Know

You will remember that under stressful circumstances, our sympathetic nervous system ramps up for self-protection and that there are steps we can take to move our minds and bodies back to a relaxed state. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to focus on our breathing.

Breathing is one of those automatic body functions that ensures survival. You are barely aware of the number of breaths you take a day, but how you breathe influences both physical and psychological well-being. Under non-stressful conditions, you breathe in a slow, rhythmic pattern, but when you perceive a threat and your stress hormones "fire you up," your body begins the shallow breathing that facilitates survival in life-threatening situations. This reaction occurs whether the threat is real or imagined, whether it is physical or psychological.

Rick Hanson, a noted neuropsychologist, suggests that when one feels irritated, stressed-out, and anxious or down, we need to "cool the fires." Meaning, you must regain your ability to manage yourself and the circumstances you face and return to a relaxed breathing pattern. Controlled breathing helps to quiet the mind, body, and heart.

Practicing relaxation is a good strategy for promoting overall health. By mastering the ability to be relaxed, or to return to a relaxed state after a stressful encounter, you strengthen the brain pathways involved in the parasympathetic nervous system. You also are then using your finely tuned sympathetic and parasympathetic systems in exactly the way nature designed them to be used: sympathetic for short-term emergency use, parasympathetic for the long-term baseline relaxed state. Just as it would not be adaptive to be totally relaxed in the face of danger, it is also not adaptive to be chronically "fired up" in the absence of any real threat. Without conscious efforts to lower our stress responses, the body resets its baseline to be "fired up and ready to fight" most of the time, resulting in long-term wear and tear that can lead to chronic illnesses. Ideally, at least two 15 minute practices to increase your relaxation daily benefit your long term health, but even short amounts can help too. Your blood flows through your body better when you’re warm and relaxed rather than cold and constricted.

One way to help you maintain a more relaxed state is ‘salutogenic” thinking, focusing on habits and activities that promote one’s good health rather than on what causes one to feel unwell or stressed.  For example, you might purposefully direct your attention to your daily walks, an activity you enjoy and helps you relax, instead of focusing on the stressful aspects of your day.  Another way to think about 'salutogenic’ thinking is to view the glass as half full, rather than half empty.

You can use controlled breathing to reduce your stress in an immediate situation. You can also use it to train your body’s relaxation response even when not under stress. Once you have mastered the basic technique, you can add other methods for boosting effects.

Our breath, because it is always with us, can be a useful tool for grounding us to the moment. Focusing on our breath is often used as an entry to mindfulness, which draws on our human ability to be present in the moment. When we are mindful, we are in a relaxed state, and tuned in to our surroundings. You can think about it as the difference between thinking "it's a pretty day" as you hurry to your car or the bus to commute to work, versus stepping outside, slowing your breath, and taking a moment to feel the early sun's warmth along with the morning's cool air, noticing the way the dew sparkles on a spider's web, or smelling the newly cut grass.

Mindfulness is closely related to meditation, a more formal practice that is focused on reducing mental chatter and cultivating inner peace. Both are skills that help you draw on your mind and body's ability to attain a relaxed or peaceful state. Both require that you focus on the present moment. Like the other techniques introduced in this course, mindfulness and meditation require practice. Like the other techniques, once practiced and mastered, these skills become quite portable! You can carry them with you wherever you go.

See

Activity: Just Breathe Video

This video outlines the steps of diaphragmatic breathing, a relaxation technique you can use to increase your resilience and reduce anxiety. Diaphragmatic breathing is also described below in the "Do" section of this lesson. First, watch the video to understand the steps. Next, try closing your eyes while listening to and following along to the instructions provided. Similar to the breathing exercise you tried in Lesson One, as you try this exercise, take time to reflect on how diaphragmatic breathing helps calm your mind. Return to this video to continue practicing this stress-reduction strategy until you have mastered it. When your body feels stressed, diaphragmatic breathing can help to re-center yourself, and it facilitates emotion regulation.

Do

Diaphragmatic Breathing

You may do the following exercise either sitting tall in your seat or lying down. Review the steps before beginning the exercise. Wait just a few moments after the exercise to stand up or rise from a reclining position, as you may experience slight lightheadedness.

