Back2Yourself

As you may have noticed, relaxation is included at the end of each exercise playlist. It is included in every exercise practice because it is an integral part of health maintenance.

Relaxation is important because it provides an opportunity for you to experience the relationship between body and mind. When the body is relaxed the mind is calmer, when the mind feels at peace, the body feels more comfortable. Relaxation has physiological benefits such as lowering blood pressure, pain relief, relaxing muscle spasms, and reducing anxiety.

For many people, emotional stress can be a significant factor that contributes to unspecified back pain. Many of us hold tension in our muscles when we are stressed. For many of us, we don’t even know that we do this and we don’t even know that we are stressed because we have become so accustomed to our daily lives.

Even if stress causes tension that results in unspecified back pain, the pain is physically real and requires exercises to strengthen muscles that alleviate the pain. While exercises provide tremendous benefit towards reducing back pain, including relaxation in your practice will help to reduce muscle tension that contributes to unspecified back pain. You may notice that your shoulders and neck, places that we commonly hold tension, feel more comfortable as overall muscle tension is reduced.

Relaxation is commonly overlooked as a non-essential part of the exercise routine or is not addressed with full attention. It is important to keep your attention fully focused on observing the body and mind during relaxation. Relaxation is not a time to ignore your body and mind and drift off to sleep; nor is it a time to dwell on worries, to-do lists, or wishes for the future. Relaxation is a time to notice the subtleties of the body and the mind, neither dwelling on nor ignoring them. As you practice noticing and observing during your relaxation, you will find it helpful in your daily life, as it will help you to have more clarity.