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Guided Relaxation & its Benefits

March 28, 2014 by Julie Lusk

Relaxing regularly and deeply is the perfect remedy to conquer stress.

The World Health Organization predicts that stress-related disorders and psychological disorders will be the second leading cause of disabilities in the world by 2020.

The good news is that we can each take action to prevent and/or cope with stress. It’s time to take stress seriously and learn to do things that really release stress and result in reducing muscular tension, regulating blood pressure and even relieving pain.

Is rest and relaxation a waste of time? Hardly!

Isaac Newton made his breakthrough discovery on gravity while he was relaxing and watching apples fall from trees.
Archimedes had his “eureka” moment in the bath tub.
Albert Einstein was asked how he discovered the theory of relativity. He said, “I didn’t discover it. I meditated and it revealed itself.”
- Einstein also said, “Play is the best research.”
- “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Let’s define Guided Relaxation. It is a valuable tool for your stress relief toolbox.

The secret to gaining relaxed energy is to clear away the mental ruckus and emotional debris to make room for clear thinking. One of the easiest ways of doing this is through relaxing the muscular tension held in the body by tensing and releasing muscle groups throughout your body using a reliable technique known as progressive muscular relaxation. Doing so not only releases physical tension, it also teaches you the felt difference between tension and relaxation. By knowing this, you can catch physical tension early on and before it causes painful headaches, back problems and digestive trouble. A calming effect for the body, mind, emotions and spirit is awakened as well.

Progressive muscle relaxation, conscious breathing, creative visualization and guided imagery techniques are powerful techniques that are often incorporated into guided relaxation exercises.

Summary of Benefits

Guided relaxation will:

Improve immunity
Lower Stress
Feel more refreshed; especially when you need it most
Cellular rejuvenation and repair
Better sleep
More energy
Greater mental clarity while reducing worry
Increase creativity
Enhance problem-solving and intuition
Extra stamina and endurance
More productivity
Relieve pain
Improve your outlook
Better overall health
And more!

Enjoy recorded guided relaxation & imagery on CD here.

Come to a guided relaxation & imagery workshop. See your choices here.

10-Minute Yoga Nidra Practice to Stress Less

February 4, 2016 by Julie Lusk

Yahoo! Yoga Journal has featured an excerpt from my latest book! Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief (NHP 2015).

Click here for the 10-minute Yoga Nidra Practice to Stress Less

Easy Does It is a 10-minute relaxation practice to rest well and beat anxiety. During it, an inner sanctuary of peace and calm is quickly and easily achieved using relaxation techniques and guided imagery. Your personal sanctuary can also be recalled during stressful times to give you real relief.

You’ll also be able to enroll in Yoga Journal’s Yoga for Stress and Anxiety online course. It’s a six-week course that’ll make a lasting change in the way you work, love, and live.

Get the whole book here.

Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation & Stress Relief - Print Book & Audio download

Yoga Nidra can stop tension in its tracks with a wonderfully, powerful & unique state of deep relaxation, mental clarity & insightful awareness. These practical, empowering relaxation exercises, meditations that soothe and visualizations that renew are based on classic yoga and backed by modern science. They’ll help you unwind, replenish, and feel refreshed with durable peace and unconditional joy. CLICK the blue title link above to find out more...

Loving Kindness Facelift

October 6, 2017 by Julie Lusk

Many thanks to Dan Leven for sharing this Loving Kindness Facelift. He was inspired by Sharon Salzberg’s book, Real Love.

As he puts it, “It begins with “may my face be happy, may my face be peaceful.” And then you continue moving through each body part wishing them well in this way… “may my neck be happy, may my neck be peaceful … may my shoulders be happy, may my shoulders be peaceful,” and so on. You open your heart’s kindness to your whole body (including your own heart).”

It’s a great way to start and end the day. I love it. I really go to town with spreading happiness and peace throughout my entire body. I enjoy coming up with new places to shower with loving kindness with each practice such as for my brain, blood, eyes and ears – even my hair. Before long, it’s going out to family, friends, pets, strangers and to all kinds of situations. This meditation is especially handy when my attention is restless since it lets me jump all around. It can be any length too – long or short. It sure feels uplifting.

Dan goes on to explain the science underpinning it. He says, “the vagus nerve is a core part of our parasympathetic nervous system that has two branches. One branch is associated with surviving in a perceived life or death situation where our whole body slows down, feigning death (a primitive survival mechanism). The other branch is about helping us relax and soften into the loving support of others and is associated with the release of oxytocin (the cuddle or bonding molecule). Both branches are about our relationship to “others, “that being dangerous “others” or safe and loving “others.”

Here’s the kicker he reports, “the vagus nerve has many fibers that connect to our facial muscles where we reveal our emotions through a plenitude of expressions. Scientists have logged 21 different emotional expressions that register within the face and there are 8 universal emotional facial expressions that you don’t need a translator to interpret. So our face can register the vagal response from shock and terror, like a deer in the headlights of a moving car (survival vagus nerve), to happiness and peace, like a contented Buddha face (loving vagus nerve)! However, we can also create the response as we bring happiness and peace to our faces!”

So the KEY point, according to Dan, “is that as you invite or train your facial muscles to discover happiness and peace you are strengthening the relaxation response that’s linked to feeling supportive or loving connection with others -to feeling safe in the world.”

Come on – Give it a shot!

PS. May you be happy and peaceful!