MedAboutMe - Relaxation: history, methods and methods 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 exceptional importance of physical rest and relaxation. The very concept of "physical rest" can evoke images of a discipline, such as yoga or various scheduled rituals at certain times of the day. In fact, physical rest does not necessarily mean a system as such.

Rest and relaxation: the essence of the matter

Physical relaxation (or relaxation) simply means that you deliberately and consciously let go of the tension that has somehow entered your body. For example, when you just sit in the dentist's chair - it already causes tension, doesn't it? The dentist, therefore, must 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 various types pain. On the contrary, physical rest and relaxation release muscle tension, which alleviates the situation. This is why it is so important that you try to relieve muscle tension as soon as any pain or pain occurs in your body. You may have noticed that when a person is asleep, he feels less pain (or does not feel it at all) than when he is awake. Why is this happening? The body relaxes and regenerates during sleep, but during the working day it is influenced by stress and your mental state.

Constant stress causes fatigue, which gradually depletes all your physical and mental resources to cope with the affairs of life. On the contrary, 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 to keep the mind calm and improves sleep. When you rest, your productivity, self-esteem and self-confidence will also increase, which will help in relationships with other people.

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

Also, you can do different activities during the day and take a minute or two between activities to relax. By practicing this, you will soon find that you can get rid of tension and quickly relax everything you need in the course of normal work.

Laughter as physical relaxation

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 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 rhythmic exhalations, which helps to equalize the pressure in both cavities, and, in addition to venous outflow, also causes massage internal organs. So, laugh at your health.

However, relaxation is not only relaxation techniques, breathing, or the practice of laughter. Like many things, relaxation begins with a change in attitude. We have to change the way we look at life, learn to take things calmly and in many situations to keep our cool. 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 physical exercise necessary for the circulation of qi and blood in the body, so that the spleen and stomach can properly accumulate qi and blood, thus enabling the body to resist disease, our every word, thought or action leads to the consumption of a certain amount of qi and the essence of Jin. 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, since thirty-five years our digestive system begins to falter and the body is no longer able to create the same amount of qi from the food we eat and from the air we breathe as in younger years. As we age, it becomes more and more difficult to replace the qi that we have consumed during the day, so we have to pay more attention to rest and relaxation.

PHYSICAL REST

Chapter 39 of 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 overvoltage, that is, what a person does either for too long or too intensely, at the limit of his own strength. Walking is not too strenuous, but if a person walks too much, his strength will be exhausted. If a person tries to lift an object that is too heavy for him, this will also destroy the qi. As Song Si Mao said: "It is good for a person to do light work and avoid hard work, which exceeds his capabilities." In particular, in modern developed countries, people have relatively long working hours. I recently read that during the Neolithic, people only had to work 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 allocate enough time for normal rest every day and for an extended rest (i.e. vacation) once a year.

SAVING IN SPEECH

For people living in the West, it is very important to understand that a large amount of qi is spent during a conversation. Chapter 1 of this book explained 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 immediately comes out when talking, that is, it is absorbed at its very source. Li Dong Yuan was well aware of the great harm that excesses in conversation can bring, so he began his last and most significant work, Pi Wei Long (A Treatise on the Spleen and Stomach), with the following admonition:
“Keep serene in every sense, be calm in every sense, and follow natural law. The man of heaven (i.e. immortal) has achieved all this. But who am I really? I should at least not be too wordy."

DREAM

Sleep is the most significant rest during the day. During sleep, all functions of the body slow down and qi and blood, which we did not have time to spend during the 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 in line with the distribution of yin and yang energy at that time. In Chinese medicine, sleep is believed to come 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 older people suffer from insomnia. Their body is depleted of yin qi, which is not enough to hold and surround their yang. In this case, you can take a nap during the day. It is very important to develop the correct sleep pattern.

In China, proper sleep is to follow the 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 chi activity, affects our mind and prevents it from falling asleep. Therefore, a person should calm down before going to bed. Kai Zhi-tong, who lived in the Song Dynasty, wrote in his book “The Ability to Sleep Properly” that for normal sleep, the mind must first of all calm down, and only then the eyes should be closed.

Secondly, you should not eat immediately 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 go into a state of unconsciousness.

