Relaxation

The relaxation techniques we are going to show you this week are progressive muscle relaxation, tactical breathing, guided imagery and five senses.

You may have heard of these techniques before or even tried them. Many people with insomnia report something like “I downloaded one of those relaxation playlists and tried it a few nights, but it didn’t help.” There are several reasons why it might not have helped:

Insomnia sufferers often try relaxation in isolation. In other words, they do not simultaneously address the many other things maintaining their sleep problems. Relaxation alone is not likely to be effective.
Since relaxation is a skill, often people do not get adequate training in the skill or they give up on the technique before they have developed the skill. In such situations, people will often attribute their inability to relax to the technique, rather than to the way the technique was implemented.
Before we discuss these techniques, let’s go over a few of key points of how to be successful when doing any relaxation technique.

What to do before any of the relaxation exercises:

Remember that relaxation is a skill. It may feel unnatural or awkward at first but with practice it should become easier and more relaxing.
Keep in mind that a passive attitude is key for maximal relaxation. You just can’t force yourself to relax. Trying really hard will only work against you.
A small percentage of people become more anxious as they become more aware of everything going on in their body. If you find yourself becoming more anxious or feeling out of control remember that this is also normal. It may just take you a little more time to become comfortable with relaxation.
Distraction is normal. If you find your mind drifting-off or you are beginning to feel drowsy, just redirect your thoughts to the task at hand. With continued practice you will find that your mind will wander less and less and that you will be able to become deeply relaxed without feeling sleepy.