Pain Control Through Relaxation Technique

By Raymond Lee

When faced with stress, the body responds by releasing epinephrine and other hormones that cause the heart and the breathing rates to increase and the muscles to tense. The physical changes referred to as the fight-or-flight response. Usually, the body returns to normal after a stressful event has passed, but if you are in a prolonged state of stressful event has passed, but if you are in a prolonged state of stress because of chronic pain or other problems, you may benefit from techniques to combat stress can decrease muscle tension and pain as well as reduce fatigue, anxiety, and sleep problems.

The techniques require practice and time to perfect, however, and the benefits may not be immediately apparent. At first, you may need to set aside time for practice sessions that last 15 to 30 minutes. Once you learn the skills, you can use them when you have a few free moments to relax throughout your day.

The first basic procedure is deep breathing, also called diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing. The goal of this method is to fill your lungs completely, starting from the bottom, rather than breathing shallowly as most people do. Deep breathing is especially useful when you are experiencing greater pain or stress than usual or when you know you are about to confront a stressful situation.

To become aware of how you are breathing now, lie on your back or sit in a chair and place one hand on your chest and then the other hand on your abdomen over your navel. Take a breath and pay attention to which hand moves more. If the hand on your chest moves more than the one on your stomach, you are breathing shallowly.

To try deep breathing, inhale through your nose, making your abdomen expand first and more than your chest. Slowly exhale through slightly pursed lips. Practice breathing so that the hand on your abdomen is the one doing most of the moving. Each time you exhale, tell yourself to focus on the tension that is leaving your body and the warm feelings of relaxation that remain.

Your breathing should feel natural and comfortable. As you continue, you should become more relaxed, and you may notice that your rate of breathing naturally slows.

You can make a noticeable difference in your level of relaxation by practicing deep breathing 1 minute at a time, several times each day. Then use deep breathing when you first notice muscle tension, anxiety, or frustration starting to build. You can use the technique when stuck in heavy traffic, while participating in a stressful family conversation, or when preparing for a job interview. You can also try it in combination with other relaxation methods.

WATER - An Essential Nutrient

By Bob Cotto

Nowadays it's commonly known that water is an essential nutrient required by our bodies, after all our bodies are made up of over 70% water. What people don't realize is that there are a variety of common health problems such as high blood pressure, arthritis, headaches, fatigue and asthma that can either be prevented or treated. You can do this by making sure that your body is properly hydrated, which will maintain the optimum levels of fluid it requires. To prevent, treat and in many cases cure an illness the best thing is to give your body the right tools to help it function properly. Your body can defeat almost anything with the proper amount of water, the correct minerals and nutrients.

Recently studies have shown that the best protection against most infections is an increased intake of water and the use of the correct immune enhancing nutrients, in conjunction with a little patience and some common sense. Also if you allow your body to defeat most minor infections with fever, a lot of fluids and rest it can increase your natural resistance and will make you less vulnerable to these infections in future. In fact the best offense is definitely the best defense.

Pain medications and analgesic medicines can also work in contrast to the way your body heals itself. There is an extremely informative book called "Your Body's Many Cries For Water" (highly recommended reading), where studies by medical experts are used to explain how many of the pain sensations experienced are resulting from moderate or severe dehydration.

A common cause of headaches is your body's lack of proper hydration. As our brains consist of over 75% water, so when your brain detects a water shortage it releases histamines, which cause both pain and fatigue. When you ingest pain medication and antihistamines it only masks the actual problem. In many of these cases if you simply drink a few cups of water and try to relax for 20 minutes or so, you should find that the pain eases.

Occasionally back pain can be caused by a lack of fluids. Your spinal discs are filled with fluid, they act as shock absorbers within our spinal column and when they aren't hydrated correctly they can collapse, providing less cushioning and then placing the load on the shell of the disk instead of on the fluid. Lack of movement also affects the fluid level in disks. By rotating your head and moving your upper body around while sitting at in your chair at your desk, will help alleviate this, allowing your spinal discs to stay hydrated.

