Relaxation Techniques

Yoga
The practice of yoga is an art and science dedicated to creating union between body,
mind and spirit. Its objective is to assist the practitioner in using the breath and body to
foster an awareness of ourselves as individualized beings.
❖Sublimation and purification of mental modifications.

❖The remedy to calm down and stabilize the mind.

❖Art of balancing.

❖Skill of doing actions with perfection.

 What are Relaxation techniques ?
❖A relaxation technique is any method, process, procedure, or activity that helps a
person to relax; attain a state of increased calmness; or otherwise reduce levels of pain,
anxiety, stress or anger. Relaxation techniques are often employed as one element of a
wider stress management program and can decrease muscle tension, lower blood
pressure, and slow heart and breath rates, among other health benefits.

❖Practicing relaxation techniques daily 20-30 minutes can produce, overtime, a

improvised sense of well-being that benefits every area of your life.
 Relaxation Techniques
Concept of relaxation is given by ‘Swami Vivekananda’. He introduced the concept of
cyclic meditation to encourage the awareness of body movements with breathing and he
called them-

❖ IRT ( Instant Relaxation Technique)

❖ QRT ( Quick Relaxation Technique )
❖ DRT ( Deep Relaxation Technique )
These are practiced at the beginning, in the middle & at the end of the yoga practice.
❖ YOGA NIDRA
 Instant Relaxation Technique
Steps-
1. Lie down on a mat or blanket in shavasana ( corpse pose)
2. Settle the entire back on the floor, bring your legs together, placing the feet & toes to
touch.
3. Bring the arms to rest close to your body with palms facing upwards.
4. Close your eyes and take few moments to settle your body on the mat.
5. Now begin the work from lower part of the body, tighten the toes, ankles, calves, knee
caps, thighs, then move upwards.
6. Tighten the hips, entire abdomen, pull the belly in, exhale completely.
7. Then move upwards towards the upper body…
Continued..
8. Tighten the fingers, form fist of your hand, tighten forearms, upper arms, inhale and
expand the chest to maximum, tighten the shoulders, the neck & face muscles.
9. Tighten the entire body from toe tips to forehead, pulling all the muscles together, be
aware of the control and sensation.
10. Hold the breathing ( 30 sec) while belly is sucked in and the chest is expanded.
11. Slowly exhale and begin to release the muscles from the face to the tip of the toes
downwards, relax and let the breathing come to normal.
12. Repeat this again for about 3 rounds to start with, gradually going deeper & longer.
13. For better results, chanting of AUM can be done at the end of the practice, these
vibrations bring fresh flow of blood to the relaxed muscles and energize the entire body.
 IRT Benefits
❖ It can be practiced anytime.
❖Awakens the body and mind making the entire yoga practice smooth and connected.
❖Calms the restless mind to ensure the undisturbed flow of practice .
❖ it reduces stress, bring down muscular tension.
❖Prepare the body-mind for yoga and increases the breath awareness.

Duration- 2 minutes
Contra-indications-
❖Hypertension, Fibromyalgia, Pregnant women, Heart diseases
 Quick Relaxation Technique
Steps-
1. Watch for the abdominal muscles movement
❖ Begin to stretch your arms and legs out while keeping the legs apart, feet apart, arms
away from the body, palms upwards
❖Close the eyes and & relax for few seconds to settle the body down on the mat/blanket
❖ Bring the focus now to the abdomen and watch the belly movements ( up & down) with
your minds eye.
❖Do not control the abdomen movement, simply watch and feel the movement.
❖While watching and feeling this movement continue with awareness for least 8-10
rounds.
Continued..
2. Connect the movement with the breathing
❖As the breathing slows down connect each inhalation and exhalation with belly
movement.
❖Watch how abdomen moves upward with every inhalation and how it sinks down with
every exhalation.
❖Remain still and keep just the breathing and movement in mind.
❖Watch the movement of the body along with the breath bring the two in a synchronized
way for about 8-10 rounds.

