Progressive muscle relaxation. Getting rid of stress: the method of progressive muscle relaxation

The facial muscles are very mobile. During every day, a person experiences many emotions: joy, anger, surprise, disappointment, and all of them are reflected on the face. Permanent job muscle leads to the appearance of facial wrinkles. Even in ancient times, people were able to determine the character of a person by the face. The folds on the forehead said that the person often frowns, which means that he is dissatisfied with something. The lowered corners of the lips also indicated a frequent pessimistic mood. But small wrinkles around the eyes, on the contrary, testified to a cheerful disposition. it good example how tight emotional condition human is connected with the physical body. Therefore, relaxation of the facial muscles is very important for their normal functioning.

facial muscles

Since the facial muscles work all day, by the evening they need to relax. However, not everyone knows how to relax them. Gradually, the muscles get used to the tension and can no longer relax themselves. They are in this state even when a person is calm and does not experience any emotions. Prolonged tension of the facial muscles causes a feeling of spasm, tightness of the skin in the forehead, tightness of the face. As a result, blood circulation worsens, the skin of the face becomes flabby, dull, acquires an unhealthy color, becomes covered with wrinkles.

Wrinkles caused by fatigue of the facial muscles are localized in the corners of the eyes and on the forehead. Also, a person's nasolabial folds increase, cheeks sag and the entire relief of the face changes. Usually, after seeing such unpleasant changes on their face, women, and some men, try to save the situation with the help of cosmetics. But, unfortunately, no cosmetics are able to cope with muscle fatigue. Only special gymnastics for muscle relaxation and massage can help here.

The main causes of tension in the facial muscles are:

the habit of constantly frowning forehead;
the habit of chewing food on one side;
malocclusion;
the habit of sleeping on one side all the time.

A set of exercises to relax the muscles of the face

There are simple exercises aimed at working the muscles of the cheeks, cheekbones, forehead. Their daily implementation will help relieve tension, reduce wrinkles, increase blood circulation, improve complexion and make the skin more elastic. Relaxation exercises are suitable for both women and men. Gymnastics should be done in a calm, relaxed state, breathing should be slow and deep. After each exercise, there should be a feeling of relaxation in the muscle being worked out. Before starting gymnastics, you need to take the most comfortable position.

Cheek exercises

Close your eyes, take a deep breath and try to raise your eyebrows as high as possible. Stay in this position for a few seconds, then exhale and lower your eyebrows. Rest a bit and repeat the exercise.
Inhale deeply and try to strain the wings of the nose as much as possible (as if inflating the nostrils), then exhale and relax. Do it several times.
Open your mouth and lift one corner up to get a "crooked" smile. Stay in this position for a few seconds, then relax the muscles. Repeat the same with the other corner of the mouth.
Alternately blink one or the other eye, feeling the muscles of the cheeks stretch up.
Wrinkle your face as much as possible, stay in this position for a couple of seconds, then relax.
Grab your upper lip with your fingers and gently pull it down. Without releasing your lips, try to smile and feel how your cheeks tense up.

Eye exercises

Taking a deep breath, close your eyes. Gradually strain the eye muscles, and then close your eyes. Hold the muscles in tension for a few seconds, then exhale and relax. Repeat.
Make circular movements with your eyes, first clockwise, and then in the other direction (3-5 movements each). The head remains motionless.
Position your head straight, look forward. Without changing the position of the head, look up, linger for a second, then lower down. Repeat.
The head is straight ahead, the gaze is straight ahead. Without turning your head, look first in one direction, then in the other. Repeat the exercise several times.
Close your eyes tightly, hold this position for 5 seconds, then relax. Do the exercise 10 times.