The diaphragm is the muscle just beneath your lungs that aides in breathing. When working properly, it is effective in reducing anxiety.

1. Place your hands slightly overlapping gently on your stomach just below the upside down “V” in the middle of your rib cage.
2. Breathing normally, look down at your hand's movement, rising up and down slightly.
3. Remaining in this position, imagine that your abdomen has a deflated balloon in it and your job is to fill the balloon.
4. Breathing slowly in through the nose, allow the balloon to begin to inflate. As you do this, you will notice your hands begin to gently rise.
5. Gently hold the breathe for a slow count 1, 2, 3 and slowly release your breathe through the mouth on a slow count of 1, 2, 3.
6. Repeat the process. Breathe slowing in through the nose and exhale slowly through the mouth.
7. Rise slowly from whatever position you used for practice as you may experience a sense of slight lightheadedness at the beginning.

After practicing a few times, you will begin to see the pattern of relaxation associated with controlled breathing as you "cool the flames" and you consciously engage your parasympathetic nervous system in the relaxation response. You may begin to experience a sense of wellness. Continue to practice this technique using the imagery of a balloon or some other imagery that works for you. When you feel that you have mastered the breathing technique, stop using your hands and employ the tool at work and in other settings.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

In addition to abdominal breathing for relaxation, you can deepen your experience of being calm and relaxed by systematically tensing and relaxing different body parts. This allows you to notice the difference between tensed and relaxed muscles. When you have mastered the ability to notice the difference, you are then able to employ a simple "body scan" to detect areas of physical tension to be targeted for relaxation.

There are many different models of muscle relaxation. In the Explore section below, you are introduced to the model of progressive muscle relaxation that features tensing and relaxing different muscles.

Repeated practice of muscle relaxation techniques will lead to an enhanced sense of body and mind tranquility. The more you practice progressive muscle relaxation, the more quickly you will be able to do the body scan and employ the relaxation technique when needed.

Focused Meditation

Also called focused attention meditation, you may find this strategy easy to learn. For a short period of time (start with five minutes) focus your attention on any object (like a raisin) or event (like your breathing). As you breathe, pay attention to different aspects, such as the sounds you hear, the smells you notice, the texture of the object, or any way you observe the object or experience. If your mind wanders, without judgement acknowledge it and then draw your attention back to the object or event of focus.

Adding Imagery and Positive Self-Statements

Now that you have experienced controlled breathing, you are in a position to add strategies to enhance the experience and deepen the relaxation. Through the use of imagery, you will use mental pictures to imagine scenes that will aid in relaxation and free the body of tension. You may include sights, sounds, smells, and feelings. You will use the imagery and pair it with proper breathing to deepen your relaxation. You should use any imagery that works for you. For example, many people find beach scenes relaxing, so picturing yourself in a beach chair with the warm sun shining down on you may be helpful. Other people like to walk through forests and be close to nature. Hearing sounds like babbling brooks and birds chirping helps them feel relaxed. Use as many senses as possible to make the image real for you. What you use is up to you, but here are images of some popular themes that inspire relaxation:

1. Walking through a forest during early morning, seeing the dew upon the leaves and pathway. Smelling the scent of pine and catching glimpses of sunlight through branches overhead as you walk along. You stop by a babbling brook to watch water flow over small smooth stones. The air is clear and refreshing.

2. Curled-up in a comfortable chair before a roaring fire in a warm and cozy cabin in winter. Snow is falling outside and on the mountains in the distance. Burning wood scents the air and the only sound is the crackle of the fire.

3. Lounging on a beautiful beach on a clear bright day. You hear the rhythmic splashing as the waves roll onto the shore. The warmth of the sun soothes your body. Bright, white clouds float against a vivid blue sky.

Once you have mastered the techniques of controlled breathing, muscle relaxation, or imagery, you can try adding in positive self-statements to enhance the relaxing benefit. For example,

• During an exhalation you remind yourself, "I am calm and capable."
• As you tense and release different muscles, you think, "I can release my stress."
• As you imagine a calming scene, you say to yourself, "I am a beautiful part of this world."

You can add any positive self-statement that helps you harness the resiliency within yourself.