Relaxation

Relaxation is recreation engaged in by people usually after working or participating in any other physically or mentally strenuous activity. Relaxation may take the form of simple downtime, in which one sleeps longer, reads a book, exercises, or travels. The term relaxation can also refer to a mental state of calmness and serenity, in which one is free from anxiety and stress. Stress is mental or emotional tension caused by difficult, unfavorable, or dangerous circumstances. A relaxed person generally experiences a slowed heartbeat and breathing rate, lowered blood pressure, reduced stress, and increased confidence in managing obstacles.

Medical professionals emphasize the importance of regular relaxation, particularly for people whose jobs or personal lives cause them a great deal of stress. Research has established that stress has negative effects on the heart, brain, and other areas of the body. Relaxation techniques such as meditation, breathing exercises, and yoga can reduce stress and create a sense of general well-being in people. In these ways, relaxation plays an important role in human mental health.

Background

People may find that they need to relax after becoming stressed by various activities or life situations. Stressors can be different for everyone. Many people report becoming stressed by certain aspects of their jobs, particularly being dissatisfied with their position within a company, having too much work to do, working under unfair or dangerous conditions, or being harassed or discriminated against by coworkers or superiors.

Conditions in one's personal life can also cause stress. Marriage, divorce, the loss of a job, financial obligations, the death of a friend or relative, or moving to a new location can all cause people to feel stressed. In other cases, people can cause their own stress with the attitudes they take toward adverse life situations. Consistently worrying about stories in the news, such as terrorism and natural disasters, can make people stressed, as can focusing on the negative aspects of a situation rather than the positive ones.

Long-term stress can have detrimental effects on a person's health. Stress activates the nervous system's fight-or-flight response, which releases the hormone adrenaline (epinephrine) into the body. Adrenaline raises the heart rate and breathing rate, and causes sweating and muscle tension. This is a normal biological reaction to stress, and the human body can quickly calm itself after isolated stressful incidents. Stress over an extended period, however, can lead to significant health problems such as high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, or arrhythmia, heart disease, headaches, and depressive symptoms, and may worsen conditions such as ulcers.

Medical experts state that it is important for people to manage their stress in healthy ways to reduce their chances of developing more serious health complications. The World Health Organization emphasizes stress management and relaxation techniques as part of global mental health strategies. Leading a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a positive outlook on life can help reduce stress, but making time to relax both physically and mentally has also been shown to benefit one's overall health. For this reason, doctors recommend that people practice a number of relaxation techniques, or relax simply by slowing down the pace of their everyday lives, to recover from stressors.

Impact

Meditation is a relaxation technique in which people generally sit on the floor or in a comfortable place, close their eyes, breathe regularly, and repeat a mantra, a sentence or a word meant to help with concentration. Linking the repetition of the mantra to one's breath can aid in this concentration. Mindfulness-based stress reduction programs are used in healthcare settings to help manage stress and anxiety. The goal of meditating is to focus the mind on peaceful thoughts and forget about one's stress, thereby bringing about mental relaxation.

Related to meditation is another relaxation technique involving measured breathing. To relax by breathing, people should sit with their backs straight and inhale deeply through the nose, hold the breath, and then exhale through the mouth. Repeated cycles of deep inhalation and exhalation can reduce stress by slowing one's heart rate and decreasing blood pressure.

Other relaxation methods require a person to conjure up mental images that play a role in stress reduction. In autogenic relaxation, people may imagine peaceful places while concentrating on relaxing each part of their body individually. Visualization is similar to autogenic relaxation but focuses more intensely on the mental image of a happy setting. People practicing visualization try to use most of their senses to feel as though they are actually at that setting. They imagine seeing the scenery, hearing its natural sounds, and feeling the wind or the sun on their bodies. Visualization may be accompanied by measured breathing.

People can also reduce stress and relax by simply laughing, listening to their favorite music, or exercising. All three activities, especially exercise, stimulate the brain to release chemicals called endorphins into the body. Endorphins bind to receptors in the brain to reduce the body's perception of pain and induce feelings of euphoria. Runners report this feeling as a runner's high, a sense of well-being felt after an arduous run or other workout.

Doctors praise regular exercise for its ability to produce endorphins and thereby reduce a person's stress and anxiety. Exercise has even been found to be an effective treatment for moderate depression. In addition to helping a person mentally relax, exercise can also lower body fat, strengthen muscles, and make the heart healthier.

Other methods of relaxation involve less devoted attention and consist simply of leisure activities. Some people relax by reading books, which let them temporarily forget their stressors. Others may relax by hiking in nature, driving in scenic locations, spending time with friends and family, taking vacations, cleaning, sleeping, playing musical instruments, or cooking. Certain foods contain substances that interact with the brain to produce feelings of well-being. Green tea, for instance, contains the chemical L-theanine, which can help relieve anxiety.

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