least 10-20 minutes a day. Those attending special sessions to relieve stress spend 30-60 minutes. Start small, and individual elements of the exercises can be performed right at your desk, in transport, at a bus stop.
Top 3 ways to relieve tension:
Complex 1. Breathing exercises
Deep breathing allows you to relax, regardless of the thoughts that overcome a person. It is not for nothing that in films, when police or doctors arrive at the scene, they advise victims first of all to breathe deeply and evenly. In stressful situations, breathing quickens and the body lacks oxygen. Deep breathing promotes the flow of this vital gas into the brain and all cells in the required volumes.
Exercises:
- Inhale and exhale slowly and deeply through your nose, counting from 1 to 4 as you inhale and exhale. This exercise is very easy to do, and it is especially effective if you cannot sleep.
- Try relaxing your shoulders and upper chest muscles as you breathe. Do this consciously with each exhalation. The fact is that in stressful situations, when a person is tense, the diaphragm muscles are not used for breathing. Their purpose is to lower the lungs down, thereby expanding the airways. When we are excited, the muscles of the upper chest and shoulders are more often used, which do not contribute to the full functioning of the respiratory system.
- Nadi Shodhana. A yoga exercise that helps you become more active and focused; According to experts, it acts like a cup of coffee. With the thumb of your right hand, you need to close the right nostril and inhale deeply through the left (for women, on the contrary, close the left nostril with your left hand and inhale through the right). At the peak of inhalation, you need to close your left (right for women) nostril with your ring finger and exhale.
- Sit up straight or lie on your back. Place one hand on your stomach, the other on your chest. Inhale air deeply through your nose, while the hand on your stomach should rise and the hand on your chest should move only slightly. Exhale through your mouth, while the hand on your stomach again drops, and on your chest practically does not move. In this case, breathing will occur using the diaphragm.
Complex 2. Muscle relaxation
The progressive muscle relaxation technique was developed by the American doctor E. Jacobson in the 1920s. It is based on a simple physiological fact: after tension of any muscle, a period of automatic relaxation begins. Taking this into account, a technique was developed according to which, in order to achieve deep relaxation of the body, you first need to strongly tense your muscles for 10-15 seconds, and then concentrate on the feeling of relaxation that arises in them for 15-20 seconds.
Exercises:
- Start by focusing on your breathing for a few minutes. Breathe slowly and calmly, think about something pleasant. After this you can start muscle exercises working on various groups muscles.
- Hands. Squeeze your hand as tightly and tightly as possible. You should feel tension in your hand and forearm. Relax your hand as you exhale, concentrating on the feeling of relief that arises. Repeat the same for the other hand. If you are right-handed, you should start with your right hand, if you are left-handed, start with your left.
- Neck. Tilt your head back, slowly turn it from side to side, then relax. Pull your shoulder joints high towards your ears and in this position tilt your chin towards your chest.
- Face. Raise your eyebrows as high as possible, open your mouth wide (as if you are pretending to be very surprised). Close your eyes tightly, frown and wrinkle your nose. Clench your jaw tightly and move the corners of your mouth back.
- Breast. Take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds, then relax and return to normal breathing.
- Back and stomach. Tighten your muscles abdominals, squeeze your shoulder blades and arch your back.
- Legs. Tighten the front and back muscles of your thighs, keeping your knee in a tense, bent position. Pull your foot towards you as much as possible and straighten your toes. Extend your ankle joint and flex your toes.
Do 3-4 repetitions of the complex. Each time you rest a newly tense muscle, notice how good it feels and how relaxed you feel. It helps many people cope with stress and anxiety.
Complex 3. Meditation
Most general definition The concept of “meditation” in psychological dictionaries reads like this: “a method of mental training in which intense, penetrating reflection occurs, immersion in an object, an idea, which is achieved by concentrating on one object.” The recommendations collected in this block concern how to conduct a visual meditation session on your own. Visual meditation is a variation of traditional meditation that is based on the use of not only visual meanings, but also the senses: taste, touch, smell and sound. When used as a relaxation technique, visualization involves imagining a scene in which you feel free from tension and anxiety.
