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Bath lovers know very well: it is worth going to warm up properly, and all the excitement as if by hand removes — for a while. After all, relaxation of the body is directly related to the “relaxation” of stressful conditions and negative emotions. What other ways are there to “relax” the experience?
Relaxation is an active action. Sounds weird, right? There are habitual “tensions” in our body that cannot be relaxed by volitional effort.
For example, if a person lives for a long time with some kind of characteristic tension, the brain converts this state into the category of “norm” and stops fighting it.
If we do not feel tension, we cannot neutralize it, “relax it”. Therefore, relaxation of habitual tensions is always a search and active action: either with the help of a specialist (masseur, osteopath, etc.), or on your own with the help of gymnastics.
Emotional stress
Emotional experiences realize themselves through the body: for example, they manifest themselves in characteristic muscle tensions. What zones realize and accumulate emotional tension?
Neck and shoulder area: Have you ever noticed that when frightened, a person seems to pull his head into his shoulders? This is an instinctive movement, and it occurs when the muscles of the shoulder girdle contract (tension). If a person lives in a state of chronic anxiety and stress, it is highly likely that his neck will begin to hurt over time, headaches will develop.
Abdominal diaphragm: it is a large muscle that separates the chest and abdomen. She can tense up due to any emotional tension. When a person goes to important negotiations or prepares for a speech, the diaphragm can become «stony». This is felt as a very characteristic tension of the back (in the region of the 12th thoracic vertebrae) and the solar plexus zone.
Unpleasant experiences can be «held» for years, even if the reason for them has long since disappeared.
With regular stress, diaphragm mobility is reduced, and this leads to various complications. For example, with the correct amplitude movement, the diaphragm, like a piston, helps lift blood up from the lower extremities and pelvis. If this does not happen, the risk of developing varicose veins increases, stagnation in the pelvis is formed.
Pelvic floor: the perineal area also tenses against the background of fear, anxiety, total «readiness for battle.» The more tense it is, the worse the blood microcirculation, which means that the nutrition of vital organs is worse — in particular, the entire reproductive system. Lack of nutrition can lead to serious health problems, from chronic inflammatory diseases to difficulty conceiving.
How to relax emotional tension?
The more anxious the soul, the higher the level and quantity of habitual bodily tensions. However, the reverse pattern is also true: habitual body tensions develop their characteristic emotional reaction.
Is there a feeling of anxiety, but there is no objective reason for it? Unpleasant experiences can be “held” for years, even if the reason for them has long since disappeared. A person gets used to them and considers his depressed emotional state a new norm, trying to find an explanation for this state.
As a teacher of bodily practices aimed at relaxation, I regularly witness “miracles”: as soon as a person develops the skill of relaxing habitual bodily tensions, he becomes more fun! Despite the same background problems at work, in the family and in other areas of life.
What exercises help to “relax” feelings? I suggest you try one of them right now and evaluate the result.
Search for discreteness
First, a test task that will help us understand the principle of the desired movement.
Squeeze your hand into a fist (tension phase), and now open it (relaxation phase).
And now repeat this movement so that the relaxation phase — from the moment the fist is clenched to the moment the palm is opened — takes … 3 minutes!
Just do this experiment. Feelings will certainly be unusual. The movement will be uneven, as if in jerks. It may even seem that the joints seem to creak. The hand may tremble
This discreteness, involuntary discontinuity of movement, is the discovery and relaxation of habitual tensions.
This exercise was invented for professional guitarists so that they have the opportunity to restore flexibility and mobility to their hands, to protect themselves from arthrosis. According to a similar scheme, the exercises that I teach are built to relax the usual muscle tension and restore a normal emotional state.
Exercise «Dragon breaking through the clouds»
This exercise is taken from a form of qigong xingshen (gymnastics for the spine). It allows you to relax the usual tension of the abdominal diaphragm.
- Sit on a chair, back straight, no support on the back of the chair.
- Bring your attention to the region of the 12th thoracic vertebra. How to find it? Touch the solar plexus area. The projection of this point on the back will be the region of the 12th thoracic vertebra.
- Start the rotation on the 12th thoracic vertebra: the lower body remains motionless, only the rib cage (from the 12th vertebra and above) makes turns to the right and left. It is important to perform the exercise with a small amplitude. If you imagine that you are standing in the center of the hour dial (look at 12), then the turns will be limited to the numbers 11 and 1. Even more important — low speed! Make one turn for at least 10 counts. This speed allows you to find the very discreteness that was during the exercise on the hand.
Do this exercise for 1-2 minutes in a row, and you will definitely find a feeling of discreteness: this will be a sure sign that the usual diaphragm tensions have been found and are relaxing.
When the diaphragm relaxes, the emotional state becomes much more balanced and calm. I’m sure you will succeed! And it will be a wonderful discovery!