How God Changes Your Brain - Andrew Newberg, M. D_ [91]
If unwanted thoughts or feelings intrude, acknowledge them and let them go, returning to the repetition of your mantra. Don't try to achieve a particular goal or state; just keep focusing on your word for the full ten to twenty minutes.
When you finish, sit quietly for a few moments and then open your eyes. Notice how you feel, yawn three times, and slowly move about the room.
If you do this exercise once each day, you will notice, in just a few weeks, significant shifts in your awareness and behavior. You'll feel calmer, less anxious, and more receptive. You may even find, as Benson's research uncovered, that you lose some of your desire to smoke, drink, or overeat. Feel free to change your mantra as often as you like, paying attention to how different concepts affect your awareness in different ways.
EXERCISE 4: PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION
Some people have a very difficult time using their mind to relax their body, so I often recommend this technique, which was developed in the 1920s by the American physiologist Edmund Jacobson. I call it the “heavy artillery” of relaxation training because it is particularly effective with people who are unusually tense. It is useful in reducing stress and anxiety, helping with pain, fibromyalgia, heart disease, and a variety of neurological, psychological, and physical disorders.19 It has also been effective to help people relax before operations, and it speeds up post-operative recovery.20
Progressive muscle relaxation was the first technique I ever tried on other people. When I was in junior high school, I did a report on progressive muscle relaxation, so I experimented on my whole class. They all loved it, and one person even fell asleep (but then, that wasn't so unusual in my school). Which reminds me: Many people report that this exercise, when practiced before going to bed, helps them fall asleep. In fact, studies have shown that progressive muscle relaxation is just as effective as taking a variety of sleep-inducing medications.21 And if you pair it with music, the effects appear to be enhanced.22
Progressive muscle relaxation is easy to do. Essentially you tighten and then relax each muscle group in the body, and in between you take a nice deep breath or yawn. The exercise is best done lying down, on a thick carpet or mat, but you can do it in any large well-padded chair. I also recommend that you have someone read this to you if you are especially tense, or make or purchase a recording. But for now, try to do as many steps as possible as you read. If the deep breathing makes you dizzy, take smaller and shorter breaths.
First, take a deep breath, hold it as long as you can, then breathe out as much air as possible. Again, hold your breath as long as you can before inhaling. Repeat this five times.
Next, take a deep breath in, and as you do this, tense all the muscles in your body, from head to toe, and hold it as long as you possibly can (most people can do this for about ten to twenty seconds). Then relax everything, expelling the air from your lungs. Do this three more times. Then breathe out and relax all the muscles in your body.
Take another deep breath, and starting at the top of your head, tighten up all of your face, then let it go as you breathe out.
Breathe in deeply, scrunch up your forehead and hold it for five seconds. Then release, breathing out.
Breathe in, tighten your mouth and jaw, hold it for five seconds, and release as you breathe out. Now stretch your mouth open as wide as you can. Hold it for five seconds, and release. Take another deep breath and yawn, and release all of the tension in your face.
Take a deep breath in, pull your shoulders up toward your head, and tighten all of the muscles in your neck. Hold for five seconds, then push your shoulders way down as you exhale. Slowly roll your head from side to side as you fully and completely relax.
Take another deep breath in and tighten your arms and your hands.