Sammi @ Unwind
3 Ways To Fully Relax
Do you know how to relax? And, no I don’t mean sitting in front of the TV avoiding all of the stressful thoughts and things going on in your life (and I get it we all need that now and again).
I mean, do you know how to FULLY relax?
If your answer is no, let's go through some useful techniques that help you feel more relaxed.
What is relaxation?
Relaxation is a calm state of being in the moment, which also enables you to handle difficult emotions.
So, why relax? Well... first of all it feels SOOO good. In fact, relaxation helps reduce stress, symptoms of mental health conditions (e.g. schizophrenia, anxiety, depression), and helps your overall health, too.
Examples of how relaxation benefits the mind and body:
• Reduces heart and breathing rate
• Lowers blood pressure
• Reduces tension held within the muscles
• Reduction in chronic pain
• Improves energy levels
• Reduces anger and frustration
• Boosts confidence in handling issues
I understand that you may be thinking, well how do I actually relax? It is definitely not easy to relax, if you haven’t established relaxation techniques that work for you. Trust me I’ve been there!
That’s why I have taken the time to find some research, on what relaxation techniques you could use, to find that inner place of serenity!
Meditation
Firstly, we have MEDITATION, a practice that helps train self-awareness, attention, and detached observation, through focusing on an object, mantra, thought or activity. This helps create mental clarity, and helps induce an emotionally calm state.
From personal experience, meditation helps you identify and process negative, difficult emotions that cause discomfort (e.g. anxiety, fear, guilt). When thinking about emotions it’s key to think of them as energy-in-motion. In fact, they are energy-in-motion, hence their name e motions.
Emotions can cause instability in our mind, and dis-ease in our body. So, it is important that we learn to let them FLOW through us.
Don’t get me wrong emotional processing is nowhere near as easy as it sounds! It takes practice, patience, and self-compassion.
You are here to live your life, caring too much can be a burden sometimes, but it is also a strength, as long as your caring nature also includes you in it’s equation.
Meditation is an act of self-care and compassion, as it can help stabilise your mind when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
So, be sure to prioritise your mental environment before someone else’s, as this can lead to emotional and physical burnout.