Set of exercises:
- Choose a quiet and secluded place, with nothing to distract you. Find a comfortable position. It is not recommended to lie down; it is better to sit on the floor, in a chair, or try sitting in the lotus position.
- Select a focal point. It can be internal - an imaginary scene, or external - a candle flame. Therefore, the eyes can be open or closed. At the beginning, it is very difficult to concentrate and avoid distracting thoughts, so the focus point should have a strong meaning, understandable and clear, so that you can return to it at any time.
- The focal point should definitely be something calming for you. It could be a tropical beach at sunset, a forest clearing, or an orchard in a village near your grandparents’ house, where you visited as a child. Visual meditation can be done in silence, or you can turn on relaxing music or an audio recording with meditation tips.
- Try to use all your senses as much as possible. For example, your focal point is a forest. Imagine that you are walking through a clearing, and cold dew falls on your feet, you hear the singing of many birds, smell the pine, breathe in the clean air deeply. The picture should be as lively as possible. Meditate for 15-20 minutes.
Remember, relaxation will not save you from problems, but it will help you relax and distract yourself from unimportant details, so that later you can tackle the solution with renewed vigor.
Sometimes everyday life requires too much effort from us, as a result of which we succumb to the influence of tension and stress. To avoid this, you need to clear the psychological climate from irritation and anxiety from time to time, and the following list of five simple relaxation exercises will help you with this.
Meditation for mental relaxation
- Close your eyes. Take a slow, deep breath, counting to four, and exhale while counting to four. Do this exercise for 3-5 minutes.
- Tighten all your muscles for 10-20 seconds, and then relax and concentrate on this state. Repeat the exercise 3 times.
- Imagine that you are a vessel that is filled negative energy. The more peace and relaxation flows into you, the more tension flows through your limbs. “Pour” peace into your body for 10-30 seconds, starting from your head, and imagine how the heavy liquid of negative emotions recedes under pressure and leaves you through your fingers and toes. Focus on the state of peace to consolidate it.
- Try to fill yourself with warmth from within. Imagine that you are a stove that needs to heat up evenly. Warm up each part of the body, and then connect them in your imagination to feel like a single source of heat.
- If you have the opportunity to spend time in solitude, take up meditation. The main idea of this psychological practice is abstraction from reality and focusing on a specific object. Find a comfortable position and do one or more of the previous exercises to relax your irritated mind.
How to do these exercises
Close your eyes. Choose an object to focus your feelings on that has a positive effect on you 
impact; it can be either fictional or real. For example, imagine that you are in rural areas.
Draw out as many details as possible: you hear the mooing of grazing cows, the singing of birds, or you yourself hum your favorite song, which sounds like a composition of instruments, you step barefoot on the grass flooring, a light warm wind sweeps in waves across your body.
Please note that meditation is not a game of imagination, but a training of the senses! Draw one element of the picture and try to bring the impression of it closer to the physical sensation, and when you feel it, imagine another one and also be imbued with its details so that it seems real.
Connect all five senses you come into contact with environment: vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste. You can also meditate under the influence of the real environment, the main thing is that the process of concentration is not interfered with by its influence.
Posted inThere are plenty of sources of music for relaxation on the Internet. It's calming. Sometimes it’s nice to listen to a melody like this to relax after working day. But if you have neurosis, then listening to music is not enough. You need to do relaxation classes with it.
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Why do relaxation exercises help overcome neurosis?
American psychiatrist Edmund Jacobson (his last name Jacobson is also read as Jacobson) noticed that the synthesis of thoughts is preceded by muscle tension. He derived the dependence of mental activity on the contraction of skeletal muscles.
In the 20s last century Jacobson developed a system of exercises to relax the body, which helps get rid of neuroses. Although yoga has been using this technique for centuries.
What exercises will be effective against neurosis? How to do them? Answers to such questions can be found on this page.
Fifteen-minute sessions a day are enough for the nervous system to begin to stabilize in case of disorder. But no one limited the time: if you study longer, it will only bring benefits.
Class time
If you decide to learn relaxation exercises, it is important to choose the right time to perform them:
- This may be the period before bedtime. Then relaxation will smoothly turn into dreams. As a result, the brain and body will receive wonderful rest.