Exercises for the muscles of the mouth

Bring your lips together with a tube and make an air kiss. Repeat the movement several times.
Stretching and rounding the lips as much as possible, draw the sounds “ah-ah”, “oh-oh-oh”, “u-u-u”, “uh-uh”, “i-i-i”, “ s-s-s.
Open your mouth and try to tuck your lips inward. Hold the tension for a couple of seconds, then relax the muscles. Repeat several times.
With closed lips, try to smile first with one side of the mouth, then the other. Then smile on both sides at the same time. Do it several times.
Open your mouth and pull one corner to the side as much as possible, then repeat the same movement with the other corner.
Arrange index fingers both hands on the corners of the mouth and smile while creating resistance with your fingers. To relax. Repeat the exercise 20 times.

Exercises for the muscles of the chin and neck

Tilt your head back and open your mouth. Without changing the position of the head, open and close the mouth.
Tuck upper and lower lip inward. Straining the muscles of the chin and neck, open and close the mouth.
Tighten your neck muscles and slowly pull your neck up, then return to the starting position. Repeat.
Tighten your neck muscles. Slowly turn your head from side to side, making sure that your neck remains tense.
Put your palm on your forehead and try to tilt your head, resisting with your hand. Repeat the same with the back of the head, only now you need to tilt your head back, resisting its movement with your palm.

Massage to relax facial muscles

Facial massage is great way relieve tension and relax facial muscles. In addition, it has a beneficial effect on the skin. Massage can be done in the evening before going to bed, and it is good for women to do it also in the morning, before applying makeup. Before starting the massage, it is necessary to cleanse the skin (wash, remove makeup) and apply a moisturizing or nourishing cream.

It is best to start the massage from the forehead area, pressing on the point between the eyebrows and gently moving the fingertips from the bridge of the nose up the forehead. Well helps to relieve tension in the forehead massage of the scalp. To do this, press your fingertips to your head and knead the skin in a circular motion, starting from the forehead and gradually moving to the back of the head, not forgetting the sides.

Now we can move on to the eyebrows. Eyebrows should be massaged with soft movements from the bridge of the nose to the temples. You can grab the skin of the eyebrows and upper eyelid with your fingers and gently pinch it.

The skin around the eyes is very delicate. Therefore, it should be massaged with extreme care. First you need to pay attention to the corners of the eyes, then gently stretch the area under the lower eyelid.

The cheekbone area must be massaged towards the temples. It is not necessary to press hard on the skin, it is enough to make tapping movements with the fingertips. Having groped for a tense area, you need to give it Special attention and gently pressing, massage in circular motions. The temporal muscles also need to be massaged.

Massage of the muscles of the mouth is carried out by pressing on a point above the upper lip, moving to the corners of the mouth. Then you need to massage the point located in the center under the lower lip. To eliminate the flabbiness of the chin muscles, you need to pat the bottom of the chin with the back of your hand.

It is necessary to walk with patting movements over the entire surface of the face until a feeling of warmth and a slight tingling appears. This will increase the relaxation of the facial muscles.

Finishing the massage, it is necessary to gently probe the entire face again to find the points where there is still tension. If there are any, you need to massage them a little more. After that, you should cover your face with your palms and sit like that for a minute. The massage is over.

Regular exercise and massage will help not only relieve muscle tension, but also preserve youth and beauty of the face for a long time.

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I think that you have already read more than once that our internal state is directly related to the external, that is, physical. If you feel overwhelmed, then appearance, usually appropriate - the shoulders and head are lowered, the back is hunched. If you are hostile to the interlocutor or the ideas he is presenting, you will listen with your arms or legs crossed. But as soon as we straighten our shoulders and raise our head, or leave the posture of protection, and the internal state, as if by magic, begins to change. And the mood rises, self-confidence appears, and the ideas expressed no longer seem so stupid. Therefore, the method of progressive relaxation is based on the connection between the physical and the emotional. Removing tension in the muscles, you get rid of stress, anxiety, aggression and other unpleasant emotions.

“The progressive muscle relaxation method was developed by the American scientist and physician Edmund Jacobson in the 1920s. The technique is based on a simple physiological fact: after a period of strong tension, any muscle automatically deeply relaxes. Therefore, in order to achieve deep relaxation of all skeletal muscles, it is necessary to simultaneously or sequentially strongly strain all these muscles. Dr. Jacobson and his followers recommend tensing each muscle as much as possible for 5-10 seconds, and then focusing on the feeling of relaxation that has arisen in it for 15-20 seconds. It is important to first learn to recognize the feeling of tension and then to distinguish from it the feeling of relaxation.

