HEALTH …and relax

Mental Matters
Jannah Walshe

I’d like to share with you a very simple technique that anyone can use to help them relax, ease anxiety or pain and to help release muscle tension. Yes, this technique is very simple, but if done properly, very effective.
When it comes to minding your mental health and practising self-care, it is useful to have a few skills you can put into practice when needed.
On such skill is progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). It was developed by American physician Edmund Jacobson, as technique to monitor and control the state of muscular tension. He believed that physical relaxation helped to promote mental calmness. The technique involves learning to monitor tension in each specific muscle group in the body by deliberately tensing the muscles. This tension is then released, while paying attention to the contrast between tension and relaxation.
When a person is stressed or anxious, their muscles often tense up. Someone with chronic or persistent stress may not even realise that their body is feeling tense. They may have lost touch with what it feels like when the body feels relaxed.
If this sounds like you, ask yourself: Do you get pain or tension in your shoulders or back? Do you get tension headaches? Do you find it hard to physically ‘unwind’ in the evening? Do you sometimes need a drink to help your body and mind relax? If you answer yes to these questions you are probably holding a lot of tension in your body, and the progressive muscle relaxation technique could help with this.
Through practice, you can learn to distinguish between the feelings of a tensed muscle and a completely relaxed muscle. Then, you can use this knowledge to prompt progressive muscle relaxation at the first sign of a muscle tension. By doing progressive muscle relaxation, you not only learn what relaxation feels like, but also how to recognise when you’re starting to get tense during the day. This can help to prevent the stress from spiralling out of control.

Getting started
1. Find a good time and place for relaxation, then make yourself comfortable and focus on your breathing.
2. When you are ready to begin, tense a muscle group. This involves focusing on one muscle group and deliberately tensing it. You may want to start from your feet and work upwards towards your head, or vice versa. Make sure you can feel the tension, but not so much that it’s painful. Make the muscle tension deliberate, yet gentle. Keep the muscle tensed for between five and ten seconds.
3. Relax the muscle and keep it relaxed for approximately ten seconds. Notice the difference in feeling between the tense and the relaxed muscle.

Once you have become familiar with this technique, and have been practising it for a while, you can begin to practise shorter versions of PMR. For example, if one area is tense and sore, like the shoulders, it can help to use PMR in just this area.
PMR can be learned by nearly anyone and requires only ten to twenty minutes out of the day. If you have problems with pulled muscles, broken bones, or any medical issues that would hinder physical activity, check with your doctor first.
Sometimes it can be helpful to listen to someone guide you through the steps. There are relaxation CDs available and resources online that will take you through a progressive muscle relaxation. This technique is an alternative to other forms of relaxation or meditation, ideal for those who live with high levels of stress. It focuses the mind which in turn helps to calm it. Give it a try and see if it works for you.

Jannah Walshe is a counsellor and psychotherapist based in Castlebar and Westport. A fully accredited member of The Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, she can be contacted via www.jannahwalshe.ie, or at info@jannahwalshe.ie or 085 1372528.