- Classes in the morning can bring more more benefits, as they will set the mood for the whole day. This determines whether corporate deals, career advancement, or ordinary ones will be successful. family relationships. In addition, neurosis does not like a good mood.
- By engaging in relaxation after a hard day, you can relieve tension, restore strength, and remove negativity if it appeared during work.
Any time will do. Yoga talks about this. It is important that you do not rush anywhere during classes. Otherwise, the session will not be beneficial.
If the thought gets into your head that you start the session at 2:00 p.m., and you need to catch the bus at 2:30 p.m., then your brain will not be able to relax. After all, such planning obviously includes the feeling: “Will I succeed or not?”
How to conduct sessions in the morning? You need to reserve time. For example, you do the exercise first, and then do the rest of the things: breakfast, morning toilet, preparing the necessary things for work. In this case, there will be enough time for the session. In extreme cases, you risk being left without breakfast or not having time to brush your teeth. But this will not harm your health: you can take a sandwich and a toothbrush to work. Over time, everything will work out: the body will get used to the new routine, and relaxation will begin to improve your nervous system.
Jacobson technology
The American psychiatrist believed that thought processes arise due to muscle tension. Whether this is true or not is up to you to decide. But it’s not for nothing that a person wrinkles his forehead when he thinks hard.
By relaxing the muscles of the forehead, the entire head, and then the torso, Jacobson learned to get rid of obsessive thoughts that cause neurosis. Next, his methodology is presented.
Tension-relaxation
Lie on your back. For convenience, it is better to lay a rug.
Bend your arms at the elbows and tense.
Feel the strength of the excited muscles.
After a few seconds, release the tension by breathing a sigh of relief. Lower your exhausted arms to the floor.
Repeat all over again several times.
Similar exercises are done for the muscles of the legs, torso, head and even for the tongue and eyes.
Decreasing voltage
Perform jerky contractions and relaxations of the arm muscles, as if squeezing and releasing an expander. Moreover, each subsequent push should be weaker than the previous one until the tension turns into complete relaxation.
Perform the same actions with the muscles of the legs, torso, and head.
Relieving excess stress
The following exercise does not require a special time or place. It can be performed on the street, at work, in transport.
The technique is as follows: you need to mentally walk through your body and relax the muscles that are not used to maintain balance.
Relaxation against neurosis
As you gain experience, you can learn to calm down muscles that are unnecessary at a certain moment. This skill will help block neurosis.
Study yourself. Determine which muscles tense during a stressful situation or experience and try to relax them. This should calm the nervous system.
Yoga
Yogis have the art of mastering their consciousness. Among them it is difficult to find a patient with neurosis. They put the body into a trance state using special exercises. In this state, yogis relax, rest and tune their subconscious to the desired wave.
Facial relaxation
The exercise is performed standing, sitting or lying down.
As you inhale, tense the muscles of each part of your face: forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks, chin. The tension should move to the tongue and neck, and then take over the whole body.
Stay in this state for a few seconds, holding your breath.
Then you can exhale, “pushing” the tension to the floor.
At the same time, a feeling of heaviness of the body should arise: you are like a magnet stuck to the floor. Sweet relaxation, tingling on the cheeks and calmness should accompany this.
If you get this impression, then you are almost a yoga master. Otherwise, catch the pleasant sensations and hold on to them every session. You will succeed!
Whole body relaxation
Accept horizontal position face up. Hands extended to hips. Legs slightly apart. Breathing is slow and deep. At the same time, the body begins to relax and the brain calms down. This is what yogis strive for.
Inhale smoothly. At the same time, bend your knees. Squeeze your fingers, feet, ankles, calves.
Hold your breath for up to 10 seconds.
Exhale, releasing muscle tension.
Do similar exercises for all parts of the body.
Improve yourself
Yoga exercises are called “asanas”. There are millions of them, but only a few dozen are popular. They are unusual, but imitate the positions of animals in different environments. In addition to relaxation, rhythmic breathing and energy management are practiced here.
It is advisable to choose a set of several asanas that you like best and do them regularly.
