A Quick Relaxation Exercise to Ease Feelings of Anxiety

Many people who are highly stressed also suffer from anxiety or depression. Stress counselling services, such as the one Poole Hospital NHS Trust introduced for its staff, report that general anxiety and depression were the most common reasons offered by employees who used the service. In the case of the Poole Hospital NHS Trust, the introduction of this service saw a significant reduction in reported feelings of anxiety and depression and in the incidence of self-reported levels of stress.

Most people will experience anxiety or depression at some stage in their lives. It's not so much whether we experience anxiety, more the severity of it and the impact it has on our quality of life. The diagnosis of anxiety by GPs is variable and many people who suffer from anxiety disorders do not receive treatment for this condition. Anxiety is grouped into three areas: general anxiety disorder (GAD), phobias and panic disorder.

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued guidelines which provide information on anxiety and treatments that are available. The symptoms listed in Clinical Guideline 22 for anxiety includes apprehension, cued or spontaneous panic attacks, irritability, poor sleeping, avoidance or poor concentration. Panic Disorder arises when an individual experiences intermittent episodes of panic or anxiety and takes action to avoid feeling that way.

Recommended treatment for anxiety includes medication, the psychological talking therapies (for example, cognitive behavioural therapy or CBT) and self-help. I've included a relaxation exercise that I share with clients who experience occasional anxiety due to being highly stressed. They tell me this exercise really helps and the great thing about it is that it's discreet and takes just 10 seconds to do. By focussing on the exercise we are moving our focus away from the trigger thought that has led to feeling anxious towards relaxing the body and breathing. Often when we feel anxious or panic, our breathing becomes shallow as we breath into the upper chest only. Shallow breathing will create a physiological change in the body that can lead us to feel more anxious. Ok, so here's the exercise...

Imagine that you are breathing in a white mist.
Breathe in through your nose and as your breathe in, see that mist circling in and around the inside of your head.
On the outbreath, breathe out the white mist allowing all the tension to leave your body with this outbreath.
Let your shoulders droop and feel your body go limp.

...repeat this exercise two more times (or as often as you need to)

Welcome to Stress-Free Living

Stress starts in the mind when we perceive an event to be threatening. We respond to this threat emotionally and physically. We may feel emotions such as anxiety or anger which fuel our response to the perceived threat and we may notice physiological changes in our body synonymous with fight or flight.

Our bodies come equipped with feedback mechanisms that allow us to “stand down” once the threat has passed. Many people are feeling stressed today because these feedback mechanisms are not kicking in and as a result the body is not returning to a relaxed state.

The purpose of this blog is to explore different strategies that can be used to help us deal with stressful events. We will also be sharing techniques to help you monitor your stress levels so that you can minimise the impact stress is having on your health and well-being.

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