It all sounds complicated, but in fact it will only be so for the first two weeks. The most important thing is to learn to distinguish between tense and relaxed muscles. After a long workout, you will no longer need to complete the full sequence. You will simply feel where exactly you have a clamp, focus on that place and relax the clamped muscles.

Therefore, we will work on the main muscles: the muscles of the face (eyes, forehead, mouth, nose), neck, chest, back (shoulder blades), abdomen, legs (thighs, shins and feet) and hands (fist, wrist, shoulder).

You need to start with the arms, then move on to the face, from the face to the neck, back and chest, and then to the legs. While working with each part of the body, you first strongly strain it for 5-10 seconds, focusing on this sensation, and then relax and fix this state in your head for 15-20 seconds (some practicing psychologists suggest tensing the muscles in for 30 seconds, and relax for 5-10 seconds). Since the key to the ability to quickly identify tense muscles is precisely the ability to feel and distinguish these conditions.

Performance

To perform the exercises, give yourself 15-20 minutes, during which no one will disturb you. If possible, find a quiet room, dim the lights, and get into a comfortable, relaxed position (a chair with comfortable back, bed, couch, office sofa?). Close your eyes, relax and take a few deep breaths. Go.

Dominant hand and forearm(If you are left-handed, start with the left, if you are right-handed, start with the right). Just close your fist tightly and twist it in different directions.
dominant shoulder. Bend your arm at the elbow and press your elbow hard into a chair, bed, table - into any nearby surface. If there is nothing convenient at hand, then you can rest against your body. Most importantly, do not overdo it and do not hurt yourself.
Non-dominant hand, forearm and upper arm.
Upper third of the face. Raise your eyebrows as high as possible and open your mouth wide. This exercise is definitely better to do when no one sees you. The second option is to close your eyes tightly and raise your eyebrows as high as possible. Leave the mouth alone in this case.
middle third of the face. Close your eyes tightly, frown and wrinkle your nose. You should feel your cheeks well.
lower third of the face. Clench your jaws tightly and pull the corners of your mouth towards your ears. The second option - the corners of the mouth should look down, as if it were an anti-smile.
Neck. There are three options here. First, pull your shoulders as close to your ears as possible, and pull your chin down to your collarbone. The second is to simply bend your head as far forward as possible, pressing your chin to your neck. If for some reason this exercise causes unpleasant pain, try tilting your head back.
Chest and diaphragm. Inhale deeply, hold your breath and bring your elbows in front of you as tightly as possible.
Back and belly. Straighten your shoulders and try to bring your shoulder blades together, bend in your back and tighten your abdominal muscles. If it is difficult to do this all together, first focus on the upper back - the shoulder blades, and then move on to the abdominal muscles.
Dominant hip. Tighten the front and back muscles hips, keeping the knee in a half-bent state, detached from the support.
Dominant shin. Straighten your leg and pull the sock strongly towards you. In this case, the toes on the leg should be spread out to the sides as much as possible.
dominant foot. Pull the toe as far forward as possible, while the toes should be compressed.
Non-dominant thigh, tibia and foot.

This option can be shortened even more if you do not break the footwork into three parts. In this case, you can first simply lift your legs, bend your knee at a 45-degree angle, and pull the sock towards you. And then straighten your leg, raise it a little and stretch the toe.

If there is not a lot of time, you can speed up the process by almost half, working not separately with each hand, but simultaneously with the left and right. Then the chain will look something like this: right and left hand and forearm, right and left shoulder, upper third of the face, middle third of the face, lower third of the face, neck, back and stomach, left and right leg.

For the first two weeks, it is recommended to perform these exercises daily at least once for 20-30 minutes. Then reduce classes to 2 times a week with the same duration. After the first month, you can reduce the time to 10-15 minutes. And if you want to get not a short-term effect, but a well-functioning and working system, you will need to deal with it systematically. However, this applies not only to the method of progressive relaxation.

