MedAboutMe - Relaxation: history, methods and ways of relaxation. Chinese medicine. Rest and relaxation For rest and complete relaxation

The sad fact of life is that often a person does not realize the critical importance of physical rest and relaxation. The very notion of "physical relaxation" can evoke images of a discipline, such as yoga or different rituals on a schedule at certain times of the day. In fact, physical rest does not necessarily mean the system itself.

Rest and relaxation: the heart of the matter

Physical relaxation (or relaxation) simply means that you deliberately and consciously release the tension that has somehow entered your body. For example, when you are just sitting in the dentist's chair, it already creates tension, right? The dentist, therefore, should tell you to relax. All you really need in this case is to force yourself to consciously relax all the muscles in your body at the same time. One clear command to relax all muscles works very well.

As you know, stress causes muscle tension, which leads to different types pain. On the contrary, physical rest and relaxation release muscle tension, which makes the situation easier. This is why it is so important that you try to loosen muscle tension as soon as any pain or pain occurs in your body. You may have noticed that when a person is asleep, they experience less pain (or not feel it at all) than when they are awake. Why is this happening? The body relaxes and recovers during sleep, but during the working day it is influenced by stress and your mental state.

Constant stress causes fatigue, which gradually depletes all of your physical and mental resources to cope with the chores in life. In contrast, relaxed muscles are able to work longer without making you tired. When a person is overly stressed, a lot of useful energy is wasted. Physical rest relieves fatigue and increases energy, helps maintain a calm mind, and improves sleep. Resting will also increase your productivity, self-esteem and self-confidence, which will help in your relationships with other people.

To get the benefits of physical relaxation, you must practice it for at least half an hour a day. It is important not to be hard on yourself, not to rush and learn to relax at your own pace. This process can take some time to change and improve your quality of life.

Also, you can do different things during the day and take one to two minutes between activities to relax. As you practice this, you will soon find that you can release tension and quickly release whatever you need to do in the normal course of work.

Laughter as a physical rest

There is an interesting built-in relaxation mechanism that makes a person unique. Man is the only creature that laughs and can laugh heartily (unlike animals). Laughter, even when deliberately provoked, provides not only emotional satisfaction, but also significant physical relaxation. Laughter is based on a deep breath with the help of the diaphragm, following the rhythmic exhalation, which helps to equalize the pressure in both cavities, and, in addition to venous outflow, also causes massage internal organs... So, laugh at health.

However, relaxation is not only about relaxation techniques, breathing or the practice of laughter. Like many things, relaxation starts with a change in attitude. We need to change the way we look at life, learn to accept things calmly, and stay cool in many situations. It is important to honestly acknowledge the first signs of your tension, and then it will be much easier for you to release them.

What role does relaxation and physical rest play in your life? And how often do you laugh heartily?

Although work and exercise are necessary for the circulation of qi and blood in the body so that the spleen and stomach can store qi and blood normally, thus enabling the body to resist disease, every word, thought, or action we take will result in the consumption of a certain amount of qi and the essence of jing. Every thought, word, or action is a manifestation of the movement of qi through the transformation and consumption of yin. As long as our body creates more Qi than it consumes, we develop and feel great. Nevertheless, from the age of thirty-five our digestive system begins to malfunction and the body is no longer able to create the same amount of qi from the food we eat and from the air that we breathe, as in our young years. As we age, it becomes more and more difficult to replace the qi we have consumed in the day, so we have to pay more attention to rest and relaxation.

PHYSICAL RECREATION

Chapter 39 Su Wen (Simple Questions) reads: "Overexertion leads to exhaustion." Thus, when we are working, walking or talking, it is very important to stop and rest before we get too tired. This applies to prolonged stress and overstrain, that is, what a person does either too long or too intensely, at the limit of his own strength. Walking is not too stressful, but if a person walks too much, his strength will be depleted. If a person tries to pick up an object that is too heavy for him, it will also destroy the qi. As Song Xi Mao said: "It is good for a person to do light work and avoid hard work that exceeds his capabilities." In particular, in modern developed countries, people have relatively long working hours. I recently read that in the Neolithic era, people had to work only 20 hours a week to provide themselves with food and shelter. However, now in the so-called highly developed countries, people constantly have to work 40 hours a week, or even more. Therefore, it is very important to set aside sufficient time for normal rest every day and for extended rest (i.e. vacation) once a year.