3. Deep awareness with feeling and connection

❖Take the awareness to the deeper level, feel the air through the nostrils, nasal passage,
back of the throat & deep in the chest.
Continued..
❖ Hold the breath for about 15 seconds without causing any muscle tightness.
❖Bring the energy deep within while learning to relax, smile, bring in the sense of
happiness & joy.
❖Continue with this practice of QRT for about 8-10 rounds, going deeper & deeper.
❖ To make this practice of QRT more powerful and effective, chant AUM, at the end with
eyes closed and enjoy the inner silence.
❖ Release by rubbing the palms and placing them on eyes gently.
 QRT Benefits
❖Relaxes the various muscles around the abdomen with awareness of breathing.
❖Calms the mind faster, generates positivity releasing the tensions and stress.
❖It gives positive flow of energy with awareness when thoughts are in control.
❖Helps in proper functioning of various organs by bringing the fresh supply of blood
around them.
❖It has many therapeutic benefits, including emotional control, reduces fear, lack of self
confidence & anger.
Duration- 5 minutes
Contra-indications-
❖ should be done with proper guidance, back injury etc
 Deep Relaxation Technique
❖ Lying down on a mat or blanket, in shavasana, stretching the legs & arms out, while
settling the back and head on the floor.
❖Start from the lower part of the body-
1. Bring the awareness towards the tip of the toes, feel and relax them, then disconnect.
2. Move the awareness to the sole of the foot, relax them, then move towards heel &
ankle as they touch the floor.
3. Before you take your mind away, make sure the muscles are relaxed whichever part
you connect to.
4. Then bring the awareness to the calf muscle and back of the knee & relax them.
5. Move the awareness upwards to back of the thigh, to the hamstring muscles and
relax them.
6. Relax & bring the awareness to the buttocks & hips and relax them.
Continued..
7. Bring the awareness to the low back, loosen the muscles around & settle your back
completely on the floor.
8. Then move the awareness towards middle back, close to shoulder blades, feel the skin
touch the mat.
9. Watch the breathing movement of ribs, let your breathing be natural and slowing down.
10. Bring the awareness to the shoulders, neck & back of the head and relax them.
11. Move the awareness to the fingers, wrist, forearms, elbows, upper arms and let every
muscle of the body relax completely.
12. Bring your awareness to the ears, back of the head and relaaaax.
13. Slowly move the awareness to the forehead, face and chest, then to the abdomen.
Continued..
14. Relax completely while taking breathing into account in relaxation.
15. This way relax the entire body from tip of the toes to the crown of the head.
16. Then settle entire spine on the floor, taking away attention from rest of the body,
focus only on the spine for about 12 breaths, remain connected to the spine.
17. Slowly move to the chanting of AUM, let these vibrations be felt deep within the
body, calming the mind, feel the deep sense of peace and enjoy the inner silence.
18. At the end bring your attention back to the surroundings, your body, your breathing,
feel the positive energy.
19. Rub your palms together and gently place them on eyes.
 DRT Benefits
❖It brings the breath under control, calms the mind which help relax the entire body.
❖It calms the entire nervous system, so bringing about a systemic relaxation thus helping
repair tissues & cells.
❖It promotes and improves cardio-vascular and respiratory functions, promotes healing
and recovery, reduce stress, chronic pains, improves sleep patterns.
❖It has many therapeutic benefits like in case of chronic diseases, anxiety, insomnia,
high blood pressure, etc
Duration- 15 minutes minimum
Contraindications-
❖ if the body hurts too much, acid reflux, a very distracted mind( irritation/headache)
 Yoga Nidra
❖Yoga Nidra or ‘yogic sleep’ in modern usage is a deep state of meditative consciousness
where the yogi no longer thinks, moves or breaths, between waking and sleeping, typically
induced by a guided meditation. some medieval hatha yoga texts use “Yoganidra" as a
synonym for the deep meditative state of samadhi.

❖The modern form of the technique, pioneered by Dennis Boyes in 1973, made widely
known by Satyananda Saraswati in 1976.

❖Yoga Nidra in this modern sense is a state in which the body is completely relaxed, and the
practitioner becomes systematically and increasingly aware of the inner world by following a
set of verbal instructions.
A typical yoga nidra practice consists of a systematic 8 stage progressive relaxation.
Steps-
1. Internalization- yoga nidra is practiced in shavasana with relaxation of body & mind
is induced by awareness of stillness, comfort, posture, breath and listening to the
external sound as witness.
2. Sankalpa- ( Resolution)- when the body and mind is relaxed, then the practitioner is
instructed to take the resolution that resonates with themselves at that particular point
in life. The sankalpa should be clear, short and positive statement. The practitioner
repeats the sankalpa 3 times mentally, with full determination and conviction.
3. Rotation of consciousness- here the awareness is rotated around the different
parts of the body in a systematic and organized manner.
The practitioner is aware and listens to the instructions and moves the mind according to
instructions without making any physical movements. The rotation of awareness
happens in a definite sequence-
❖ right side of the body, beginning with the right hand thumb and ending with the little toe
of the right foot.
❖ left side of the body, from left hand thumb to the little toe of the left foot.
❖Back of the body, from heels to the back of the head
❖Front of the body, from the forehead to the legs.
4. Breath awareness- one simply becomes aware of the natural breath without making
an attempt to change the flow of breath. He just remains aware of each inhalation &
exhalation by counting them mentally.
5. Feeling & Sensations- in this stage the feelings of opposite like hot & cold, light &
heavy, anxiety & calmness are induced by asking the practitioner to experience the
above feelings. This helps in releasing unknown fears, building resilience , acceptance
to situational ups & downs of life, and a sense of well-being is promoted at the end.
6. Visualization- there can be a whole range of visualization techniques in yoga nidra
like calling out of different things/ images/ names/ objects one after the other and the
practitioner is asked to visualize them on the level of emotion, memory and imagination
as it resonates with them. This keep the mind focused and brings out the deeper
emotions that were hidden.
Some examples of visualization- seashore, beautiful garden, flowing river etc
7. Sankalpa- once again the sankalpa, taken in stage 2, is repeated mentally 3 times
with full dedication, optimism and faith.
8. Externalization- before ending the session of yoga nidra, slowly the awareness is
externalized by asking the practitioner to become aware of the external sound, people
and objects. Then they are asked to move their body parts slowly and to stretch it.
 Yoga Nidra Benefits
❖Regulates nervous system ( autonomic nervous system)
❖Calms the brain by producing brain waves that are transitioning into sleep start off as
thoughtful beta waves, go through alpha wave phases, then theta wave stages, and
eventually reach the slowest frequency of sleep, delta wave stages.
❖Better quality of sleep as it encourages restful sleep & relaxation.
❖Creates new neural pathways in the journey of self-awareness and change.
❖Increased attention & focus as it has great relaxation influence on the mind.
❖Pain relief especially in case of chronic pains, as it relaxes body and mind deeply.
❖Reduces stress- psychological and psychosomatic problems as a result of ongoing
stress in the body, mind, and emotions.
❖Boosts immunity as it helps strengthen and improve efficiency of immune cells.
Duration- 15 - 45 minutes
Contra-indication-
❖being beyond the first trimester of pregnancy
❖lower back pain
❖restless leg syndrome
❖seizure disorders
❖Severe depression
❖Psychiatric disorders
Thank you…