It reminds me a lot of Shavasana - the “pose of the dead”, when after yoga you relax, focusing on the muscles and relaxing them, traveling all over the body from the tips of your toes to the top of your head. This is one of the most pleasant states between sleep and wakefulness. After a difficult workout and work with almost all muscle groups (usually during a full-fledged lesson, a good instructor tries to make sure that not a single part of the body remains offended), it is so nice to relax them and feel the warmth that spreads like a wave throughout the body. You know, sometimes in the morning you can catch a state between sleep and wakefulness, very similar to the state in shavasana, when the consciousness has already woken up, but the body has not yet. And you feel the warmth and pleasant heaviness that spread throughout the body.

Sometimes clamps go unnoticed for a long time and pass with us through the years. And when you see a person with pursed lips, a furrowed forehead or tightly clenched jaws, he is clearly in constant stress. Keep this in mind and when you feel, for example, that your jaws are clenched to a creak in your teeth, pull yourself up and try to relax at least this part of your face. And you will immediately feel at least a little relief.

Some experts argue that knowing exactly where the muscles are clamped, you can determine the problem itself. Sometimes you don't have to dig so deep for this - the problem is already clear. But sometimes a person may feel vague anxiety, restlessness or aggression for seemingly no reason. And if our consciousness cannot find the source, then our subconscious has sent all the necessary signals to our body for a long time and it is clamped down. But for now, I'll probably leave this topic aside.

And when you fully study your body and the feeling of relaxation and tension, learn to feel your muscles, you will be able to determine exactly where you have now experienced a clamp, mentally go to this place and relax the muscle clamped into a nerve lump. At least that's what numerous sources describing this technique promise.

The Jacobson technique is recommended for anyone who, to one degree or another, has difficulty in relaxing the muscular system. In the civilized world, man lives in excessive haste, in anxiety, in unnecessary causes for anxiety and tension. Over time, overexertion accumulates, which leads to irritability and stress. Since our body is a single whole of soul and body, neuromuscular relaxation allows you to relax and, as a result, put your psychological state in order.

History of the method

And the physical state of the body was noticed by a doctor and scientist from America, Edmund Jacobson. He conducted research on the manifestations of emotions back in 1922. Studying the behavior of his patients, he assessed the emotional state by measuring the tone of muscle tension. The result was an established relationship between physical and emotional stress.

The scientist proved that to remove the excitement nervous system helps to completely relax the muscles. By restoring their balance, bringing them into a relaxed state, a person is able to independently remove the excitation of the nervous system. Based on these beliefs, Jacobson developed a technique where neuromuscular relaxation became the basis. The name of the technique is Progressive Muscle Relaxation. She allowed patients to get rid of many ailments: depression, stuttering, insomnia. The method was constantly improved until 1948. Having gained great popularity among psychotherapists around the world, he is still a success today.

Neuromuscular relaxation according to Jacobson. Who is the technique suitable for?

This technique is suitable for people who suffer from some kind of anxiety disorders. For those who, for example, are afraid of flying, right before boarding the plane, it would be appropriate to apply this technique in the airport hall. It will help to remove panic fear, relieve tension, anxiety. A person immediately begins to feel that he can own his emotions.
Progressive neuromuscular relaxation is also useful for those who suffer from a variety of social phobias. If you are embarrassed by a wide audience, and you have to make a report, apply the exercises of the technique before the presentation. This will give good effect, the body will relax, the nerves will calm down, in front of the audience you will look confident and not tense.
Relaxation is useful for everyone who wants to relieve background stress. If the day at work passes in a hustle, running around, coming home, many relieve stress and splash out negative emotions on your loved ones. To prevent this from happening, use the technique at least 3 times during the working day. Regular muscle relaxation will allow you not to accumulate negative emotions, relieve tension. You will return home calm.
Progressive neuromuscular relaxation according to Jacobson is suitable for those who want to relieve any anxiety, even if they do not have anxiety disorders. Everyone has situations when you have to worry, a nervous reaction is a normal state of the body. Relaxation will help you get in shape at the right time, calm down.