SAVING IN SPEECH

It is very important for people living in the West to understand that a large amount of Qi is wasted during a conversation. Chapter 1 of this book described how qi is created in the human body. Qi is a combination of inhaled air and the subtle essence of food and liquid. This combination arises in the lungs and, when speaking, immediately goes out, that is, it is absorbed at its very source. Li Dong Yuan was well aware of the damage that can be caused by excessive talk, so his last and most significant work, Pi Wei Long (A Treatise on the Spleen and Stomach), began with the following instruction:
“Remain serene in every sense, be calm in every sense, and follow the natural law. The man of heaven (i.e., immortal) has achieved all this. But who am I really? I must at least not be too wordy. "

SLEEP

Sleep is the most significant rest during the day. During sleep, all body functions slow down and the qi and blood that we did not have time to spend in a day are transformed and accumulated in the body in the form of the essence of Jin. The duration of sleep of each individual person depends on his constitution, age, state of health, degree of activity and time of year. For most people, it is best to sleep at night and work during the day, as this is consistent with the distribution of yin and yang energy at this time. In Chinese medicine, sleep is believed to occur when yang qi is surrounded by yin qi. As we age, we consume yin qi, resulting in a relative excess of yang qi, or active qi, in our body. Therefore, many people in old age suffer from insomnia. Their body is depleted of yin qi, which is not enough to keep and surround them with yang. In this case, you can take a nap during the day. It is very important to develop the correct sleeping habits.

In China, the right dream is following three rules. Before going to bed, you need to calm down, eat light food and do light exercises. Excessive emotional or mental stress, which is an expression of Yang Qi activity, affects our mind and prevents it from falling asleep. Therefore, a person should calm down before going to bed. Kai Ji-tong, who lived in the era of the Song dynasty, wrote in his book "The ability to sleep correctly" that for normal sleep, the mind must first calm down, and only then close the eyes.

Secondly, you should not eat just before going to bed. When a person falls asleep, the yang qi must leave the internal organs. Thus, it passes through several different places (layers) of the body. One of these places is the stomach. If it is full of food, the yang qi gets stuck there and cannot be unconscious.

Third, light exercise should be done before bed. Such exercises relieve our mind of problems and promote the circulation and raising of qi. The Secret of the Purple Rock says, "Before going to bed, walk a thousand steps around the room." However, you should not do too vigorous physical exercises, because after them, on the contrary, it will be more difficult for you to fall asleep.

MENTAL PEACE

Not only words or physical actions, but every feeling, every thought, every sensation leads to the movement and transformation of qi. Since during mental or emotional processes, Qi is also absorbed, and, I must say, a fairly large amount of it, then not only the body should rest. If a person wants to live a long life and stay healthy, his mind must also rest. For Westerners, peace of mind is even more difficult to achieve than economy of speech.

There are many ways to meditate and deeply relax, the goal of which is to achieve mental and emotional peace. All of these methods are based on mindfulness. When a person realizes that he is thinking about unnecessary things, he can easily interrupt these unnecessary thoughts. If a person realizes that he is thinking about something, he can try to free his mind from it. When a person's mind wants this or that, it is not able to calm down and rest. When a person realizes that his mind is busy with thoughts, the chain of these thoughts is interrupted for a moment and the mind rests at this time. If this understanding comes to a person more and more often, then over time it becomes a habit, and consequently, his mind receives more and more good rest.

In addition, since the body and mind are closely interconnected with each other, then a person can give the opportunity to rest his mind by relaxing the body. Tension of the mind goes hand in hand with physical tension: a person's shoulders rise, eyebrows move, jaws clench, breathing slows down or is delayed. When a person realizes that he is in a state of physical tension, he must exhale and relax.

It takes a lot of effort to maintain this tension, and the main thing is that the person realizes this and relaxes. If a person does this every day, then over time he will develop a habit and he will quickly learn to relieve not only physical, but also mental stress, since the latter is the cause of the former.
Some Asian ascetics tried to achieve immortality by completely stopping thought processes. While this is possible, there are a number of questions to this method. Of course, there is no doubt that a person can overextend his mind, get tired and get sick.