By practicing yoga, you will not only understand the science of relaxation, but will also be able to control your mind. This will give positive results for the treatment of neurosis.
Autotraining
Europeans received auto-training based on yoga. Its creator was a doctor from Germany I. Schultz. The training technology is described below
Take your usual position for passive rest: you can lie on the bed or sit in a chair. Close your eyes.
It is important to feel relaxed to such an extent that you are too lazy to move. This is helped by the “lead” and “fire” technique.
First, mentally pour lead into each hand. As you do this, say: “My right hand is becoming heavy. The left hand is gaining weight.”
Do the same with your legs.
Then fill your hands with warming fire, saying the following text: “The right hand is warming. My left hand is getting warmer.”
Warm your feet in the same way.
Using the lead and fire technique, relax your entire body.
You might want to sleep. But you don't need to do this. Hold the resulting state. It's called trance.
After making sure that you are in control of your condition, begin to recite the text prepared in advance. Its purpose is to induce feelings of bliss and serenity. It might look like this: “I am calm. I feel warm and pleasant. I’m relaxed...” Each sentence is allowed to be modified and repeated several times.
To exit the trance state, you need to prepare your consciousness by telling it: “Now on the count of one, two, three, I will open my eyes and feel great...”
Slowly count to three.
Open your eyes.
Shake off the accumulated heaviness from your hands and then from your feet.
This concludes the session.
You can stand up and assess your well-being. There should be a feeling of relief. If instead you get a headache, it means you have not lost all the heaviness you received in the trance state. Try again to remove the remaining “lead” from your head and the rest of your body.
After several relaxation sessions, you will do this more successfully. Try! Then you can get rid of neurosis forever!
Help with back pain - blocks and muscle spasms
The main cause of many diseases is associated with spasms of the deep short lateral and medial intertransverse lumbar muscles and interspinous muscles! Moreover, these muscles can remain in a state of spasm for years, causing muscle pain. Thus, the muscle does not develop as a result of dystrophy and protrusion and not as a result of bone growths of neighboring ones.
The primary pathological process consists of excessive tension of these muscles (awkward rotation of the body, excessive flexion, hypothermia of the back, previous infectious disease, prolonged static muscle tension , arising - when a person sits incorrectly at a computer, when carrying a bag on one shoulder, etc.), exceeding their operating stress, which leads to long-term, reflexively fixed tension, a reflex spasm of these muscles.
For all patients with osteochondrosis, massage, self-massage, exercises in water, swimming, especially breaststroke and backstroke, are useful. Exercises to strengthen the back and abdominal muscles, which are included in the exercise complexes, are useful. When muscles are tense, compression of the nerve roots increases and blood supply deteriorates.
Therefore, it is so important to include relaxation exercises in your classes, which must be alternated with special exercises. First of all, you need to learn what bears the main load:
- slow, rhythmic movements that stretch the tonic muscle (repeat 6-15 times, 20 seconds break);
- under the influence of gravity, create a position for the tonic muscle that stretches it, the stretching phase lasts 20 seconds, 20 seconds break, repeat 15-20 times;
- tensing the tonic muscle against resistance for 10 seconds, then relaxing and stretching for 8 seconds, repeat 3-6 times;
- tensing the tonic muscle group against resistance on the opposite side for 10 seconds, relaxing for 8 seconds, stretching the muscle group, repeat 3-6 times.
2) Get down on all fours, resting your knees and palms on the floor. Press your chin to your chest. Now bend your back upward, rounding it.
3) The same, but in a standing position: put your hands on your belt, turn your elbows forward. Tuck your chin to your chest and round your back, arching it back.
4) Lie on your stomach, place your hands under your hips, straighten and bring your legs together. Lift your feet off the ground, trying to raise them as high as possible. Hold them in the maximum position until the count of two and slowly lower them.
5) Continue to lie on your stomach, but clasp your hands behind your back. Raise your head and lift your shoulders off the floor, extending your palms towards your feet. Hold the maximum position until the count of two and slowly lower.
6) Roll over onto your back. Using your hands, pull your knees towards your chest. Bend your head towards your knees. Stay in this position for a few seconds, then relax.