Jacobson's technique is perfect. It does not require deep knowledge of anatomy or psychology. simple technique allows you to relieve stress at any time, restore emotional balance. After its application, there is a feeling that you are the master of your emotions and can control yourself.

Relaxation Benefits

Neuromuscular relaxation has undeniable advantages:

E the effectiveness of the technique. Allows you to independently bring yourself into shape, slow down the pace of emotional stress. This is a great way to help yourself.
Simplicity. The simplest exercises included in the complex are easy to remember and assimilate.
Versatility. No special environmental conditions or devices are required. You can perform anywhere and anytime.
Speed. Applying the technique daily, regardless of panic and stress for three weeks, 3-4 times a day, your body will remember it on its own. In cases of emotional stress, you can apply it automatically.

How does the technique work?

Any skeletal muscle after strong tension automatically relaxes. With this relaxation comes emotional peace. You can easily influence your nervous state by controlling your muscles. For this, neuromuscular relaxation was developed. With the help of simple exercises, you can pull yourself together and control your nervous tension.

Psychophysiological performance technique is a method for relaxing muscles using exercises and your own mind. For the application of this technique, some comfortable conditions are important in order to be able to relax: no bright light, no tight clothing, no irritating noise. You should not engage in relaxation with a full stomach, digestion can interfere with relaxation. Jacobson recommends bringing the muscle to maximum tension for 10-15 seconds, then completely relax it and fully concentrate on this feeling. It is important to learn to recognize feelings of tension and complete relaxation.

Major muscle groups

In his method of neuromuscular relaxation, Jacobson initially included 200 exercises that allowed you to strain all the muscles of the body. Modern psychotherapy believes that it is enough to perform exercises for the most basic muscle groups:

Dominant forearm, hand (strongly clench your hand into a fist, bend your hand to the limit).
Dominant shoulder (bend your arm at the elbow and press it hard on any surface).
Non-dominant forearm and hand.
Non-dominant shoulder.
Upper third of the face (open your mouth as much as possible and raise your eyebrows high).
Middle third of the face (wrinkle your nose, frown, close your eyes).
Lower third of the face (clench your jaws, open the corners of your mouth).
Neck muscles (raise your shoulders high - to your ears, tilt your chin to your chest at this time).
Pectoral muscles, diaphragm (deep hold, bring and squeeze your elbows in front of you).
Muscles of the abdomen and back (tighten the abdominals, flatten the shoulder blades, arch the back).
Dominant thigh (keep the knee in a half-bent position, while straining the muscles of the thigh front and back).
Dominant shin (pull the foot towards you, while straightening the fingers).
Dominant foot (stretch the ankle joint, squeeze the fingers).
Non-dominant hip.
Non-dominant lower leg.
Non-dominant foot.

The word "dominant" means left for left-handers, respectively, right for right-handers.

What is relaxation?

So what is complete relaxation? For example, animals or small children. Everyone remembers how a baby can sleep. For him, the place and time do not matter, if he is tired, he falls asleep in any position, his body becomes "as if without bones." Remember how a cat sleeps soundly. You can raise her paw, she will fall involuntarily. Adults accumulate so much tension in their bodies over time that they simply cannot relax like children.

Watching an interesting movie, reading a book does not give complete relaxation. A person simply forgets about what is happening around him, but his body remains in tension.

Relaxation according to the Jacobson method purposefully strains muscle groups, then relaxes them and relieves emotional stress, the body replenishes the spent resources. Everyone noticed that when working for wear and tear, when we “fall off our feet”, we easily fall asleep.

Passive neuromuscular relaxation focuses on the signals that come from the striated muscles and the subsequent relaxation of these groups. In this technique, at the beginning of the relaxation cycle, there is practically no muscle contraction.