Here are the signs of mental exhaustion caused by over-thinking:
1. Dizziness, blurred vision, hearing impairment, feeling that "ears are on fire."
2. Weakness of arms and legs, yawning and drowsiness.
3. Inhibition of thoughts and reactions.
4. Loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting.
5. Irritability, depression.
6. Inability to understand the text being read.
7. Frequent spelling mistakes and mistakes in speech.

Most of the above signs are symptoms of Qi or Jing depletion. For example, dizziness, blurred vision, impaired hearing, and a feeling of heat in the ears are considered symptoms of kidney qi depletion in Chinese medicine. Whereas weakness in the arms and legs, fatigue and loss of appetite are symptoms of depletion or even disappearance of the spleen qi. Even if a person does not strive to become an immortal Taoist or live to be one hundred years old, he must learn to rest and relax normally, because otherwise, due to too hard work or mental strain, he will begin to experience these symptoms.
The word si in China means "think", "understand", "ponder", "discuss." It also means "to strive for something." Thought is inherent in a person, but when it becomes intrusive, it bothers him, harms his health.

Song Guang Ren wrote:
“According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, a person cannot live without thinking and resting. Reasonable thinking is helpful, not harmful. However, the excessive thought process aimed at achieving personal gain, to which our mind always strives, but for which we lack neither the ability nor the wisdom, often leads to illness.

Kao Ting Dong, author of Lao Lao Heng Yang (Eternal Talks about Gerontology) contrasts the ideas of Tao-sists and Buddhists about the complexity of the mental inactivity of worldly activities. He is sure that "the heart (ie the mind) is restless when it cannot do anything." However, there is a huge difference between ordinary doing nothing and the practice of kin Jin woo wei or a state of calm, inner harmony and inactivity. The latter means not doing anything that would be contrary to natural law or Tao. Song Xi Mao explains this idea, saying that in order to maintain health, he must “not forbid himself what your nature aspires to and live (move) slowly; not to deprive yourself of what is pleasing to the eyes and ears, which is easy to achieve. "

One surefire way to achieve daily mental relaxation is to listen to soothing music. Such music promotes wonderful relaxation of the body and spirit first. This will require taking time regularly, every day. If a person listens to this kind of music every day for a hundred days, he will become more energetic, his mood, stomach and intestines, and sleep will improve.

A person does not live in a dream world where the sun always shines and birds sing. From birth, a person is faced with various situations that cause tension, anxiety, etc. The psyche is connected with the body, therefore muscle tone is the result of constant emotional stress. Relaxation helps to relieve excessive muscle tone in various ways so that a person can relax ..

Why does a person need rest? After all, any desire to relax is aimed at rest. The human body simply needs to change the mode of work to sleep or rest. So, a person sleeps every day. If a person misses sleep, then he feels some lethargy, loss of strength, loss of the opportunity to rejoice. It looks like . However, a person is not sick, just his body has not rested, has not rebooted, has not gained energy, therefore it works on what is still left.

It turns out that rest is vital for humans. You can pay attention that most often and more people get sick when they are physically exhausted. Immunity becomes weak if a person rests little, constantly overstrains, does not fill with new energy and positive emotions. Thus, various relaxation techniques become important only because a person becomes physically strong.

Another important regularity is that a person in a state of relaxation is spiritually strong and self-confident. All those qualities that a person is constantly trying to develop in himself can be felt in a state of rest. If anxiety, fear and stress reign inside, then it is unlikely that a person feels normal.

What is relaxation?

Relaxation refers to the conscious relaxation of the muscles in order to achieve inner calm, release emotional tension, and gain additional energy. A person may resort to techniques, drugs, or exercises that help relax. Any method that helps calm the body and mind will do.

To some extent, relaxation is similar to meditation. However, this is only a first impression. Meditation has several levels of immersion of a person in his own unconscious or dissolution of his own “I” in the boundless world. Relaxation involves only the first stage, which is used in meditation, when a person simply relaxes his muscles.

Relaxation is used in hypnosis, yoga, and wellness practices. It helps in solving many physical and psychological problems.

