When was the last time you relaxed completely? Do you ever take the time to switch off completely from the hustle and bustle of a busy day? Or does your mind keep churning over and over even when you get into bed? The fact is that in our culture, we rarely relax completely. Even when we think we’re relaxed, we still retain massive amounts of physical, mental and emotional tension. And, to put it mildly, that really isn’t good for us.

Reduce the stress levels in your life through relaxation techniques like meditation, deep breathing, and exercise. You'll look and feel way better for it.

-       Suzanne Somers

This constant flow of mental and emotional activity inhibits any attempt to experience the deeper and more powerful aspects of profound relaxation. It’s no accident that the ancient schools of philosophy encouraged meditation. The goal was to master our thoughts and emotions and the flow of our consciousness. But there were many health benefits and practical advantages too.

One of the great benefits of entering a state of deep relaxation, a natural blessing that has been largely overlooked within our modern culture, is that this is an incredibly powerful technique for gaining access to the massive and largely hidden resources of the subconscious.

 Total relaxation is the secret to enjoying sitting meditation. I sit with my spine upright, but not rigid; and I relax all the muscles in my body.

-       Thich Nhat Hanh

Learning to recognise the harm that results from long term, elevated degrees of stress and tension is the first step to restoring a much healthier way of experiencing life and all its wondrous possibilities.

The problem might not even be obvious. Heightened levels of stress become so familiar that you simply don’t notice its effects. In fact, we get used to it until it becomes the normal, daily, regular way of living. But, of course, once you begin to recognise the deeply destructive downsides of all that tension and anxiety, the damage caused by an addiction to adrenaline and the constant flood of cortisol in the bloodstream, you’re more likely to find the motivation to take some much-needed practical steps to improve the situation.

Part of the problem is that we’re creatures of habit. We develop behaviours that become so familiar that we end up running on our own personal behavioural automatic pilots. Life just seems easier when we don’t have to think too much about what we’re doing, what we’re thinking or how we’re feeling. The good news is that it’s entirely possible to change these harmful habits. We just need a moment of quiet reflection to interrupt the old pattern of automatic behaviour.

A cheerful frame of mind, reinforced by relaxation, is the medicine that puts all the ghosts of fear on the run.

-       George Matthew Adams

One of the simplest yet most effective gateways to a more relaxed way of being

– is to breathe more deeply.

You don’t have to exaggerate and try to over-fill the lungs. Just a gentle, deeper breath that can open up the floating ribs and inform your body that something’s about to change. That’s the best and most direct way to begin the process of transformation. The deeper breaths are a perfect interrupter to the old ways of thinking. You immediately respond to this unmistakable instruction that lowers blood pressure and turns down the stress response.

Relax your jaw muscles. Unclench your jaw. What? You hadn’t noticed that your jaw muscles were tense? Most people suffer from huge amounts of tension in the jaw, grinding their teeth at night and straining their neck muscles. It’s as if most of the planet is only one heartbeat away from biting someone! So, cancel the order for the Hannibal Lecter facemask and relax your jaw. And untie the knots in your shoulders. Go ahead. Relax your neck and trapezius muscles, release your shoulders.

If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.

-       Herodotus

These incredibly simple adjustments serve to by-pass your thought patterns and directly address your ancient conditioned stress-release mechanisms. Your stress levels start to plummet. Your higher brain function is enhanced. You start to feel different, lighter, more in control of yourself and your environment. Your creativity takes over from your anxiety response. You begin to see everything more clearly. You start to feel much better, calmer, stronger and more balanced. All of this from a couple of deeper breaths and a simple relaxation of your necks, jaw and shoulder muscles. Amazing, isn’t it?

Make a commitment to yourself right now that today is going to be different. Today is the day when you are going to turn down your stress and learn to appreciate the amazing power of feeling calmer and more relaxed. Let this new way of feeling become your normal, regular way of experiencing life. Notice the instinctive messages and clues that bubble up from your subconscious when you let go of the stress and create space for a closer relationship with your deeper cerebral resources. Let today be the start of your personal transformation.

Together, we really can make the world a better place.

If you enjoy these blogs, you can imagine how much fun it is to have Greg in the room as an inspirational and highly perceptive speaker. If you’d like to invite Greg to talk to your company or organisation or event, either in person or via a live link on the Internet, feel free to get in touch.

 

You can contact Greg and his Team at:

 

gregory.s.parry@gmail.com