Relax: We all want it, but it's so hard. Do you have those days when you can't stop doing. You have to work, you have to eat lunch, you have to work again, you have to run errands, you have to exercise, you have to eat, you have to watch a series and you have to sleep. So you have to do all sorts of things and because of this you are in GO mode all day.
Relaxation is incredibly important. Moments when you don't have to do anything, not even watch a series, are important. But then again, if you have to relax, relaxing becomes a must, and how well does relaxing work?
The annoying thing when instructed to relax is that it can make you tense up again[1]. Many people also don't know what relaxing means. After all, relaxing can be nice walking, but when was the last time you consciously relaxed your muscles and your body?
You probably know very well how your body feels when you feel angry or agitated, but how does your body feel when everything is just nice and fine? Do you know how your body feels when it is completely relaxed?
Typically, relaxation is explored along with exercise. Research shows that when people have jobs they relax less often and that when someone is more educated they exercise more often than someone who is less educated.
Exercising is seen as something that is healthy and relaxing is seen as something that makes you happy[2].
This is actually quite extraordinary that people think relaxation is especially good for happiness. In fact, it is also incredibly healthy for you. Relaxation actually reduces stress, and less stress means lower blood pressure, a healthier diet and often less obesity. So it provides much more than just happiness. The study even said that the more people relaxed, the less medication was needed.
So what is the best way to relax in a healthy way?
View on time and need change
As seen in the study, you first have to deal with perceptions of time and what is necessary. People with jobs relax less and people who are more educated who actually exercise more. You can think because of this that working people with high education really hardly take time to relax compared to people with lower education.
Therefore, with hypnosis you can figure out your beliefs about the time you have to relax and the need to relax.
The way to burnout is to believe in exercise so much that you go to work after a long day at work and take absolutely no time to relax and so you have to do all sorts of things.
There are several ways in which hypnosis can help you figure out your beliefs about relaxation and its importance. These include regression or a Socratic conversation. With a Socratic conversation, the why question is repeated several times to get to the core of your beliefs. You can even go so far as to find out what caused it and that this makes no sense.
This provides space for gaining new beliefs. This can be done, for example, with hypnotic suggestions. Because you are in hypnosis you absorb these suggestions better and it comes right into your system. You can also repeat them yourself after the hypnotist says them, such as:
"I get to take time off to relax."
"Relaxing is good for my physical health."
"Relaxing is good for my mental health."
"Relaxation means relaxed muscles."
"I get to lie flat to relax when I feel like it," says Dr. K.
These are just examples of hypnotic suggestions. Depending on your beliefs about relaxation, you may receive other suggestions from your hypnosis expert.
Hypnotic exercises for relaxation
In terms of relaxation, hypnosis is often compared to meditation. Research shows that hypnosis and meditation both provide deeper relaxation than just "relaxing" and provide similar health benefits[3].
Coming under hypnosis alone is a form of relaxation. It also takes relaxation to come under hypnosis. A good way to check if you are relaxed and if the hypnosis is working is arm-levitation. You are then so relaxed that you unconsciously raise your arm. It then seems as if your arm has free will.
A good induction of hypnosis already provides relaxation. Initially, you are instructed by the hypnosis expert to breathe calmly and to relax your muscles and close your eyes. This is merely relaxation.
Next, hypnosis is induced. This can be done in multiple ways, such as with a visualization, such as:
"You relax your muscles and you find yourself getting more and more relaxed. You are in a relaxed elevator. An elevator made for comfort and with each floor the elevator ascends you become more relaxed. The elevator is made of glass and the sun that shines better on you with each new floor creates more and more relaxation. Until you are floating in a cloud of relaxation."
You also have quicker inductions that involve imagining that you are being given anesthesia that helps your body relax.
Visualizations to enhance relaxation
Floating and relaxing, that's all super fun, but you're only 1 stressful thought away from tension in your body making that relaxation disappear through induction. That's why it's important to give your brain another task to think about. This is why hypnosis works better than meditation for some people.
You can also use visualizations to prolong the relaxation through hypnosis and to make sure your brain is engaged in that visualization.
Usually you will visualize a place that you really like and where you have been able to relax incredibly well in the past or a location you once saw on a movie or while reading a book. You then visualize yourself moving into that space or environment a comfortable place. You lay back and relax your muscles all over again. How the muscles in your feet, legs, abdomen, back, arms, your neck and shoulders and your face relax. How you enjoy the warmth and sounds there (or not).
It all depends on your experience, which is what a hypnosis expert will talk to you about first. A visualization that works for you is also often recorded on mp3 so you can listen to it at home to relax with hypnosis.
Visualizations for muscle relaxation
Sometimes, however, you may be so tense that it's hard to relax your muscles with that beautiful spot alone. Maybe you even suddenly cramp up. Even then, hypnosis offers additional techniques to ensure that if your thoughts don't distract you, but the tension in your body that can be worked out.
Usually, a preliminary interview takes place first. In that conversation, for example, you are asked about such a beautiful place where you can completely relax. You will also be asked questions about, for example, what color you associate with tension and what color you associate with relaxation.
Then you get the same visualization as before. At that beautiful place, where you can completely relax. However, the visualization goes a step further. You see in the color of your body where you are tense and relaxed. With each breath you take, the color of relaxation gains more of your body. Your calves can suddenly relax well, because the color of relaxation is gaining. Your shoulders are suddenly relaxed, because your body is filling with the color of relaxation. Your face may suddenly be expressionless and thus completely relaxed, because your body (and thus your head) is filling with the color of relaxation.
By playing with those colors or other symbols, the hypnosis expert will help you get your subconscious tensions out of your body so you can fully relax.
Hypnosis and relaxation
So hypnosis helps you find time for relaxation. Relaxation can include reading a book or watching a movie, but if you find that this is not enough to relax away stress, hypnosis can also help in other ways.
Just getting under hypnosis is a form of relaxation. Then that relaxation can be held with visualizations, and those visualizations can be reinforced to promote relaxation of your muscles and thoughts.
Want to learn more about exactly how hypnosis works and how to help someone or yourself with a visualization. How exactly to do this? Then come to a free online master class or enroll in one of the training courses of the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands. Ask about the online possibilities.
Also, pin this infographic as a reminder:
Sources:
[1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/insight-therapy/201011/why-you-should-relax-about-relaxation
[2] https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/406720/1/The_effects_of_exercise_and_relaxation.pdf
[3]https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/31445275/304.full.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1557755898&Signature=phC4%2FjC5qw8rVQsSzZvhs2PuGTw%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DA_Physiological_and_Subjective_Evaluatio.pdf