Exercise instructions

Neuromuscular relaxation according to Jacobson, in the first place, requires regular performance in order to be properly mastered. At first, workouts last 15 minutes. The complex contains 12 exercises. You need to learn them one by one.

Between exercises, the interval should be at least 4 days. On the first day, do only one exercise, the next only after 4 days. And so on. Thus trains Over time, it will automatically turn on for relaxation, even when performing one exercise from the complex. For such results, the technique needs to be mastered for at least three months. After just a few weeks you will feel good results.

Each exercise must be performed five times. After tension, concentrate on the point where the exercise was performed (arms, legs, etc.), feel what is happening there (warmth, trembling, tingling).

Do not overdo it with muscle tension, you should not feel any pain effects.

Active neuromuscular relaxation is carried out in a calm environment. During classes, nothing should distract you, interfere. Sit or lie down comfortably, take off your glasses, unbutton your tight clothes, close your eyes, put the extraneous thoughts out of your mind, and get started.

Neuromuscular muscles of the legs

Tighten your toes, tighten them harder and harder. Keep tense. Relax. Stay relaxed for a few seconds. Do not make any movements. Repeat. Watch the sensations in the muscles.
Pull the socks forward, strain, fix for a few seconds in a tense state. Relax. Repeat.
Pull the socks towards you, strain as much as possible, fix in tension for a few seconds. Relax. Repeat. Listen to your feelings.
Raise your legs above the floor in an extended position by 15-20 cm. Keep tense in an extended position. Relax and drop.

arm muscles

Squeeze your right hand into a fist. Hold tight for a few seconds. Relax. The same with the left hand. Then at the same time with both hands. To relax.
The right arm should be bent at the elbow. Tighten your biceps, hold for a few seconds. Relax, straighten your arm. Repeat the same with the left hand. Then with both hands. Remember to observe your own feelings.
Tighten your right hand in increasing order - the brush, then the biceps and triceps, while pressing it into the armrest or floor. Relax slowly. Do the same with the left hand. Relax. Do the exercise with both hands at once.

Muscles of the abdomen and back

Inhale as deeply as possible, tighten the press. Holding your breath, stay in this position. Exhale and relax the abdominal muscles. Repeat.
Lying position. Raise the pelvis above the floor, while resting on the heels, shoulders, elbows. Tighten your muscles. After a few seconds, relax, lower yourself to the floor. Repeat.
The position lying on the back. Raise your shoulders slightly above the floor. Lean on the elbows and the back of the head. The muscles are tense, the body is fixed. After a few seconds, relax and lower yourself to the floor.

Muscles of the head and face

Lying position. Raise your head. Stretch your chin to your chest. At the same time, do not tear your shoulders off the floor. Hold tension for a few seconds. To relax. Repeat.
Jaws tightly squeeze. Keep tense for a few seconds. To relax. Repeat.
Wrinkle your forehead, fix the tension for a few seconds, then relax.
Close your lips tightly. Hold tight for a few seconds. To relax.
Place the tip of the tongue firmly against the palate. Fix so, support. Release stress, relax.
Close your eyes, tighten your eyelids. Hold the tension for a few seconds. To relax.

Final exercise

Tighten all the muscles of the body at the same time (legs, arms, stomach, back, head) for a few seconds. Then completely relax as much as possible. Stay at rest for a few seconds while inhaling and exhaling deeply. Listen to the sensations in your body. There should be warmth and a slight tingling in the muscles. Gymnastics is over.

If spontaneous relaxation of the muscles does not occur, a significant part of the residual stresses can be removed with the help of voluntary relaxation. There are several groups of relaxation techniques.

1. Relaxation "by contrast"

Why can't we relax? Without feeling the usual tensions, we cannot work with them. And even having felt, often not able to control their own muscles enough. The essence of the technique is to voluntarily strain the muscles, and then relax them. In this way, we learn to purposefully relax the muscles, and at the same time develop a sense of the body.

Parts of the body relax one by one. It is better to start exercises with those muscle groups that we feel good: from the hands and face.

You can work in any position, but it is better to start in a supine position.

