Chances are, you’ve heard the term mindfulness at some point over the last few years. The concept is thousands of years old, but it has only gained recognition as a stress coping tool in the west more recently. As John Kabat-Zinn, PhD developed what ultimately became known as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in the 1980s, he found a way to teach and implement the technique so that was accepted by those in our culture. Over the past decade there have been articles written on applying mindfulness to CEOs, musicians, child-rearing, as well as coping with stress and anxiety symptoms. I hope to address some of the misconceptions people often have about the practice of mindfulness, and also describe how you can begin to practice on your own.

When we feel stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, it’s certainly not uncommon for our mind to race. We may not even know where half the thoughts are coming from, but they seem to be hitting us left and right. We would do just about anything to quiet our minds and have some peace! So we try not to think about the stressful thoughts…. BOOM, they come back stronger than ever. Of course with the mind/body connection, those anxious thoughts lead our body to respond in all sorts of uncomfortable ways. The deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation techniques discussed in the last two blogs were focused on the body. The hope was that promoting relaxation in the body will also quiet the mind. Again, for some people that is the case, but for others it seems like their mind goes into overdrive when they try deep breathing. Visualization is one of the techniques we can use to both relax the body, but also engage the mind in a way that makes it difficult for those negative thoughts to race through.

This is my second post in a series on relaxation techniques for coping with stress or anxiety. If you want to read my first post on deep breathing, you can find it here. In this post, I will go over how to practice progressive muscle relaxation. This technique can be especially helpful for those who carry their stress as tension in their muscles. It may not be quite as enjoyable as a Swedish massage, but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper and there’s no need to schedule an appointment! You’ll need about 10 free minutes and a quiet place that you can have some privacy. This one is not quite as easy to use in public like deep breathing.

When we get upset, the first reaction people have is to say “calm down!” or “relax!” Of course we all think the same thing when someone tells us that, “IF IT WAS THAT EASY, I WOULD HAVE DONE IT ALREADY.” So, yeah, when a friend of yours is upset, please do not just tell them to calm down or relax… it’s not helpful. So what is helpful? How do we actually calm down and relax? There are a few techniques I’ll cover in my next few posts that you can experiment with. They work for most people, but everybody is a little different in what their mind/body need to promote a sense of calm. 

If you read the word anxiety and can immediately think of five things stressing you out, I’m hoping you’ll find some relief with this and future blog posts. I plan to spend quite some time writing about the different types of anxiety, why we get anxious, various ways to treat it, and provide tips you can implement right away to start taking charge of your life again. Let’s start with the good news. Those people who are sick of anxiety and make the decision to seek help often see reductions in their anxiety symptoms and an improvement in their quality of life! The bad news is that of the 40 million Americans with a diagnosable anxiety disorder, only one-third reach out for help