Home > Relaxation And Meditation Techniques
Learn to Relax Program - Deep-Relaxation and Meditation Techniques
When you join one of our six-week Learn to Relax programs, or purchase Learn to Relax at Home, you receive six audio CDs containing a range of deep-relaxation and meditation techniques. We're often asked about our techniques - why we include them and how they work.
The program has been specifically designed to take our clients through a gentle process; moving from the gross (physical) experiences to the more subtle (mental) experiences. All our techniques work to switch off the stress response and switch on the relaxation response. They also work to increase self-awareness (mindfulness), by using a specific object of focus. This concept of mindfulness is the basis of all meditation and deep-relaxation techniques.
The first two weeks of the program use the physical body as the object of focus. The techniques include the following:
Week One: Progressive Muscle Relaxation
A time-honored deep-relaxation technique developed by Dr Edmund Jacobsen in the 1920's, great for developing awareness of the difference between tension and relaxation, and for progressively releasing muscular tension. Progressive Muscle Relaxation is highly effective in the management of anxiety and high blood pressure (hypertension). The practice involves gently tensing and relaxing various muscle groups in time with the rhythm of the natural breath.
Week Two: Mindful Movement
A deep-relaxation technique based on an extremely gentle series of yoga postures, developed by Swami Satyananda Saraswati in the 1960's. These techniques help to stimulate the flow of blood and energy around the body, loosening the joints and relaxing tight muscles. Ideal for those experiencing joint stiffness, chronic pain, fatigue and nervous disorders (anxiety etc). This practice can bring profound results when performed extremely slowly, with full awareness of every movement. Practicing in this way turns Mindful Movement into a meditation technique. Mindful Movement can be performed sitting on the floor or in a chair, lying down or even standing up. No strenuous activity is involved and the postures do not require any degree of flexibility. In fact, this practice is a very gentle and non-invasive method of improving flexibility without any strain!
Week Three: Breath Awareness
Week Three sees the relaxation techniques becoming more subtle, moving away from the physical body and towards using the rhythm of the breath as the object of focus. Breath Awareness combines three separate breathing techniques, all of which can be performed sitting in a chair or lying down:
- natural breath awareness - a meditation technique that requires you to do nothing more than observe the rhythm of the natural breath. A fantastic technique for achieving deep states of relaxation, relieving the symptoms of anxiety, insomnia and a host of other stress-related health conditions.
- abdominal breathing - this technique encourages deep belly breathing (relaxed breathing), exercising the lower lobes of the lungs and reducing the tendency to chest breath (chest breathing is associated with anxiety, panic and hyperventilation)
- full yogic breathing - this practice involves using the entire lungs, increasing oxygen capacity and strengthening lung tissue. Full yogic breathing is both relaxing and energising!
Week Four - Body Scanning
By week four the techniques are becoming more subtle - focusing on internal vibrations and bodily sensations. Body Scanning has been used as a meditation technique for thousands of years. It is the basis of Vipassana meditation and Yoga Nidra deep relaxation. This technique is deeply relaxing and involves rotating your attention around different parts of the body in a systematic way. A great technique for heightening both body awareness and self-acceptance (non-judgement). Our version of Body Scanning includes a bonus self-healing technique where the power of the mind is used to deeply relax and heal the entire body.
FREE deep relaxation download!
Click here to download our Body Scanning relaxation technique for free!
Week Five - Mantra & Visualisation
Mantra and visualisation are meditation techniques that have also been used for thousands of years to help practitioners achieve deep states of meditation and relaxation. A mantra is simply a word or phrase that is repeated over time. Repetition and focus on the word (and the vibration in the body that the word creates) switches on the relaxation response, slowing brain waves and inducing deep relaxation. Visualisation of relaxing images works in the same way - to calm and quieten the mind, and achieve deep states of relaxation.
Week Six - Deep Relaxation
This technique is a combination of three techniques used earlier in the program - Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Body Scanning and Mantra. We've combined these techniques to take you through a process of moving from the physical dimensions of experience towards the more subtle. Deep Relaxation enables profound healing to occur at a cellular level. And the beauty of these techniques is that all you need to do is practice them regularly and the techniques take care of the rest!
Read more about the Learn to Relax Program
|
