Stress Reduction
The following are some relaxation techniques and alternative therapies that may help you deal with stress. You may use one or all of these; some require assistance from someone else; others are self-taught and can be used by anyone.
- [Breathing Exercise]
- [Progressive Relaxation]
- [Imagery]
- [Meditation]
- [Biofeedback]
- [Massage Therapy]
- [Prayer]
- [Acupuncture]
- [Yoga]
Deep breathing exercise:
Breathing exercises in themselves may be helpful in reducing tension. Body chemistry may be altered through these breathing techniques. You can perform this breathing exercise anywhere and anytime during the day.
- Sit (or lie
down) in a comfortable position with your back
straight
- Place one hand on your abdomen and one hand on your chest in
order to feel yourself breathing
- Inhale slowly through your nose. Concentrate on the feeling of the
cool air as it enters and travels through your body. Feel
the rise of
your abdomen
- Make an effort to keep your mouth, tongue, and jaw relaxed. Do not
tighten your abdomen
- Hold your breath for 4-5 seconds
- Slowly exhale through your mouth. As you do this, shape your lips as
if you were going to whistle and slowly exhale through your
lips
- Concentrate on the feeling of the warm air leaving your body. Feel
the
air leaving your chest
- After the air has left your lungs sit quietly for a moment. Repeat
the
cycle 4-5 times in a single session
For more information about breathing exercise:
Progressive relaxation can be used in stress management to reduce tension in your muscles to help you achieve the relaxation response. The technique involves alternately tensing and relaxing muscle groups. It may be performed during the day or in bed at night to promote sleep. This exercise will take about 12-15 minutes.
Warning:
If you have significant spasticity in some muscles, do not strongly tense those muscle groups, as it could trigger a spasm. You may want to speak with a physical therapist about ways to work with those muscle groups, or consult with your health care provider first.
Source: Taming Stress in Multiple Sclerosis. National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 1998.
Note: When tensing the muscles, be careful not to strain.
- Sit or lie in a comfortable
position
- Begin by tensing your facial muscles (eyes and forehead) for 5-7
seconds;then relax them for 20-30 seconds
- Repeat the process with all the major muscle groups including:
jaw, mouth, and chin
neck and upper back
shoulders
hands
chest and back
stomach
buttocks
thighs
feet, ankles, and calves
Most symptoms we experience are affected in some way by the mind. Imagery can help a person to connect with inner resources to bring about psychological or physiological change. It is thought that certain imagery techniques can stimulate physiologic processes such as the immune response to promote healing. Imagery or visualization combines meditation, clearing the mind, and deep breathing. The exercise involves moving yourself in your mind, into a pleasing scene or picture. For example, you may picture yourself on a quiet beach with gentle waves and warm breezes.
Imagery may help you to focus on a particular problem and try to find a way, through the mind, to combat it. It may help to identify what is stressful to you and ways to reduce the stress. The basic goal is to look inside yourself and let your feelings emerge.
The following is one example of an imagery exercise that will take about 5-15 minutes:
- Start by doing 3-4
cycles of deep breathing
- Try to visualize a picture or scene that is pleasing to you
- Try to use as many senses as possible in the experience
(hear the ocean waves, feel the warm breeze, and smell
the salty air)
- End the exercise by stretching and exhaling
Adapted from: Taming Stress in Multiple Sclerosis. National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 1998.
For more information about imagery:
http://www.healthy.net/agi (Academy for Guided Imagery Online)
Meditation can help to reduce stress, anxiety, muscle tension, and pain. It allows an individual to focus. This narrow focus of attention reduces stimuli and results in deep relaxation.
Meditation may have the following effects on your body:
- decreased heart rate
- decreased respiratory rate
- decreased blood pressure in people who have normal or slightly
elevated blood pressure
- decreased use of oxygen
The following is an example of a meditation exercise that takes about 10-20 minutes:
- Sit in a
comfortable position in a quiet place with your eyes closed
- Relax all your muscles, beginning with your feet, moving up to your
face
- Start by doing 3-4 cycles of deep breathing
- Choose a word that makes you feel calm (preferably ending
with the sound of "m" or
"n", such as home, one, or calm)
- Repeat the word while exhaling
- End the exercise by stretching and exhaling
For more information about meditation:
http://www.tm.org (The Transcendental Meditation Program)
http://www.osho.org (Osho:The Science of Meditation)
http://minet.org (Meditation Information Network)
Biofeedback is a training technique by which you can learn how to alter body functions such as blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle tension through the use of signs from your own body. It is often used to treat anxiety, stress and pain. This technique involves the use of monitoring devices which can detect involuntary body responses and feed this information back to you. Some people are then able to change these responses, resulting in improved health. An example would include a flashing light or beeping device which tells you when your muscles are tense. You can then examine what you are feeling to cause this reaction.
