Relaxation Therapy
Qualification: Diploma in Professional Relaxation Therapy, School of Natural Health Sciences
Relaxation Therapy does exactly what it says on the tin. In this busy world, it can be hard to find the time to stop and relax. But when you’ve even forgotten how to relax, where do you start?
“There have been many terrible events in my life – some of which actually happened!”: Mark Twain
Are the things you are tense about actually happening, or are they fears or worries – phantoms of your imagination?
Relaxation Exercise
Visualise your thoughts as being written on the outside of an unblown-up balloon, scrunched up in the middle of your head. Close your eyes, and as you take a deep breath; as you breathe out, watch the air blowing up the balloon. Leave it partly inflated as you breathe in, and on the next out-breath, blow it up some more. This balloon can expand as much as you want – there is plenty of space for your breath. Keep doing this until the balloon is so big that the skin of it, with your thoughts scribbled across it, is outside your head. All those thoughts now have lots of space around them and are also outside your head. Notice that you can’t hear them so well any more.
When the balloon is blown up as far as you want, simply let it go, and watch it whoosh around in the air, taking your thoughts with it. When you are ready, take a deeper breath and come back to normal reality. You will find that the thoughts that most require your attention return first, and you can deal with them in a calmer manner.
You can also use this visualisation with your feelings, seeing the balloon around your heart, and the outside covered in scribblings that relate to the feelings that are clamouring for your attention.
If your problem is muscular tension, you can do the same visualisation with your muscles, seeing the air you are breathing out blowing into the taut ‘balloons’ that are your muscles. You can even do two or all three of the above.
The above exercise should leave you feeling calm, relaxed, and much better able to deal with life. If you feel in need of further help with relaxation, please call me and we can discuss your next steps.