Relaxation

Relaxation sessions are to help and assist clients as a stress management tool to gently soothe away stress and also include ways to maintain a lasting sense of inner peace, after the session has ended.

There are many events in life that can cause stress, here are a few examples:

Job Stress	Long hours, difficult co-workers, and lack of appreciation
Study Stress	Pressures from college and assignments
Financial Stress	Money problems and debt management
Relationship Stress	The people in our lives can be our greatest source of comfort and sometimes a significant cause of stress.

Traits and Attitudes That Increase Stress

Your responses to the stressors in your life can have a negative impact on your experience of stress. The following traits and ways of seeing the world have an especially significant impact.

Perfectionism	Pessimism	Anger
Rumination and Obsessing	Addictive or Unhealthy Behaviours	External focus of Control and drive
Poor Communication	Distorted Thinking

I will start with the client becoming comfortable, whilst the client is deeply relaxed, together we can explore stress within parts of the body and explore particular personal issues to find answers from within the client. Whilst in a relaxed state answers can tend to come to the client quicker and clearer as we are not interacting with the mind, we are engaging with the clients inner world and intuition.

Here are a few examples of the relaxation approaches I use:

Autogenic Relaxation

This is a guided technique, you use both visual imagery and body awareness to reduce stress. I will get you to repeat words and give you suggestions to help you relax and reduce muscle tension. I will get You to imagine a peaceful place and then focus on controlled, relaxing breathing, slowing your heart rate, or different physical sensations, such as relaxing each arm or leg one by one.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

In this technique, I get you to focus on slowly tensing and then relaxing each muscle group. This helps you focus on the difference between muscle tension and relaxation, and you become more aware of physical sensations. You will start by tensing and relaxing the muscles in your toes and progressively working your way up to your neck and head. Tense your muscles for at least five seconds and then relax for 30 seconds, and repeat.

Visualisation

In this technique, we will use mental images to take a visual journey to a peaceful, calming place or situation. You will use as many senses as you can, including smells, sights, sounds and textures. If you imagine relaxing at the ocean, for instance, think about the warmth of the sun, the sound of crashing waves, the feel of the grains of sand and the smell of salt water.

Deep Breathing

Using an awareness of your breathing to slow your breathing down to go into a relaxed state. This technique can be used separately or in conjunction with all of the other relaxation techniques.

Body Scanning

Is very similar to progressive muscle relaxation, the only difference is, you do not tense the muscles, you take your attention and awareness to the chosen part of the body and use the breath to release any stress detected and re-energize.

Relaxation will help to:

Reduce stress and anxiety	Improve sleep and increase energy
Improve mental and emotional wellbeing	Improve inner potential and goals
Increase you self awareness	Increase motivation
Find your own answers from within	Reduce a chattering mind
Increase concentration	Promote better problem-solving abilities
Reduce headaches and pain	Promote inner calmness
Release emotions — lessen anger, crying, anxiety, frustration

Leigham Avenue, Streatham, London, SW16
Telephone: 07737 048 975