An easy way to think of biofeedback is to think of it as a tool that helps you understand what is going on inside your body. You may eventually learn how to reproduce internal functions that accompany the relaxation response.
For more information about biofeedback:
http://www.aapb.org (The Association for Applied
Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. Click on "public area")
http://nccam.nih.gov/ (The National Center for Complimentary and Alternative
Medicine)
Massage may bring about relief of anxiety, tension, depression, insomnia, and stress. It may also help with back pain, headache, and muscle pain. Massage is a manual manipulation of pressure and movement to soft tissues or muscles. It encourages healing by promoting the flow of blood, relieving tension, stimulating nerves, and stretching and loosening muscles.
There are many different massage techniques. These may range from a soothing backrub to deep muscle massage to provide relief from pain or tension. These actions are aimed at achieving or increasing health and wellness.
For more information about massage:
http://www.amtamassage.org (The American Massage Therapy
Association)
Prayer is another approach that may be used to reduce stress. Prayer is any act that brings us closer to a our Creator. It can be considered lifting one’s mind and heart to God, Allah, Buddha, Yahweh, or another higher power. Prayer can be vocal or silent, thoughts or words, or in songs and dances. It can be for requesting or asking for help or for adoration, contrition, or thanksgiving. Prayer is talking with God, Allah, Yahweh about the everyday things of human life, about our joys and sorrows, our needs and wants, our disappointments and pleasures.
Prayer---and how an individual prays---is often shaped by religious beliefs. But one does not have to belong to a specific religion to pray. Prayer does not need a special time or place, or a specific body position. Talking with God can be done anytime and anywhere. It can be done in a quiet time every morning before the rest of the family is awake, a thank you for a good day, for warmth of the sun, for love of friends who support and assist us even on our bad or difficult days.
Studies over the last 20 years have shown that prayer or religious involvement is good for people’s health. Although it is not known what specific effect prayer has on health, prayer can help to relieve stress and bring about a more relaxed state of mind, a higher level of contentment, and an acceptance of those things we cannot change.
For more information about prayer:
http://nccam.nih.gov/nccam/what-is-cam/fields/mind.shtml (National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine)
Acupuncture is a strategy that has been associated with short and long-term pain relief. Acupuncture involves the insertion of tiny needles in various, but specific points on the skin surface. After insertion of the needles, they may be stimulated by twirling them or by connecting them to an electrical current. The needles are inserted anywhere from one half to one inch and may be pulled out after a few seconds or left in up to thirty minutes.
Choosing An Acupuncture Therapist
Before choosing this type of therapy it is very important to consult your primary health care provider. It is important to note that only 35 states require licensure or certification to practice acupuncture. When choosing a practitioner, it is important to find out if he/she has NCCAOM (National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine) certification. Another good sign is that the practitioner does a thorough physical exam and takes a medical history from you before beginning any type of treatment.
For more information about acupuncture:
http://www.nccaom.org (The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine)
http://www.aaom.org (The American Association of Oriental Medicine)
Yoga originated in India nearly 3000 years ago. Yoga means union and refers to a state of consciousness. Yoga includes methods that help a person reach a state of union with the divine. Five points of yoga include proper exercise, proper breathing, proper relaxation, proper diet, and positive thinking and meditation. Some people find the practice of yoga to be helpful in their management of stress.
Yoga increases the body's flexibility and releases tension. Some movements may be easy for you to perform; others may require adaptation and practice.
For more information about yoga:
http://www.sivananda.org (Sivananda Yoga "Om" Page. Official Site of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers)
http://www.spiritweb.org/Spirit/Yoga/Overview.html (SpiritWeb: Yoga Paths, An Overview of Different Schools and Traditions)