Researchers have found that relaxation and meditation techniques can boost immunity, short-circuit anger, curb smoking, and relieve insomnia, back pain, high blood pressure, motion sickness, impotence, premenstrual syndrome, menopause, and irritable bowel syndrome. With professional care, these techniques can also help control diabetes, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, panic attacks, phobias, and depression. Neil Fiore, Ph.D., a psychologist in Berkely, California, and author of THE ROAD BACK TO HEALTH: COPING WITH THE EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF CANCER, and other experts recommend that you let your mind slip into idle several times a day so, for at least a few minutes, you're not regretting yesterday or fretting about tomorrow. Instead, you're focused on the present moment without feeling compelled to make judgments about your life. These mental rest stops can evoke the relaxation response, a physiological state that has been shown to lessen feelings of stress and anxiety. The relaxation response reduces muscle tension, lowers heart rate, blood pressure, metabolism, and breating rate, and evokes tranquil feelings. Although the relaxation response is often associated with a simple form of meditation, it may easily be conjured by other relaxation and meditation techniques. The relaxation response blunts the release of adrenaline, catecholamines, and other stress hormones that trigger the fight-or-flight response. That's important because an overdose of stress hormones can suppress the immune system and elevate blood cholesterol levels. The relaxation response also performs another vital task. "This type of deep relaxation is associated with healing in many different ways," Dr. Steven Fharion, Ph.D. (director of research at the Life Sciences Institute of Mind-Body Health in Topeka, Kansas) says. "When you get very deeply relaxed, for example, the body releases growth hormones that help repair and restore damaged tissue." Proponents say there are literally dozens of ways to produce the relaxation response. In fact, the more techniques you know the better off you may be, says Martha Davis, Ph.D., psychologist at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Santa Clara, California and co-author of the RELAXATION AND STRESS EDUCTION WORKBOOK. "Using a combination of techniques, such as deep breathing followed by progressive relaxation, can increase the power of the relaxation effect. Each technique takes you down a notch and puts you into a deeper, longer-lasting state of relaxation." A few of the more common relaxation and meditation techniques that can help you cope with stress: DEEP BREATHING is one of the simplest ways to relax, and it is an integral part of many of the other relaxation and meditation techniques. According to Janet messer, Ph.D., a psychologist in Eugene, Oregon, "When you slow down your breathing and focus your attention in your lower belly, it has really profound physiological and psychological effects." Deep abdominal breathing relaxes tight chest muscles and opens up blood vessels, so your heart can pump more efficiently. It also helps you think clearly, so you can stay calmer in a stressful situation. To do it, sit in a chair with your back straight. Slowly breathe in and feel your lungs filling from the bottom to the top. Focus your attention in your belly; let it expand as you breathe. It should feel like your diaphragm, a muscular membrane separating your lungs from your abdomen, is being pulled down, as if it were attached to a string in your belly. Then slowly exhale, emptying your lungs from top to bottom. Feel your diaphragm relax into its natural postion. Do this twice a day for five minutes. MEDITATION: "Many people envision a meditator as someone who sits in a cave all day or as a wise man sitting on the mountaintop. But actually, a walker can do it as he strolls down the street or a stockbroker can do it as he reads stock quotes. So meditation isn't just sitting down and twisting yourself up like a pretzel," says Sundar Ramaswami, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist at F.S. Dubois Community Medical Health Center in Stamford, Connecticut, and a proponent and practitioner of meditation for more than 20 years. Meditation is described by proponents as a type of intense inward concentration that allows you to focus on your senses, step back from your thoughts and feelings, and perceive each moment as a unique event. Probably the best-known type of meditation is transcendental meditation (TM), an effortless technique introduced and taught by Maharish Mahesh Yogi. During the seven-step course, practitioners of TM learn how to use a special, meaningless sound called a mantra. But TM is just one of many meditation techniques. Generally, these techniques can be classifed into two large categories. Concentrative meditation uses a picture, a word (mantra), an object (such as a candle flame), or a sensation (such as breathing) to focus the mind. If your mind begins to drift, you refocus your attention on the object. Mindfulness meditation is more complex. Instead of focusing on a single sensation or object, you allow thoughts, feelings, and images to float through your mind. You become a dispassionate observer, making note of your thoughts, desires, and sensations much in the way that a postal worker might notice stamps. You allow these thoughts go in and out of your mind without expressing positive or negative feelings about them. Some forms of meditation use a combination of concentrative and mindfulness techniques. In fact, you may already be practicing meditation without realizing it. To try simple mindfulness meditation, find a quiet spot and sit in a comfortable position. Take several slow, deep breaths. As you breath out, ask yourself, "Who am I?" Note the associations -- "I'm a mother," "I'm a husband," "I'm a businessperson," "I'm tired," "I'm angry" -- that pop into your head without judging them. If you think "I'm a homeowner," for example, and begin worrying about making the mortgage payment, refocus your mind on the question, "Who am I?" It is suggested you practice this form of meditation for 20 minutes twice a day. AUTOGENICS is technique that has much in common with yoga, imagery, and meditation. AUTOGENICS, meaning "self-generation", was developed in the 1930s by