1. First, it should be understood that a person is constantly exposed to stress on himself. In a state of stress, his muscles automatically tense, which are a reflex reaction of the body to leave the place that causes fear if necessary. If a person is constantly in emotional stress, it drains him. Often such a person becomes lethargic, passive, sleepy.
2. Second, if internal stress leads a person to increase muscle tone, then he begins to get tired physically. All this takes away energy, which could be directed to performing some actions or maintaining the functioning of the whole organism. Muscles tense for natural reasons - in response to emotional fear, anxiety, feelings of helplessness. If the muscles are constantly in good shape, they get tired. This is akin to the fact that a person will go in for sports all the time - how long will it last?

Muscle clamps often lead to the development of various diseases. It should be understood that the natural state of muscles is their relaxation. If they are constantly tense, then the human body and the work of all its systems change.

If earlier a person was pressured by an aggressive environment in which he had to hunt and survive, then the stresses of the modern world are various conflicts, troubles, lack of desired goals, disapproval or criticism of others. Stress may seem insignificant, but it is there. It makes the muscles tense, which consumes a lot of energy.

Relaxation techniques aim to relieve muscle tension by consciously acting on them. The effect of the exercise will be felt by a person whose muscle tone is increased. If the muscles remain relaxed, then relaxation methods do not give a tangible effect.

In order to achieve certain results in the direction of constantly maintaining calmness, both psychological and muscle, you need to systematically engage in exercises, bring them to automatism. Besides sleep, a person needs rest during the day. That is why it is very important to quickly restore your balance, so that the muscles in the body relax as well.

Relaxation techniques

There are many relaxation techniques. Some people, although they did not specifically study this topic, could also, on a subconscious level, resort to various relaxing techniques. Relaxation is the relaxation of muscles in order to restore mental comfort and calmness. A relaxed person is strong and active, an anxious person passive and weak. Do not forget about the energy that a person spends if he does not relax.

During the day, a person periodically gives himself relaxation, because he needs it. Someone does it consciously, and someone unconsciously. But it works anyway:

1. The realization that you are returning home after a working day, where you will rest, eat and watch your favorite programs, already gives you some relaxation. You feel it, although you may not notice.
2. Deep breathing, which reduces the speed of the process that results from stress. In a state of nervousness, a person begins to breathe quickly. Here you need to deliberately reduce the rate of breathing. Breathe in for 10 seconds and breathe in for the same amount of time.
3. Embrace. Many people ignore this relaxation method, but it is very effective. Hugs work well for children. However, do not forget that people in a state of fear or despair also quickly calm down when they are hugged (as if they are beginning to be protected and protected, they feel protected).
4. A massage that can be used not only to eliminate cellulite, but also to relax. Massage at the end of the working day, in the evening, is very useful. Calming, gentle and deep movements along the back help you relax, calm down and feel peaceful. Some people even fall asleep during the massage, which is a good result.
5. Aromatherapy. Smells are good for relaxing if they are pleasant to the person. We will not describe what essential oils should be used for relaxation, since the main thing is that you should personally like the smells and give a feeling of calming.
6. Music. Each person has his own favorite tracks, which he constantly scrolls. In the moment of a violent surge of emotions, music will help. The main thing is the positive lyrics in the songs. Don't listen to what causes sadness and additional sadness.
7. Drinking warm herbal tea. Even just warm milk will do. The main thing is that a person gets pleasure from the process and calms down, thinking about the good.
8. ... You can close your eyes and imagine yourself in another place where you would like to be. You bask in the warm sun, you are surrounded by friendly people, you get only positive emotions. You can visualize everything that gives a feeling of peace and relaxation.

The main relaxation technique is to deliberately release tension in the muscles. To do this, you can use imagination or autogenous practices. The person closes his eyes and begins to mentally recite the phrase that his body is relaxing. He addresses each part of the body, focusing his attention on it, while observing how it relaxes, and then moves on to another area.

1. Sport. To relax the muscles, you can first give them a good load. It should be understood that muscle tension as a result of negative emotions is a slow waste of energy. The muscles will not get tired soon. However, if you go in for sports, that is, throw out all the energy, then the muscles will get tired, which will help in their relaxation.
2. Laughter. In getting rid of nervous tension and muscle stiffness will help laughter, a positive outlook on situations, a vision of funny in what is happening. Laughter helps you relax.