Squeeze your dominant hand into a fist with all your might. After a few seconds, relax, trying to "release" the tension as much as possible. Try to feel the muscles. Don't try too hard, let your body relax on its own. Squeeze and relax again, most likely the relaxation will deepen. Then - the second hand. On the initial stage focus on the sensations in the hands, as you master the exercise, cover the forearm with tension and relaxation, and then the shoulder.

We do the same with the muscles of the face. First with the upper segment (muscles around the eyes), then with the lower (jaws). Let's go to the neck.

We strain and relax the feet (when the exercise is mastered, include the muscles of the calves and thighs), buttocks, abdominals, back. In conclusion, run your mind's eye over your entire body, try to feel where the tensions remain. They can be removed in the same way: strongly strain and after a few seconds “let go”.

After doing the exercise, do not jump up immediately, this general requirement to relaxation exercises. And try to get up using minimum effort. If you were lying - turn on your side, pick up your leg under you, get on all fours, then on one knee, then on your feet. If you worked while sitting, lean forward, transferring your body weight to your legs and slowly get up. If necessary, lean on the armrests of the chair.

2. Relaxation through focusing on the muscles

We pass through the body with an “inner look”, trying to feel the muscles, temperature environment and the surface with which the limb contacts, the pulsation of blood ... in general, everything that can be felt in the body. Take your time, start, for example, with the same right hand and try to feel all parts of the arm from the fingertips to the armpit. Your task is not to try to relax, just try to feel.

3. Relaxation through distraction

More precisely, through focus - but this time not on the muscles. And, for example, in breathing. Try to be aware of your own breathing. Or how your body is in contact with the support. Whether we lie or sit does not matter. We rarely feel the surface with which our body comes into contact, we are not used to paying attention to the touch of our own clothes. This is what we will focus on: the quality, the degree of contact, the temperature of what we are in contact with ... Try to visit each point of contact! Watch what is happening and do not interfere in anything, if possible, try to enjoy the sensations! Most likely, after a while (do not expect this on purpose - we divert attention from tension!) Muscle tension will go away by itself.

4. Relaxation through movement

It's not for nothing that we say: "relieve tension." It can really be "dropped", "shaken off". Let's start with brushes. Bend your elbows and shake your hands. Don't put in too much effort, just let the brushes dangle freely. Lowering your hands, spread the vibration higher, to the whole arm. Raise your shoulders to your ears a few times and just let go, letting them "fall" down. Relaxing your neck, let your chin rest on your chest. Slowly “roll” your head in a circle: left, back, right and back. Do not pull your neck to the sides, but simply “release” the muscles. At the same time, note where tensions arise that limit the mobility of the neck. In the future, it will be possible to relax and stretch these muscles purposefully.

Lean forward, back, sideways. The peculiarity is to bend over not by muscle effort, but by relaxing the antagonist muscles. Therefore, the slope is performed slowly, without violence; track holding tensions and try to “let go” of them.

Leaning your hand against the wall, make a few relaxed leg swings: forward, backward, sideways. The leg moves freely, do not try to raise it higher. Your goal is not to stretch, but to relax!

Raise one leg and "release" the tension several times, as if shaking off water. Do the same with your hands.

Stand up straight and slowly turn left and right. The movement is performed by the muscles of the legs and pelvis, top part the body is as relaxed as possible. The arms dangle freely from side to side, like ropes. The head turns slightly in time with the movements of the body, breathing is free. Let your arms “fly” over your back, and the body twist freely.

Take a short break after any relaxation exercise. If you were sitting or lying down, gently stand up. Wait, walk, trying to catch new sensations in the body. Try to keep the feeling of relaxation as long as possible. Individual elements exercises aimed at relaxing a particular part of the body can be used as needed during the day to relax tired muscles. And gradually learn to relax in different situations.

The lying position is only a basic posture, convenient for mastering the exercise, but of little use in ordinary life. And you can perform the exercise while sitting both in transport and at work. The relaxation complex through movement can be performed at lunchtime.