Johannes Schultz, M.D.,a German neurologist and psychiatrist. Dr. Shultz--who compared the feelings generated by autogenics to taking a long, relaxing bath--wanted people to be able to generate deep relaxation in a versatile and practical way. In essense, the idea is to sit in a comfortable position and give your body a series of instructions such as my hands are warm...my hands are heavy." Proponents believe that doing that stimulates blood flow and deep relaxation. You need to find a quiet room, sit or lie in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths. As you exhale, repeat the following instructions to yourself: "My hands and legs are warm and heavy" (five times) "My abdomen is calm and comfortable" (five times) "My breating is deep and even" (ten times) "My heartbeat is slightly calm and regular" (ten times) "My forehead is cool" (five times) "When I open my eyes, I will remain relaxed and refreshed." (three times). Then take a moment to move your arms, hands, legs, and feet around a bit. Rotate your head, open your eyes, and, if you're lying down, sit up. While doing this exercise, note what is happening to your body, but don't consciously try to analyze it. Avoid criticizing yourself if you have distracting thoughts. If your mind wanders, simply bring it back to your instructions as soon as possible. It is suggested that this is done in two-minute sessions, ten times a day. Be patient, experts say, because in some cases, it may take weeks for autogenics to be effective. PROGRESSIVE RELAXATION is the systematically tightening and releasing muscles to prevent stress from overwhelming you. Tensing taut muscles might seem strange, but the additional exercise actually increases blood flow to the muscles and helps them unwind faster than if you try to relax them. Developed in the 1920s by Edmund Jacobsen, a Chicago physician, progressive relaxation is considered an excellent technique for beginners because it is practical and doesn't depend on imagination. Research suggests that it can help alleviate insomnia, headaches, and digestive ailments such as irritable bowel syndrome. Experts say that it can also help relieve muscle spasms, back pain, and high blood pressure. There are many methods of progressive relaxation, but the this is the suggested approach: Clench your right fist as tightly as yo can. Keep it clenched for about ten seconds. then release the tension immediately and completely, as though you were turning off a switch. All of the tension should drain out of your body. Feel the looseness in your right hand and notice how much more relaxed it feels than when you tensed it. Do the same thing with your left hand; then clench both fists at the same time. Bend your elbows and tense your arms. Release and let your arms hang at your sides. Continue this process by tensing and relaxing your shoulders and neck, then wrinkling and relaxing your forehead and brows. Then squeeze your eyes and clench your jaw before moving on to tense and then relax your stomach, lower back, buttocks, thighs, calves, and feet. GENTLE STRETCHING fosters relaxation. Physiologically, if you gently stretch the muscle, it will relax. Stretching also gives you something to focus your attention on, which enables you to quiet your mind. Gentle stretching is particularly good for people who have chronic muscle pain, such as in the neck or shoulders, and have difficulty doing muscle-tensing exercises such as progressive relaxation. Stretching should always be done slowly and without pain. Avoid overstretching or bouncing your muscles. While you're doing a stretching sequence, think about how your tension feels, so you'll come to know when you need to stretch to release it. In any case, do a stretching sequence at least once a day. SOURCE: DRUG-FREE HEALING: Breakthrough Remedies for Healing Yourself Naturally, by the editors of PREVENTION Magazine Health Books RELAXATION & MEDITATION TECHNIQUES YOU CAN USE FOR TREATING ANXIETY: Any of the relaxation and meditation techniques mentioned in part 1, such as mindfulness meditation, autogenics, progressive relaxation, and stretching, will relieve anxiety. It's a matter of finding the one that works best for you. FOR TREATING FATIGUE: Meditation is quite invigorating and can sweep aside any feelings of fatigue, even if it's praticed for just a few minutes a day. Begin meditating for 20 minutes twice a day. As you become more proficient and more aware of your body's sensations, you may find you can meditate less and still get the same effect. Deep breating, autogenics, and progressive relaxation can also recharge you. FOR TREATING A HEADACHE: There has been many successes in using stretchbased relaxation to help people who suffer from tension headaches. Practice this whenever you begin to feel a headache coming on. For some people, other relaxation techniques, including deep breathing, meditation, autogenics, and progressive relaxation, are also effective. FOR TREATING HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE: Studies suggest that meditating for 20 minutes twice a day can help lower high blood pressure. FOR TREATING HIGH CHOLESTEROL: Studies suggest that meditation can help reduce blood cholesterol levels. Practice this technique for 20 minutes once or twice a day. FOR TREATING PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME: Meditating for 20 minutes twice a day triggers deep muscle relaxation, which may lessen the pain of PMS. FOR TREATING STRESS: Any of the relaxation and meditation techniques, such as mindfulness meditation, autogenics, progressive relaxation, and stretching, will relieve stress. It's a matter of finding the one that works best for you. FOR TREATING A TOOTHACHE: Focus on your pain and rate it from 0 to 10, with 10 bing the worst pain you've every experienced and 0 being no pain. Now concentrate on places in your body that feel calm and are pain-free, such as your left foot or your right ear. Keep searching deeper into your body and mind for pain-free points. As you focus your attention on the calm parts of yourself, the pain in your tooth will fade into the background. Use this technique whenever you have pain or worry about pain. If the pain increases, call your doctor. SOURCE: DRUG-FREE HEALING: Breakthrough Remedies for Healing Yourself Naturally, by the editors of PREVENTION Magazine Health Books