Complex for the lower back
1) Half push-ups. Lie on your stomach. Without lifting your pelvis from the floor, do push-ups on your hands, arching your back.
2) Roll over onto your back. Press your feet firmly into the floor and bend your knees. Cross your arms and place your palms on your shoulders. Raise your head and shoulders as high as possible, while pressing your lower back and feet toward the floor. Stay in this position until the count of two.
3) Land navigation. Lie on your stomach and lift left hand and your right leg, as if you were swimming crawl. Hold until the count of two, then switch arms and legs as if you were swimming.
4) Visit the pool, but make sure the water is warm. For chronic lower back pain, swimming helps without equal.
All of the above exercises should be performed with a positive emotional attitude, at an average pace, with even breathing. The most important thing: after the tension phase, there must be a phase of complete relaxation, otherwise the exercises will lose their meaning.
When performing any of the above exercises, be careful. If they hurt, stop doing them. But if you feel improvement a day or two after the exercises, then they are safe for you.
Physical education is physical education, but there are others important nuances, which are useful to remember.
Choose a chair that provides good lumbar support. If this option is adjustable, start with the lowest position and move up until you find the most comfortable one.
Try to keep your head straight, without lowering or lifting your chin. If you have to look at the monitor for a long time, place it at eye level.
When it's cold and damp outside, don't forget to wrap your neck with a scarf.
When working sedentarily, even if your work is in Krasnodar, where there is a wonderful climate and excellent working conditions, take short breaks regularly (about once an hour) to warm up. You can simply walk along the corridor, climb the stairs two or three floors. But it would be better to stretch and bend.
There is such a very useful invention: fitball. Exercises performed on large (55-65 cm) rubber balls are not only fun, but also extremely beneficial for the back and neck.
Sign up for physical therapy. Modern medicine has reached incredible heights, and your doctor will prescribe precisely and targeted exercises for you. The main thing here is to have less independence.
Try to eat healthy foods and indulge in negative emotions less. Stress is one of the main causes of muscle strain.
It is useful to hang from a bar if possible. Make it at home, for example, in some doorway. Every time you pass by, hang for a few seconds, swinging moderately in different directions. At the same time, the back muscles relax significantly and strive to return to their normal position.
Visit a chiropractor to get it back in place. But remember: having a license medical center in itself does not give his employees the right to dig into your back. Each specific therapist must have a personal certificate and permission to conduct medical procedures.
Many neck and back problems begin with an improperly designed sleeping position. It is important to have a firm mattress that does not sag deeply in the middle. The pillow should also not be overly soft; sometimes it is worth abandoning it completely. It is best to purchase a special orthopedic mattress and pillow. Their shape is specially selected to help relax the back muscles and. On these, you fall asleep sweetly as soon as you lie down, and wake up completely rested.
Back exercises
We offer you a set of very easy exercises that can be performed while lying on your back. Its main advantage is that each exercise allows you to stretch the muscles of those parts of the body that are difficult to relax in a normal position. The complex can be used for light stretching and relaxation.
Back exercises #1
Bend your knees, touch the soles of your feet and relax. This pleasant position stretches the groin muscles. Hold for 30 seconds. Let gravity stretch this area of your body naturally. For greater comfort, you can place a small pillow under your head. 
Back exercise option No. 1
Without changing your position, gently swing your legs from side to side 10-12 times. In this case, the legs should act as one part of the body (indicated by a dotted line). Movements are performed easily and smoothly, with an amplitude of no more than 2-3 cm in each direction. The movement should start from the hips.
The exercise develops flexibility in the groin and hips.
Back exercises No. 2
Pressing your right leg with your left, try to pull your right leg towards your body. This way you contract the thigh muscles (Fig. 1). Hold the tension for 5 seconds, then relax and repeat the previous one (Fig. 2). This way of doing the exercise is especially useful for people with stiff muscles.
Back exercises #4
To relieve tension in the area
You can stretch while lying down top part and neck. Interlace your fingers behind your head at approximately ear level. Begin to slowly pull your head up until you feel a slight stretch in the area. Hold for 3-5 seconds, then slowly return to the starting position. Do the exercise 3-4 times to gradually ease the tension in the upper part and. Relax your lower jaw (there should be a small gap between your molars) and breathe rhythmically.