Thirdly, light exercise should be done before going to bed. Such exercises relieve our mind of problems and promote the circulation and rise of qi. The book "The Secret of the Purple Rock" says: "Before you go to bed, walk around the room a thousand steps." However, you should not do too active 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 qi is also absorbed during mental or emotional processes, and, I must say, a fairly large amount of it, then not only the body should rest. If a person wants to live long life and stay healthy, his mind must also rest. It is even more difficult for Westerners to achieve peace of mind than to maintain an economy of speech.

There are many ways to meditate and deep relax, the goal of which is to achieve mental and emotional calm. The basis of all these methods is mindfulness. When a person is aware 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 occupied with thoughts, the chain of these thoughts is interrupted for a moment and the mind rests at that time. If the understanding of this comes to a person more and more often, then over time it becomes a habit, and consequently, his mind gets more and more good rest.

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

It takes a lot of effort to maintain this tension, and the main thing is that a person realizes this and relaxes. If a person does this daily, then over time he will develop a habit and he will quickly learn to relieve not only physical, but also mental tension, 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 issues with this method. Of course, there is no doubt that a person can overexert his mind, get tired and get sick.

Here are the signs of mental exhaustion caused by excessive mental activity:
1. Dizziness, blurred vision, hearing loss, feeling that "ears are burning."
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 errors in oral speech.

Most of the above symptoms are symptoms of Qi depletion or Jin Essence. For example, dizziness, blurred vision, hearing loss, and hot ears are considered symptoms of kidney qi depletion in Chinese medicine. Whereas weakness of the arms and legs, fatigue and loss of appetite are symptoms of depletion or even disappearance of spleen qi. Even if a person does not aspire to become an immortal Taoist or live to be a hundred years old, he must learn to properly rest and relax, otherwise, due to too hard work or mental overstrain, he will begin to experience these symptoms.
The word xi in Chinese means "think", "understand", "think", "discuss". It also means "to strive for something." A thought is peculiar to a person, but when it becomes obsessive, it worries 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, an excessive thought process aimed at achieving personal gain, to which our mind always strives, but for which we have neither the ability nor the wisdom, often leads to illness.

Cao Tin Dong, author of Lao Lao Heng Yang (The Eternal Talk of Gerontology) contrasts Taoist and Buddhist ideas about the complexity of mental inactivity with mundane activity. He is sure that "the heart (i.e. the mind) is restless when it cannot do anything." However, there is a huge difference between just doing nothing and practicing kin jin wu wei or a state of peace, inner harmony and inactivity. The latter means not to do anything that would be contrary to natural law or the Tao. Song Si Mao explains this idea, saying that in order to maintain health, he must “not forbid yourself what your nature strives for and live (move) leisurely; do not deprive yourself of what is pleasing to the eyes and ears, which is not difficult to achieve.

One surefire way to achieve daily mental rest is to listen to soothing music. Such music contributes to a wonderful relaxation of the first body and spirit. To do this, you need to devote time regularly, every day. If a person listens to such music every day for a hundred days, he will become more energetic, his mood, stomach and intestines will improve, as well as sleep.

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 him tension, anxiety and. The psyche is connected with the body, so the result of constant emotional stress is muscle tone. Relaxation helps with various methods to relieve excessive muscle tone so that a person relaxes.

Why does a person need rest? After all, any desire to relax is aimed at rest. Human body just needs to change the mode of operation to sleep or rest. So, a person sleeps every day. If a person misses sleep time, then he feels some inhibition, loss of strength, loss of the opportunity to rejoice. It looks like . However, a person is not sick, it's just that his body has not rested, has not rebooted, has not gained energy, so it works on what is left.

It turns out that rest is vital for a person. It can be noted that most often and more people get sick when they are physically exhausted. Immunity becomes weak if a person has little rest, is constantly overstrained, is not filled with new energy and positive emotions. Thus, various relaxation techniques become important just because one becomes physically strong.

Another important pattern 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?

The concept of relaxation implies conscious muscle relaxation in order to achieve inner calm, relieve emotional stress and receive additional energy. A person may resort to techniques, drugs, or exercises that help them relax. Any method that helps to calm the body and soul 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, health 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 tighten, 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 exhausts him. Often such a person becomes lethargic, passive, drowsy.
2. Secondly, if internal tension leads a person to increase muscle tone, then he begins to get tired physically. All this takes away energy, which could be directed to perform some actions or maintain the functioning of the whole organism. Muscles tighten for natural reasons - in response to emotional fear, anxiety, a sense 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 the 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 put under pressure by an aggressive environment in which he had to hunt and survive, then stress modern world are various conflicts, troubles, lack of desired goals, disapproval or criticism of others. Stress may seem insignificant, but it is there. It brings the muscles into a tense state, which consumes a lot of energy.

