{Included Bonus – A Quick & Simple Effective Technique – Drop Into Relaxation Anywhere, Anytime}

Does this sound familiar? “I haven’t got time to relax!”.

My goal from this article is to help change your perspective so that you will be saying to yourself, “Relaxation is a priority in my life!”

Being able to relax is important to achieve optimal hormone health, increase your energy, have a clear mind and help you feel your absolute best. A relaxed state will cultivate inspiration which leads to increased productivity and enthusiasm as you follow your passions. If you’re not relaxed, everything you do will be a struggle. Relaxation provides a mind- body connection creating balance within.

It is important to relax to clear your mind of clutter and overthinking and allow for a tension stress free body. In this state, you can regain mental focus and stay calm and cool. Relaxation is vital for a healthy mind and is required for motivation and positive self and body confidence. Not being able to relax and unwind can lead to a halt in the chain of smooth communication between our hormones. This can create a stressful environment for physical ailments to emerge damaging to your health. Even when there are huge demands in your life such as family commitments, an important career, home responsibilities amongst your other numerous weekly tasks, it is still necessary to find your own time and space to relax.

You are special and this is something you want to make a priority to include on a daily basis. Carving out time throughout your day to relax is very important. Twenty minutes, two or three times a day, is a great start. If you can’t manage twenty minutes, that is ok. Just realize that whatever amount of time you that you set aside for yourself will be beneficial physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. You will begin to notice the difference. {Below, I share a simple exercise technique to help you drop immediately into relaxation.}

When time is short there are a number of things you can do: reading, writing, daydreaming, listening to music, Qigong, Yoga, Meditation or just sitting quietly. Find what works best for you as this is your personal journey.

As a Certified Holistic Wellness Coach and a Certified Qigong, Yoga, Pilates and Meditation Teacher, I have worked with numerous women wanting to find solutions to feel more relaxed. I help them feel empowered, strong, energetic and reduce and manage stress in their lives. My coaching focus for women during perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause, follows a holistic wellness 360 approach. I look at my client’s lifestyle as a whole providing guidance and support to cultivate fluid calm within leading to a healthier internal environment for balanced hormones. It’s interesting that initially many find it may be difficult to slow down and see the benefits of taking more time out. However, after implementing methods that work for you, there will be numerous positive lasting transformative changes that take place.

Some of the common benefits of relaxation are:

• Improve your ability to concentrate and tune in. Clear that foggy mind. A state of relaxation will help you in your ability to tune out distractions and give you better sensory awareness.
• Feel good in your own body as you improves body awareness. You need to know when you are under or over doing it.
• You will encourage healing time when dealing with any chronic or acute issues or following any injury. Our bodies need this“TLC” ( tender loving care) to recover fully so you can feel your best.
• Learning is enhanced. It is much easier to introduce new thoughts and ideas when your mind is clear and you are relaxed. Skills are best learned when you are in a relaxed state and there is an absence of tension and stress.
• Relaxation helps you wind down and have that restorative sleep that is so vital for our wellbeing and hormone function.
• You become more efficient getting things done and handling different situations with a lot more ease.
• Relaxation puts your focus back on the present and gives you a sense of control.
• Relaxation actually increases your overall energy. We could all use more energy right? Think about it. Circulation improves (release tense muscles which take up way too much energy), breath slows down and more oxygen is brought into your body so muscles, tendons, organs, hormones all have a chance to feel nourished. This means more energy!
• Drop in a parasympathetic state which means ‘rest and digest’. This is so healing for our systems of our body, such as our nervous system and digestive system. You become calmer, hormones communicate with ease and you are in a state so that food is digested and absorbed into your body.

If you don’t take the time to unwind and relax regularly, you might be putting not only your own health and well-being at risk but also that of others as well. In relation to your responsibility to the health and safety of others; we only have to think of driving a car, or operating machinery and how our ability to do these tasks diminishes when we are tense, tired and stressed. So in fact, our responsibility to relax is not just for our own sake but also for that of others.

With regards to our own health and emotional well-being, if we don’t make time to relax regularly, we are putting our physical and mental health at risk.

Some of the effects of lack of relaxation are below:

• Headache, common ones are tension headaches and migraines. Releasing tension and relaxing can help migraines. Tension headaches respond very well with treatment by relaxation.
• Chronic fatigue, your body is in a total state of fatigue. You suffer from total lack of energy and motivation all of the time.
• Cardiovascular disorders, high blood pressure and heart disease, heart attack. This becomes more prevalent in women going through their transitional years of peri, menopause and post stages due to the decrease and fluctuations in hormones. So this is a very crucial time for women to take care of their health.
• Gastrointestinal problems, diarrhea, constipation, stomach ulcers as well as indigestion and heartburn.
• Poor immune system, becoming susceptible to illness. This can lead to inflammation, autoimmune, issues with irregular periods, your metabolism can be affected meaning weight gain or loss, thyroid disruptions, and more.

Early warning signs that we need to have a break and relax are:

• Yawning/sighing

• Lack of concentration

• Feeling the urge to stretch and move about (not able to sit still)

• General drop in performance

• Feelings of stress and irritability

• Performing uncommon errors

• Tiredness

When we become aware of the signs, take notice of them and slow down. As you take much needed personal self care breaks, you can avoid and learn to manage stress and fatigue. You will not be as reactive to situations. You will feel more rational and focused allowing you to be better equipped to carry on in a more positive healthier state.

I can’t stress this enough – Spending a lifetime of ignoring the signs could impact heavily, not only on your health, well-being and happiness but also for those around you. Relationships could suffer as well as your work, your hobbies, your sense of purpose. On a personal note, the consequences of not taking time to relax over a lifetime could be detrimental physically, mentally and spiritually.

It is time for you to stop and take note. When you say to yourself you don’t have time to relax, remember what this could mean to you and those around you. You are your own best resource. You need to take time to nurture and love yourself so you can feel your best from the inside out.

Here is a quick simple technique, Abdominal Breathing Exercise you can perform anywhere, anytime to induce relaxation into your life. Stress and anxiety can take over when you are in a ‘fight or flight’ mode or if you are in that go, go, going never take a well needed break mode.

Place one hand on your belly and breathe deep into this area. Inhale through the nose for 5 counts, hold for a moment, then exhale out through the nose or mouth for 7 or 8 counts, hold for a moment. Make sure the exhale is longer then the inhale. Continue this sequence 5 times then return to your natural rhythm of breath. Repeat when needed. Feel the shift dropping into the moment and experiencing that state of relaxation within a matter of minutes just by practicing this simple yet powerful breathing technique.

How do you feel? Awareness can go a long way to create health and wholeness in your life.

Please feel free to reach out and connect anytime. We have a YouTube channel as well with Qigong, Yoga, Pilates, Meditation, Motivation, Fitness, Ambience for Relaxation and Healthy Lifestyle Segments. It is free to subscribe and if you press the bell icon you will be notified when new weekly videos are uploaded.

Love, Light & Qi

Jennifer Nocito RHC HCA, Certified Holistic Wellness Coach, Certified Qigong, Yoga, Pilates. Meditiation Teacher, Stress and Anxiety Management Specialist

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yogafirstandwellness

Yoga First and Wellness