Get away from home

On the eve of holidays and summer holidays everyone has a question: how to relax? We worked for almost a whole year, now you need to give your body the opportunity to calm down, relax, enjoy life, do whatever you want. Everyone chooses the rest that is more interesting to him. Here, everyone is often guided by their positive memories: what lesson did you achieve maximum relaxation and enjoyment of life?

Someone goes to the mountains, while others prefer sandy beaches. Here everyone is right about one thing - to have a rest, to spend your vacation far from home. Why?

If you decide not to go anywhere, then, most likely, the rest will not work.

• First, when you are at home, you periodically remember that you need to do something. Completed one job, completed another, did the third. So the vacation will take place in homework... How does this differ from ordinary weekdays?
• Secondly, native walls remind of daily problems. In psychology, there is such a thing as an anchor. Every time you return home, you look at your own walls, which “anchor” your usual emotions. How can you rest if something reminds you of your problems?

Psychologists recommend not to rest at home, but to leave as far as possible. Here, the choice is yours where you want to go. It doesn't really matter. The main thing is that the area should be unfamiliar to you. And if it turns out to be beautiful, pleasant and relaxing, then you can definitely rest.

Where exactly to go and how exactly to rest is the choice of everyone. If you like to relax actively, then choose places where you can fulfill your desires. If you prefer a beach holiday, then go to the seas or oceans. The main thing is not to be in your own walls, in which you constantly spend your time.

New impressions, unexplored places, complete passion for the kind of rest that you decide to do are important. At the same time, it is important not to be in the place where you will again have to work, work, solve everyday problems. That's the whole secret of a good holiday!

How do you end up relaxing?

Most effective method muscle relaxation is carrying out manual manipulations over your body so that it feels that nothing threatens it, it is safe. And also the best way elimination of muscle clamps will eliminate negative emotions and stress. How do you end up relaxing?

It is human nature to live in constant stress. However, he should always have an arsenal of actions that he can use at any time to relax.

If a woman has a free minute, it would be right to use it to her advantage. After coming home from work, it is recommended to organize at least twenty minutes of rest in order to relax and tidy yourself up. Such a small rest is scientifically called "relaxation" in world practice.

Relaxation is needed proceeding from the fact that at work a person gets tired mentally and physically. Sometimes a woman has to do part-time work - for other employees. The load increases, the rhythm of life becomes tense, the body needs to recover, at least for a short time, rest. At home there are other concerns - family, husband and children. Ask them to do, for a while, their own affairs. During this time, try to provide yourself with peace by retiring to a separate room for at least twenty minutes. Take a weak tea solution and a cosmetic bag with cotton pads from the kitchen in advance. If the weather is good, open a window or window. Place pillows under your head and knees and stretch out on the bed. Take it easy. Cover your eyes with wet discs. Put your hands along your torso, place your palms on your hips. Start taking deep, slow breaths. Try to breathe rhythmically. Forget about everything except your body. Imagine that the foot, knee, thigh are filled with weight on each half of the body. Think of the palm, elbow, shoulder in the same way. Next is the turn for the body and head. The muscles all relaxed. Remove the discs from your eyes and slowly get out of bed, sit down for a while and start your usual business and household chores.

The mood rises and a sparkle appears in the eyes. The result of relaxation is obvious. Try to finish your household chores by ten o'clock in the evening, then get ready for bed. Candles from bispol will help in relaxation. The body needs sleep like air and food, because the whole body rests in a dream. All muscles are relaxed, the brain rests from daily continuous activities. Women's health and life expectancy depend on the duration of sleep.

Having a good sleep, a woman will look great, smile. It is enough to sleep for about nine hours. It must be remembered that sleep before midnight is very useful. No organism can withstand the absence of adequate sleep. You need to sleep, there's nothing you can do. You need to choose a comfortable position for yourself to fall asleep. You need to completely relax and dream in complete silence and without light. The bed should be comfortable with a small pillow. The blanket is light and warm. Bed linen must be fresh.