Be an anxiety survivour!

Do you wonder why your anxiety doesn't dissolve? Why it still plagues you?

Do you practice the relaxation techniques that your counsellor or psychotherapist has offered you?

That is the problem - so many people seek out a therapist and then don't follow through with the practice, very often because they don't see results straight away. However, if you practice for just one week, you will see a difference.

Anxiety is a fight or flight response to threat. It is usually an exaggerated response to threats that are not as dangerous as the person feels and thinks they are. Anxiety is a normal response to danger, although most of the danger perceived is through blinkered eyes, i.e. negative filtering.

The opposite of feeling anxious is feeling relaxed. The aim of creating relaxation is to be able to be comfortable and content. Worrying about the future can cause huge problems, and there is a need to slow down and stop rushing forward. In this case, relaxation can help to slow the body and mind down in order to feel comfortable.

There are many techniques you can practice to feel relaxed, from breathing exercises to progressive muscle relaxation. PMR is an effective strategy that promotes relaxation and helps slow the participant down. You will feel calm and less stressed, allowing you to think more clearly. But again, the message I want to convey is that unless you practice, it will not be effective.

Thus, you need to practice when you feel relatively calm to get the hang of the routine, so that, when you feel anxious, you can put it into practice, and then it will have its desired effect.

Yes, it does work; you may not realise it until you put it into practice when feeling anxious. You cannot feel anxious and relaxed at the same time, hence you will slow your breathing and tense and relax your muscles. This will calm your mind and body and the anxiety will dissolve. Once you finish, in time, if you continue to think negative thoughts, then the anxiety will return, so you can repeat the process whilst working on your negative thinking with your therapist.

If you can find 10 minutes, twice a day, to practice for a week, then you will learn the techniques and will not need to refer to your notes to practice it. Once this has been achieved, you will be able to call upon the technique whenever you need to in order to induce relaxation. This will be effective in helping you to feel physically and mentally calmer. Again, the more you use it, the easier it will become to switch from anxiety to relaxation.

I hope this article has emphasised the importance of practice!

You won't know how effective PMR is in inducing relaxation until you try it out. If you can achieve this, you will find that it has benefits, and you will want others to understand this too. The practice will not take long to conduct, and if it allows you to change from anxiety to relaxation in a matter of moments, wouldn't that amaze you? Try it out for yourself and see the fabulous results.