Relaxation (Anti-Stress) Exercises: Before a meal

The stress response takes energy from systems such as the digestive system and uses it to prepare the body for "fight or flight." That means that people under stress tend to eat their food too fast, swallowing it without enjoying the flavor or chewing it adequately. An hour later, they often find it difficult to digest their rapidly eaten, often unhealthy food, which can lead to heartburn and/or gastric reflux. A variety of digestive disorders are believed to be stress–related, including irritable bowel syndrome. Relaxation exercises such as the following may be helpful:

Find a private place.
Tense as many muscles as possible, squeezing the toes, thighs, buttocks, shoulders, arms and so forth. The hands should be balled into fists, the jaw clenched and the eyes should be squeezed as tightly closed as possible. Hold this position for several seconds.
When ready, relax all the muscles at once. Take a deep breath and feel the difference when fully relaxed throughout the entire body.
Enjoy the meal. Spend time to notice the flavor and texture of the food. It may help to chew the food for longer than usual, to allow the flavor to be fully released around the mouth.

Introduction

Learning how to relax can greatly improve your health and well-being. That's why it is so important to find ways to introduce more relaxation into your everyday life. If you don't learn to manage stress, stress will manage you; and left unchecked, stress can be draining, cause anxiety, and even trigger health issues.

Relaxation exercises are a great way to relieve stress. The exercises in this site can work wonders on the stress knots in your shoulders and neck regions - on the stress that accumulates in your muscles - and even against certain stress headaches. These relaxation exercises are also great, because they are not strenuous.

Definition of Stress

Stress: Forces from the outside world impinging on the individual. Stress is a normal part of life that can help us learn and grow. Conversely, stress can cause us significant problems.

Stress releases powerful neurochemicals and hormones that prepare us for action (to fight or flee). If we don't take action, the stress response can lead to health problems. Prolonged, uninterrupted, unexpected, and unmanageable stresses are the most damaging types of stress.

Early separation from mother can lead to altered stress responses and depression later in life. The stresses of the mother can affect the stress response of the fetus, and perhaps predispose the child to psychiatric illness later in life.

Many of our ways in dealing with stress -- drugs, pain medicines, alcohol, smoking and eating -- actually are counterproductive in that they can worsen the stress and can make us more reactive (sensitive) to further stress.

Stress can be best managed by regular exercise, meditation or other relaxation techniques, structured time outs, and learning new coping strategies to create predictability in our lives. The management of stress depend mainly on the willingness of a person to make the changes necessary for a healthy lifestyle.