1) Belly-breathing: This is the most natural kind of breathing, although it
may feel unfamiliar initially. If you have ever watched a baby or an animal
breathing you have seen belly-breathing; the belly rather than the chest expands
and contracts. This allows the air to reach the lower part of your lungs where
there is a rich blood supply and it triggers the relaxation response within a
few minutes. It is just about impossible to be tense and belly-breathe at the
same time.
Take 10 minutes when you will not be interrupted. Either lie or sit on a
comfortable surface that fully supports your body. Place your hand palms down on
your abdomen, just below your navel. Close your eyes and, at first, just pay
attention to your breathing without trying to change it; listen to the sound of
it, feel it moving in and out of your nose and throat, notice how far down into
your body it seems to go. Then imagine that you have a balloon inside your lower
belly, under where your hands are.
As you inhale, try to inflate that balloon; as you exhale, let the balloon
deflate. Do not expand your chest as you inhale, just your belly. It is best to
breathe through your nose for this exercise but if for some reason you cannot,
then it is okay to breathe through your mouth. Continue inflating and deflating
the balloon for at least 5 minutes. Belly-breathing may feel awkward or forced
the first few times you try it but pretty soon it will feel quite natural. After
all, this is the way you used to breathe when you were little.
2) Slowing down your breath: This is a very simple method that you can use
even when you are in the midst of doing something else. Whenever you notice you
are feeling tense and uptight, check and see how you are breathing. Most people
under stress either alternate holding their breath with taking barely
perceptible short breaths, or take rapid shallow breaths. After you become aware
of your own breathing, consciously relax your belly and slow down your
breathing. It works best if you focus on slowing down your exhalation rather
than your inhalation. With each exhalation you can say to yourself, "slow down."
That is all there is to it — simple but surprisingly effective!
3) Counting your exhalations: This is a variation on slowing down your breath
that should be done when you can set aside I 0 minutes of time to focus on it.
Get comfortable in a relatively quiet place and begin belly-breathing. This
time, count slowly from 5 down to 1 with each exhalation. Your mind will
probably wander many times, but each time you catch your attention drifting,
just calmly bring it back to counting from 5 to i during each exhalation. Do
this for at least 5 minutes. When you can keep your attention on your breathing
for 5 minutes, you can move on to deeper meditation methods.
4) Repeating a mantra or affirmation: Spiritual disciplines have
traditionally used repeated phrases or sounds for prayer and meditation.
Gregorian chants and the rosary are examples from the western tradition. The
mantra, a specially chosen sound-phrase used in meditation, is an example from
the eastern tradition that has become popular in the west through Transcendental
Meditation (TM). It seems that the repetition of particular kinds of sounds,
words or phrases is a very effective way to clear your mind and trigger the
relaxation response when practiced daily. You can get many of the benefits of
physical and mental j relaxation from this method yourself even just using a
sound, Word or phrase you choose yourself.
First you need to choose a word, phrase or sound that is calming to you. Some
examples that other people have chosen are, "relax," "peace," "I am still," "I
release the past," "I open my heart," "Om," (pronounced
like "home" NOT like "aum") and so on. Take 15-20 minutes in a
quiet place where you will not be disturbed. Sit or lie down with your back
straight and close your eyes. Focus your attention either between your eyebrows
(mind center) or in the middle of your chest (heart center). Allow your
breathing to slow down and deepen. When you feel settled, begin repeating your
word/phrase/sound out loud or silently. You can repeat it on each inhalation and
on each exhalation. Your mind will wander many times, but each time it does just
gently bring it back to your phrase. You may find yourself frequently falling
asleep at first, but keep coming back to the exercise. Do this for at least 15
minutes once or twice a day and you will be amazed at the change in how you
feel.
5) Progressive relaxation: This is a particularly good exercise for you if
you have a lot of stress related aches and pains or if you think you cannot
relax. With practice it trains your body to release tension and relax more
easily.
This exercise takes about 10-20 minutes and is best done lying down. Some
people use it to help themselves fall asleep. Take a few slow breaths to get
settled and then, starting with your toes, first tighten the muscles in your
toes as tight as you can, hold for about 10 seconds and then relax your toes.
Next tighten up the muscles in your feet, hold for 10 seconds, and then relax.
Continue repeating this procedure all the way up your body until one by one
every part of your body has been tensed and then relaxed: calves, knees, thighs,
buttocks, hips, abdomen, back, chest, hands, arms, shoulders, upper back, neck,
face, scalp. After you have completed this, imagine a wave of relaxation rolling
up your body each time you inhale and imagine this wave washing all tension out
of your body each time you exhale. Do this for a few minutes and then just rest,
breathing slowly. You will find that the relaxation you experience with this
exercise will get deeper with practice.
6) The Quiet Pond: Have you ever stood beside a quiet pond away from
buildings and people. If you have, you know how spending some time by the pond,
letting everything else fade as you take in the full experience of the pond,
just seems to cause all your cares and burdens to slide down off your shoulders
and slip away. It is amazing how refreshing a few minutes beside a pond can be.
If you have not had that experience, maybe you have had one of your own; a place
you can go that is so peaceful, comforting and renewing, it is hard to leave.
I believe everyone has the capacity to carry their own peaceful pond around
inside them and, with practice, access it at will. If you have such a place,
take time to recall it in your mind daily. Find your quiet pond every day, even
if it is for only a few minutes or even for a few breaths. Take time for
relaxation every day. When you associate the feelings you have about your quiet
place and bring those feelings of quiet peacefulness into your consciousness,
you are doing more than feeling good. You are helping establish balance in your
nervous system. You are activating the part of the nervous system called the
parasympathetic nervous system that is responsible for healing and repair.
Calling forth those images and feelings, even briefly, helps offset the stress
building up inside.
If you are able to do this at a specific time each day, your body will soon
know when it is time and will begin to bring forth the image and the feelings
without any conscious effort on your part. I used to meditate at one time during
the day but then switched to another time. It took my body a few days to switch,
but during the transition time I could feel it preparing to meditate a few
minutes before the old time was near. If you can return to your quiet inner pond
at approximately the same time every day, you will soon receive help in relaxing
from your unconscious. Find your quiet pond deep inside where you can refresh
yourself daily regardless of where you are, what you are doing or what is going
on around you.
These symptoms indicate defective adaptation of your adrenal glands to the
stresses you are experiencing. If you are experiencing more than three of these
symptoms, chances high that you have adrenal fatigue - or burnout. They are
warnings that something needs to change if you want to feel well again.
