Let go of stress: Stop holding breath, tension, and judgment
Sometimes you can get stuck in a stress reflex, which can trigger physiological symptoms such as muscle tension and holding your breath.
These symptoms may seem to appear out of nowhere, and be jarring for your nervous system, which is why I want to share one of my stress management techniques with you to recover a sense of calm in the moment.
Letting go & starting again: A stress management technique
You can perform this relaxation training exercise whenever you feel that you’ve entered a stress reflex in your day. It might be that you’re holding onto judgement or resentment, feeling acute muscle tension, or holding your breath.
This exercise can help alleviate cognitive anxiety and restore a sense of calm to your nervous system, allowing you to go on with your day with ease.
Ready? Let’s get started.
Step 1: Think about the idea of ‘Letting Go’
I believe it is helpful to know exactly what you are attempting to let go of, to increase your chances of success.
Then, let go of your breath by exhaling completely all of the stale air that may be trapped in the lower lobes of your lungs.
Step 2: Relax your shoulders
Next, begin letting go of your muscle tension in your shoulders by putting your shoulders as close to the floor as you can get them. Let go of all of the muscle tension in your shoulders and allow them to feel heavier to you and your neck to feel longer to you as you continue to slowly exhale all the air from your lower lungs.
Let go completely of all muscle tension in your shoulders and breath in your lungs, so that there is no holding of breath or holding of muscle tension in your lungs or shoulders, letting go a little more on each gentle and complete exhale.
Gently press the back of your head into the furniture so your collarbone muscles will release in the front of your neck, too. These are the necklace muscles. Relax your necklace muscles.
Step 3: Release the muscle tension in your body
Continue by gently letting go of more muscle tension from your neck, forehead, jawline and ribcage as you continue letting go of all of your breath on each gentle exhale, more and more letting go of breath and upper body muscle tension very slowly.
When you notice any holding of muscle tension or any holding of your breath in your lungs, just start again and let go gently and slowly of your muscle tension and breath, again and again as you gently exhale and slowly relax again.
The tightening of upper body muscles and the holding of breath is a reflexive process and cannot be turned off. So, it is important for all of your daily activities to stay mindful of letting go of upper body muscle tension and breath again and again throughout your busy day.
Step 4: Let go of your mental judgment
Continue the letting go & starting again process now by letting go of your mental judgment regarding stressful topics in your daily life. Continue just letting go of your muscle tension in your shoulders and exhaling fully as you choose to refuse to judge yourself or your life right now.
Instead, be more matter of fact or ‘it is what it is’ about those same life stressors happening now.
The judgment of self and life as good or bad adds extra stress in the form of breath holding and shoulder muscle tension, no matter what you are doing. Choose to tell yourself, ‘it is what it is’ and that is all, without judging it, too. It is a tough time, or whatever, that is all.
Refuse to think further about it right now.
Let go of judgment about yourself or your life, let go of your breath and let go of your upper body muscle tension more and more on each gentle exhale.
Step 5: Let your eyes drift
Allow your eyes to move freely as you move them gently side-to-side, relaxing your eye muscles a little bit, too. As you continue letting go of breath and personal judgment and muscle tension again and again on each gentle exhale you may notice your thoughts about yourself and your life have shifted to become a little better feeling & friendlier, too.
Take a moment to let go
Relaxation exercises for anxiety like the one outlined in this blog post can auto-correct your negative thoughts to become kinder, more accurate thoughts happen after muscle tension, breathing patterns & personal judgment are relaxed, not before.
So, if you don’t like your thoughts about yourself or your life and don’t know how to reduce muscle tension, just take a moment to let go of breath, muscle tension and personal judgment, so that there is no holding of breath, no holding of muscle tension and no holding of judgment, and start again on your busy day.
You have completed the Letting Go & Starting Again RTE.