The acquired skills simply need to be transferred to real life Only then will they be truly useful.

If you don't want to walk around like a question mark and shuffle your feet like a sullen pensioner by the age of 40, then you are advised to pay attention to stretching when exercising. A good stretch is not just beautiful, graceful and photogenic, but really good for health. To obvious benefits includes a reduction in injury risk (especially relevant in winter time years), relief of chronic pain, increased joint mobility, stress relief, improved posture, and, of course, our favorite active weight loss. A flexible person is usually immediately visible: graceful gait, cat-like movements, royal stature. But in general, such people breathe health and feel good, so if you are motivated enough, but not self-confident enough, because you think that flexibility is not your forte, then we recommend that you start with these lungs, but effective exercises for stretching.

Triceps stretch behind the back. The good old exercise that we performed back in school years in physical education classes.

Get into a stable position. Raise left hand up, take her a little behind her head, bend your arm at the elbow and place your palm between the shoulder blades.
Right hand grab your left elbow. Help your left hand to go down.
If flexibility allows, place your left hand on your left shoulder blade and move down to your maximum. If flexibility does not allow, use a belt.
Lock in position for half a minute and repeat on the other side.

Lock-up triceps stretch. To stretch the triceps well, you need to work with the elbow and shoulder. The easiest way to do this is to lock your hands behind your back (a nice bonus: your chest will open at the same time).

Stand straight with your legs slightly bent. Straighten your shoulders and join your palms behind your back.
Interlock your fingers and turn your palms outward.
Keep your elbows straight. Raise your palms up gently, without swinging and sudden movements. Lock in the final position for half a minute. Then repeat on the other side (that is, the thumb that was on top will be under thumb, which lay below).

Stretching the forearm through the wrist. For many people, the forearm muscle feels like wood, but if you work on it regularly, you can make it more flexible.

From a standing or sitting position, straighten your arms in front of you at chest level, palms down.
Raise your palm up and press your fingers with your right hand inside to stretch your wrist.
Do the stretch for 10 seconds and repeat on the other side.

Shoulder stretch. The shoulders are often under a lot of stress, so they need to be especially conscientiously relaxed. Try this crossover exercise.

Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.
Straighten your arms in front of you, clearly at chest level. Take your left hand to the right and grab the right shoulder blade.
With your right hand, grab your left hand just above the elbow and push it down. Release the shoulder blade, straighten your left arm and continue to pull it back as far as possible. Do the exercise for half a minute, then change hands.

Back extension: cat pose - child pose. The back is the number one problem for many. This is not surprising given the modern lifestyle. Pain and fatigue in the back can be eliminated by regularly performing this complex.

Get on all fours, palms under your shoulders, knees under your pelvis, back and neck are on the same level.
As you exhale, round your back, twisting your tailbone down. As you inhale, bend at the waist, look at the ceiling. Do a few reps.
Get into Child Pose. With an exhalation, push your pelvis back, sit on your heels, lower your body to your hips and stretch your arms far forward. Breathe deeply and calmly in this asana for 30 seconds.
Do at least three sets, alternating between Cat Pose and Child Pose.

Opening the chest with the help of the wall. Some of the exercises listed have already indirectly opened the chest, but this takes first place among all others.

Stand with your left side perpendicular to the wall at a distance of 1-2 steps.
Take your straightened arm back and place it inside palms on the wall. The arm should remain parallel to the floor.
Turn chest forward, opening at the chest. Hold for half a minute to a minute and repeat on the other side.
The difficulty level can be changed depending on how high or low the hand is. The higher the hand, the lower the load.

Stretching the press with a ball. It is best to pull the press in the deflection, but, unfortunately, they are not available to all people. One of the most safe ways stretch your abs and improve your arch - use the ball.

Sit on the ball with feet shoulder-width apart, shoulders back, knees bent at 90 degrees.
Gently take a step forward, maintaining a 90-degree angle. The pelvis remains in weight, and the lower back repeats the shape of the ball.
Take your hands behind your head and, making rolls, flow down the ball. Do the exercise for about a minute.