Relaxation, Breathing and Meditation

Relaxation is important for Fibromyalgia relief and healing. Try the relaxation techniques and breathing exercises found below to help you get blood flow and oxygen to your body and mind. You will feel the difference! Meditation information and recommendations are included first.

I'll probably lose you here, huh? Yeah, I know what you mean. Meditation sounds too "out there". Personally, I've tried meditation and find it difficult to do, hard to be consistant and therefore I get little results.

But now I've found the most amazing program for facilitating meditation that gets results. You can try their demo for free at Centerpointe. It's a full 18 minutes long so you really get a taste of what this 'Instant Meditation' can do for you. Just try it and see if you can tell the difference. I can and I feel so good after listening. You need to use stereo headphones to get the results you are looking for in this program.

People who have meditated for 20 years are getting amazing results from these cd's or tapes after just 2 months. This program facilitates deep meditation that would take years of practice to attain. This deep meditation can help with relaxation, depression, insomnia, focus, and emotional issues you are having that you just can't seem to work through or let go.

I thought I had worked through all of my emotional stuff years back, but this demo made me realize that there are things that are holding me back from living a full, happy life. I could feel the hurt in my heart coming out.

If you really want to dramatically accelerate your mental, emotional, and spiritual growth, I highly recommend this 'Instant Meditation' program from Centerpointe.

If you are not ready for this 'Instant Meditation' Program yet (I believe you will want to make this a priority if you check out the demo), try the techniques below to aid in relaxing your body and clearing your mind.

When you are first attempting to perform conscious relaxation, you may find that you could practice it 10-20 times a day, and still tense up in between. After a time, with regular practice, you will find that you are much more relaxed continually as your body finds the relaxed state normal, not the tensed state.

If your muscles are tensed up from constant pain, I highly recommend taking the advice on my Nutrition Page which will allow relaxation of your muscles. Getting rid of the pain will allow your muscles to let go instead of constantly tightening up from pain and guarding against more pain.

The First Relaxation Exercise I'd like to give to you is one that I found easiest to do when I first started trying to relax.

Lie down on your back with enough padding underneath you so that you are comfortable (preferably not a bed). Use a blanket doubled up or check out the mats that I recommend in the Introduction to Yoga Section of this website, toward the bottom of the page. OK, returning to the first relaxation exercise: Lie down on your back. Let your feet fall out away from the centerline of your body. Your arms should lie comfortably away from your sides. Placing palms up is usually more relaxing but palms down is OK, too.

Tense and lift your arms, legs, and head just off the floor for 5-10 seconds, tightening your stomach muscles and face, too. This makes you aware of how the tense muscles feel. Let everything fall to the floor and experience the opposite feeling of relaxation. Enjoy this feeling at you go deeper into it. Repeat as necessary.

A Second Relaxation Exercise that involves visualization has you again lying down. You may prop up your knees or thighs with a pillow or two to take the pressure off your lower back. Rolling a towel and putting it under your neck can give support there. Arms are at your sides as in the first relaxation exercise.

Imagine that your skin and muscles are sliding off your bones onto the floor. Feel the tissues falling away. Start with your feet and ankles, working your way up your body in sections. Don't forget your face and head.

For a Third Relaxation Exercise lie down as above. Then you imagine that you are breathing in through your toes, then out through your toes. Continue to breath in and out through your toes, drawing the breath further up your body each time. Imagine the breath retracing it's path down your body and out the toes on each exhale. If you can't draw the breath up throughout the whole body, switch to imagining the breath drawing in through your fingertips, belly button or eyes, in order to relax the whole body.

Breathing gives you oxygen which will help with energy and relaxation.

If you notice how babies and young children breathe, their stomach expands as the inhale. For some reason (maybe vanity because we don't want our stomach to stick out) we lose this natural, full style of breathing. Most adults will lift their chest as they inhale, making for a much shallower breath.

How do you breathe? Become aware of your breath right now. Is your chest lifting as you inhale or is your stomach expanding as you inhale? Your stomach should be expanding. Are you taking quick shallow breaths or long, slow deep breaths? Or maybe you find you are holding your breath a lot. Check your breathing throughout the day. It's the holding the breath that can be very detrimental whereas long, deep breaths will give you benefits of clearing out toxins, more energy, plus more relaxation. Shallow breathing leaves dead, stale air in the bottom of your lungs and lessens the oxygen available to your body.

Complete Breath Lie on your back comfortably. Place your hands on your stomach when learning this exercise to get the feel of your abdomen raising as you inhale through your nose (it's designed as a filter). Inhale slowly and deeply, expanding the stomach first, then the middle of your chest, and finally expand your upper chest. Reverse this as you exhale, emptying the upper chest first, then the middle chest. Contract your stomach to push all the air out of your lungs for the third stage of this exhale. This is one Complete Breath. Practice 3, 5, or more of these at a time.

Sun Moon Breath (Alternate Nostril Breath) Sit up straight with your feet crossed under your thighs. (You may also use the Lotus or Half Lotus position from Yoga.) Hold your the thumb of your right hand on one side of your nose. Your forefinger and middle finger are tucked under while your ring and pinky fingers are on the other side of your nose. Plug the right side of your nose and inhale through the left nostril. Unplug the right nostril, while plugging the left nostril and exhale through your right nostril. Then inhale through the right nostril, switch your fingers to plug the right and unplug the left side of the nose, and exhale through the left nostril. This round of 2 inhales and 2 exhales makes one Sun Moon Breath.

Repeat 5, 10 or more times. Try to make the inhales and exhales on each side the same amount of time. For example, 4 counts inhaling, 4 counts exhaling. As you advance your practice, increase the counts to 10 or more.

You can also count in between each inhale and exhale (on this exercise or the Complete Breath exercise), holding your breath in for 2 counts before exhaling, then holding your breath completely expelled for 2 counts before inhaling. These counts can also be increased with practice. In any breathing exercise, holding the breath is not detrimental because you will find a more intense inhale after holding it expelled and the same goes for your exhale after keeping your breath held in for awhile.

You will find that one side of your nose is more clogged than the other. You naturally alternate breathing from one nostril for a period of time, then the other. With a little practice, both will open clearly for this exercise.

This exercise gives a balancing effect to your brain, kind of like a yin/yang thing. It also helps clear out congestion in the nose.

Bellows Breath This is a great energizer. I use it when I get tired driving, among other times. It also helps clear out pollutants in the lungs, either from everyday exposure or smoking. This breathing exercise is also helpful for those trying to quit smoking or drugs; it gives a little natural high. Therefore, you should only practice this 3 times in a row. It is dangerous to practice this more than 3 times in a row. Do not do it!

OK, here goes: Sit up or stand up for this one. When standing, you can place your hands on your thighs with your knees slightly bent.

Breathe in a half breath (always through your nose for inhale and exhale) and force it out with your stomach muscles contracting like a bellows that forces air on a fire as it is closed. (You may want a tissue handy!) Continue breathing in half breaths and forcing the air out stronger and faster each time to the count of 10. Follow this with a Complete Breath that is described above. This sequence is considered one Bellows Breath. Work your way up to 20 or even 30 bellows (forceful blowing out of a breath) in one sequence.

Again, do not do more than 3 sequences in a row of the Bellows Breath.

Use these breathing exercises, relaxation techniques and the meditation recommendation. They may help you lead a more fulfilled life that includes relaxation!

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Health Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Perform these exercises at your own risk. They are not intended to diagnose, cure, prevent or treat any diseases. The information here is not provided by medical professionals and is not intended as a substitute for medical or professional advice. Please consult your physician before beginning any course of treatment.