EXERCISES-WHERE AND WHEN TO DO THE EXERCISES
We should fit the exercises into our way of life in as natural a way as possible. At first we want to do them in circumstances in which we ourselves feel secure. Otherwise we cannot let ourselves go off guard. This is important in the initial stages; then as we become more secure we can do them almost anywhere. Most men do them for five minutes before leaving for work, and then for a longer period after their evening meal. The housewife finds it best after she has seen her husband off to work and the children to school. There is no need to be by one’s self while doing them, and many husbands and ‘ wives do them while the other is reading the paper or watching TV. Mothers can do the exercises while sitting in front of the TV while the children are absorbed in the programme.
About ten minutes twice a day is all the time required for the exercises. This is very little indeed. Yet quite a few people with real tension and distress of mind have told me that they have been unable to find the time to do them. Strange as it may see, these are usually people whose time is not in any great demand. They are both sick and lazy; and because of their failure to find time for a few minutes’ practice each day their condition drags on. I explain this to them, and they set about their practice in a more determined fashion. Their tension is eased. They soon come to do things more easily and quickly, and much time is saved.
Two business executives who suffered from chronic anxiety have independently learned to do the exercises as they sit in the train on the way to the city. A number of executives merely tell their secretary that they are on no account to be interrupted for ten or fifteen minutes. A factory worker told me that he retired to the toilet for five minutes twice a day so as to do the exercises, and by this means was able to manage his anxiety symptoms.
A works foreman takes his car in the lunch hour, drives to a quiet street, and does his exercises sitting in the car. Many people become tense in the muscles of the back and neck when they are driving. Such people get help by practising conscious muscular relaxation as they drive along. Of course, they must first learn to do this by practising the exercises in the ordinary way.
Undoubtedly one of the best ways is to let the exercises become a routine habit so that we do them regularly without thinking about it. For instance, I have had a number of patients who have made the exercises part of the routine of the morning shower. We get out of bed, and we do a number of things quite automatically—use the toilet, clean our teeth, wash our face, have our shower, dry ourselves, and put on our clothes. These events follow each other in routine fashion. There is no mental decision as to whether we clean our teeth or not, it is something that just happens by act of habit. Now let us establish a new habit. We come out of the shower; we get dry; with the towel around us, we sit on the stool, on the side of the bath, or we squat on the floor—just for three minutes—and we feel the relaxation all through us. Letting it become part of our regular routine ensures that we do not forget, and there is no mental effort in bringing ourselves to do it. After the shower we are fresh, and in a good state of mind for the mental exercises. Remember that it is better to do our exercises when we are fresh and alert, rather than when we are tired and weary at the end of the day, even though physical relaxation might come more easily then.
In addition, it is usual for those of us who are tense to experience a good deal of variation in our tension. We have good days and bad days. When we feel easy in ourselves we are inclined to forget that we were ever tense. As a result, on our good days it is common to neglect doing our exercises. This is a mistake. If we practise our exercises when we feel good, we ward off the bad patches. They gradually become less frequent and less severe. On the other hand, when we are unusually tense or. Upset we can get help by our mental exercises, but it is much more difficult to do them, particularly in the initial stages when we have not yet fully mastered the technique.
This principle is demonstrated very clearly in cases of asthma. During an asthma attack, particularly a bad one, it is quite hard to do the exercises. I therefore tell asthmatic patients that I can help them best by seeing them when they are not actually in an attack. I can then teach them the exercises easily. They practise at home, and the experience of many has been that the attacks gradually cease.
Those who do physical exercises soon learn to combine them with the mental exercises. This can be done in two ways. We can set aside a few minutes each day before we start the physical exercises. Alternatively, and this is a very good way, we can combine the two. As we do the physical exercises, we relax our minds.
Some people like doing the exercises while sitting outside in the open air. The sun is on our face, wind blows the hair, distant sounds come to us; we let go, and all this aids the calm and integration within us.
People have sometimes asked how long they should keep doing the exercises. I suppose the answer is, “As long as they are doing you good.” Many people find that the immediate problem ceases in a few weeks and they discontinue the exercises. Nevertheless, I think the exercises remain with them unconsciously, and become part of the mental attitude of their daily life. Others whom I have spoken to have kept doing the exercises regularly for long periods, saying that they feel the exercises help them in a more general way than just the removal of anxiety symptoms—that in some strange way they add to the quality of their living. I am sure you can see by now that this is a very different approach to illness than swallowing pills. Other things are involved which are very deep in our nature. The quality of the relaxation and the mechanisms involved will depend on the unique personality of the particular individual. But don’t just drop the exercises at the first sign that your symptoms are subsiding.
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