RElaxation

 

The way you make feel

 It really turns me on

You knock my off my feet

My lonely days are gone.

The way you make me feeeel! Hahaha.

RELAX!!!!

 You not reading the wrong thing, I just happen to be listening to that song while I was writing this entry. Ok to the real thing.

IMAGINE you are walking toward the ocean.... walking through a beautiful, tropical forest....

You can hear the waves up ahead.... you can smell the ocean spray.... the air is moist and warm.... feel a pleasant, cool breeze blowing through the trees....

You walk along a path....coming closer to the sea....as you come to the edge of the trees, you see the brilliant aqua color of the ocean ahead....

You walk out of the forest and onto a long stretch of white sand.... the sand is very soft powder.... imagine taking off your shoes, and walking through the hot, white sand toward the water....

The beach is wide and long....

Hear the waves crashing to the shore....

Smell the clean salt water and beach....

You gaze again toward the water.... it is a bright blue-green....

See the waves washing up onto the sand..... and receding back toward the ocean.... washing up.... and flowing back down..... Enjoy the ever-repeating rhythm of the waves...

Imagine………okay now snap out of it now lol. This is exactly what happened in class when we were practicing relaxation. We had been learning about anxiety and one of the tasks we had to do was come up with an activity that could be used as relaxation therapy for clients who experienced anxiety. We had assigned ourselves into groups and my group decided on doing Beach Visualization Relaxation. And what I just had you imagine is an extract from the technique. It worked beautifully. Two o my group member who were running the session with the class had them lie down on the floor and had them visualize the beach, now there are particular steps to the whole process. And it actually works. With Romaana’s (my group member) calm, soothing voice and music sounding like waves of the ocean in the background we had almost everyone relaxed in no time.

Well ofcos not everybody liked it, because not everybody is brought to peace by the sounds of the ocean. But all in all, it was our relaxation technique was criticized to be one that can be used with clients experiencing anxiety and be successful.

Now my class is very creative J , so not only would we have gone outside to experience nature in the form of the sun glistering on our skin and the birds singing as a form of relaxation.  But we also had to do Yoga, stress and anger management and we even had a technique that helped us channel our anxiety and emotions using play dough.

I for one loved these relaxation session, but with all techniques that we practice on clients, we always have to remember to make it specific, gradable and client centered other wise in an attempt to help the client relax we might just increase anxiety.

Just a thought, imagine a doctor that smokes. Now this person knows exactly what smoking can do to them, but he smokes anyway. And an educated man like him knows exactly where to get help to try stop smoking, but he probably reckons aaarg imma smoke anyway. This man is probably stressed and uses smoking as means to relax. Now this person not only has the insight but has the choice as well. I’m sharing this example because I have a friend who now and then has is currently channeling her anxiety. Now she is also well aware of what happens to her because she has the insight, and she has been bravely controlling it. But to think that she always knew about anxiety disorder because she has been studying it, but also felt victim of having to seek for help somewhere else to manage it only highlights that in life we come so consumed with what’s going on around us we forget to realize what’s happening within us. Lets us not fall victim to becoming the stressed ones of life, let’s breathe in and out and live!