Back exercises No. 5
Lying down with your knees bent, clasp your fingers behind your head (not on your neck). Before stretching your back, gently lift your head up and forward from the floor. Then begin to press your head down toward the floor, but use your arms to counteract this movement. Hold this static contraction for 3-4 seconds. Relax for 1-2 seconds, then begin to smoothly pull your head forward with your arms (as in the previous exercise) so that your chin moves towards your navel until you feel light and pleasant. Hold the position for 3-5 seconds. Repeat 2-3 times.
Smoothly pull your head and chin towards the left. Hold the position for 3-5 seconds. Relax and lower your head to the floor, then pull it to the right. Repeat 2-3 times.
Keeping your head in a relaxed position on the floor, turn your chin towards your shoulder. Rotate your chin just enough to feel a slight stretch at the side. Hold the position for 3-5 seconds, then perform in the other direction. Repeat 2-3 times. The lower jaw should be relaxed and breathing should be even.
Back exercises No. 6
Reduction of the shoulder blades
Interlace your fingers behind your head and squeeze your shoulder blades together to create tension in your upper back (your chest should move up as you perform the movement). Hold the position for 4-5 seconds, then relax and smoothly pull your head forward. This way you will also reduce the tension in the area. Try tensing your neck and shoulders, then relaxing and moving towards your backside. This will help you relax your muscles and turn your head without straining. Repeat 3-4 times.
Back exercises No. 7
Straightening the lower back
To relieve tension in your lower back, tighten your buttock muscles and at the same time tighten your abdominal muscles to straighten your lower back. Hold the tension for 5-8 seconds, then relax. Repeat 2-3 times. Concentrate on keeping the muscles contracted. This pelvic girdle rocking exercise strengthens the muscles of the buttocks and abdomen and helps maintain a correct sitting and standing position.
Back exercises No. 8
Reduction of the shoulder blades and tension of the gluteal muscles.
At the same time, bring your shoulder blades together, straighten your lower back and tense. Hold the tension for 5 seconds, then relax and pull your head up to stretch your back and upper back. Repeat 3-4 times and appreciate the pleasure.
Now extend one arm behind your head (palm up) and the other along your body (palm down). Stretch in both directions at the same time to stretch your shoulders and back. Hold for 6-8 seconds. Perform the exercise on both sides at least twice. The lower back should be straight and relaxed. Keep your lower jaw relaxed too.
Back exercises No. 9
Pulling exercises
Stretch your arms behind your head and straighten your legs. Now stretch your arms and legs in both directions as far as is comfortable for you. Hold for 5 seconds, then relax.
Now stretch diagonally. Pulling right hand, simultaneously pull the toe of your left foot. as much as you are comfortable with. Hold the position for 5 seconds, then relax. Stretch your left arm and right leg in the same way. Hold each for at least 5 seconds, then relax.
Now stretch again with both arms and legs at once. Hold
5 seconds, then relax. This good exercise for the muscles of the chest, abdomen, shoulders, arms, and feet.
You can also supplement with abdominal retraction. This will help you feel slimmer and at the same time be a good workout for your internal organs.
Performing stretching exercises three times reduces muscle tension, promoting relaxation throughout the body. These stretches help rapid decrease general body tension. It is useful to practice them before bed.
Back exercises #10
With both hands, grab your right leg under and pull it towards your chest. When performing this exercise, relax your neck and place your head on the floor or on a small pillow. Hold lightly for 10>30 seconds. Repeat the same movement with your left leg. The lower back should be straight at all times. If you don't feel tension in your muscles, don't be discouraged. The main thing is that you enjoy it. This is a very good exercise for the legs, feet and back.
Back exercise option No. 10
Pull toward your chest, then pull your entire leg in the opposite direction to stretch your outer right thigh. Hold lightly for 10-20 seconds. Repeat the same movement with the other leg.
Another option for back exercise No. 10
While lying down, gently pull the right one towards the outside of the right one. Your hands should clasp the back of your leg a little higher