Relaxation methods are aimed at relieving muscle tension by consciously influencing them. The effect of exercise will be felt by a person whose muscle tone is increased. If the muscles remain relaxed, then the relaxation methods do not give a tangible effect.

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

Relaxation methods

There are many relaxation methods. Some people, although they did not specifically study this topic, could also resort to various relaxing techniques on a subconscious level. Relaxation is the relaxation of muscles in order to restore mental comfort and tranquility. A relaxed person is strong and active, a worried person is 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. Some do it consciously, and some unconsciously. But it works anyway:

1. The realization that you are returning home after a working day, where you will relax, eat and watch your favorite programs, already gives some relaxation. You feel it, although you may not notice it.
2. Deep breathing, which allows you to slow down the process that is the result of stress. In a state of nervousness, a person begins to breathe rapidly. Here you need to consciously reduce the pace of breathing. Breathe in for 10 seconds and breathe in for the same amount of time.
3. Embrace. Many people ignore this method of relaxation, but it is very effective. Hugs are good for kids. 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 being protected and protected, they feel protected).
4. A massage that can be used not only to eliminate cellulite, but also to relax. Very useful massage at the end of the working day, in the evening. Soothing, smooth and deep movements on the back help to relax, calm down and feel peaceful. Some people even fall asleep during the massage, which is a good result.
5. Aromatherapy. Smells are good in the relaxation process if they are pleasant to the person. We will not describe what essential oils should be used for relaxation, because the main thing is different - you should personally like the smells and give a feeling of calm.
6. Music. Each person has his favorite tracks, which he constantly scrolls. At the moment of a violent outburst of emotions, music will help. The main thing is positive lyrics in songs. No need to listen to what causes sadness and additional sadness.
7. Taking warm herbal tea. Even just warm milk will do. The main thing is that a person enjoys 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 anything that gives you a feeling of peace and relaxation.

The main technique in relaxation is the conscious release of tension in the muscles. To do this, you can use the imagination or autogenic practices. The person closes his eyes and begins to mentally pronounce the phrase that his body is relaxing. He turns to each part of the body, focusing his attention on it, while watching 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. 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. Laugh. In getting rid of nervous tension and muscle stiffness will help laughter, a positive look at situations, seeing the funny in what is happening. Laughter helps in relaxation.

Relax away from home

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

Someone goes to the mountains, and someone prefers sandy beaches. Here, everyone is right about one thing - you need to relax, spend your vacation away from home. Why?

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

• First, being at home, you periodically remember that you need to do something. He completed one job, completed another, and completed a third. So the vacation will take place in homework. How is this different from normal 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 native 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 matter much. The main thing is that the area is unfamiliar to you. And if it turns out to be beautiful, pleasant and relaxing, then you can definitely relax.

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

New impressions, unexplored places, complete enthusiasm for the type of recreation 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 on your body so that it feels that nothing threatens it, it is safe. And also in the best possible way eliminating 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 of time, it would be right to use it to her advantage. After coming home from work, it is recommended to organize at least a twenty-minute rest in order to relax and put yourself in order. Such a small rest in world practice is scientifically called "relaxation".

Relaxation is needed based on 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 rest for recovery, at least for a short time. At home, other concerns are family, husband and children. Ask them to mind their own business for a while. During this time, try to ensure peace for yourself by retiring to a separate room for at least twenty minutes. Take a weak solution of tea and a cosmetic bag with cotton pads from the kitchen in advance. If the weather is good, open the 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. Hands along the body, put your palms on your hips. Start taking deep and slow breaths. Try to breathe rhythmically. Forget everything but your body. Imagine that the foot, knee, thigh are filled with weight on each half of the body. Similarly, think of the palm, elbow, shoulder. Next is the turn for the torso and head. The muscles are all relaxed. Remove the discs from your eyes and slowly get out of bed, sit for a while and proceed with your usual chores 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 before 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 relax, the brain rests from continuous daily activity. Women's health and life expectancy depend on the duration of sleep.

Having a good night's sleep, a woman will look great, smile. It is enough to sleep for this about nine hours. It must be remembered that sleep before midnight is very useful. No organism can withstand the lack of proper sleep. You need to sleep, there's nothing you can do. You need to choose a comfortable position for falling 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.