Dehydration can also cause a low blood volume which can be the cause of high blood pressure or hypertension. As your blood consists of over 80% water, it is consequently exceedingly vulnerable to changes in hydration. If you body detects a loss of blood volume, it causes the less active capillary beds to close in order keep on maintaining proper blood flow to the more active areas. As these vessel closings occur they cause a rise in tension inside the muscle mass which is known as hypertension. An increase of water allows the correct blood volume and less tension.

You will be pleasantly surprised at the results if you are suffering from any of these conditions and you try drinking a couple of glasses of water!

SLEEP - How To Get The Most From Yours

by Aislinn O'Connor http://www.Supreme-Success.com/beating-insomnia/.

Sleep - sufficient sound, refreshing, healthful sleep - is totally essential to your physical, emotional and mental well-being.

Good sleep can:

1. improve your health and looks;
2. boost your energy;
3. strengthen your concentration; and
4. fill you with self-confidence and creativity that can transform your finances and your entire life.

Lack of sleep, on the other hand, causes serious problems if it isn't dealt with.

1. Lack of sleep affects your immune system, and makes you more prone to infection and less able to recover from disease;
2. Lack of sleep affects your judgement and your concentration, and causes you to make mistakes at work or when you're driving;
3. Lack of sleep can make you irritable, and causes problems with your partner, friends and family; and
4. Lack of sleep can be a cause of mental illness.

Seriously. The late comedian and writer Spike Milligan traced the bi-polar disorder which devastated his life to an incident in World War II, when during the battle for Monte Casino he suffered total sleep deprivation for a staggering 15 days and nights. He never properly recovered.

How do you know if you're not getting enough sleep?
That's simple - when you're properly rested and refreshed, you wake up naturally. If you need an alarm clock to get you out of bed, you need more, and much more restful, sleep. Here are some simple tips to help you to do that.

• Don't expect to sleep until you're sleepy. There's no point in going to bed just for the sake of it, and hoping that you'll somehow fall asleep. You won't. What you will do is toss and turn, and get annoyed. There aren't many better ways of ruining a good night's sleep than by convincing yourself you aren't going to get one.

• Make sure your bedroom's not too hot. A stuffy atmosphere prevents you from breathing deeply, which in itself can be a cause of shallow sleep which leaves you tired and un-refreshed next morning. You might want to turn the heating down, or the air-conditioning up. You don't need to make yourself feel cold to get the benefit of this - just make sure the air feels fresh and fairly cool, that's all. If your first thought on entering the room is that it's warm, you need to freshen it. Your sleep will benefit.

• Don't read in bed. To sleep more restfully, you need relax your mind, not fill it full of new ideas. Lots of people read a newspaper last thing at night, then wonder why they can't drift off to sleep. That's just because their mind's too lively. Reading a book is even worse - if it's any good, you'll actually force yourself to stay awake to see what happens next! Do all the reading that you want to do before you go to bed.

• Switch off the TV. Lots of people have a TV in their bedroom, and believe that watching late at night relaxes them before they go to sleep. It's really just like reading, though - it keeps your mind involved when it needs to be relaxed. If you fall asleep while watching, you rarely wake refreshed next day. That's because even in your sleep a part of your mind has still been listening to the TV - all night long. It doesn't matter how many hours of unconsciousness you have in front of the TV - it's not the same thing as a proper deep, refreshing sleep.

• Relax, and switch your conscious mind off for the night. Don't go to bed thinking anxiously about all the stuff you've got to do tomorrow. List it all before you go to bed, and forget about it till the morning. It doesn't matter how important it might be, you won't tackle it effectively if you're too tired - you'll do it all much better when you're rested. Take some time to unwind before you go to bed, and consciously and deliberately release everything that's happened through the day. Be aware of letting your muscles release every bit of tension in them, from your head down to your toes. Fill your mind with pleasant, relaxing images, then let those images drift softly from your consciousness till you're aware only of an enjoyable sensation of comfort and relaxation. Don't fight the feeling of drowsiness as it comes over you - just let it overtake you, and drift gently into sound, refreshing sleep.
  

Try these tips tonight, and see how much better and more energetic you can feel tomorrow!