Relaxation tapes?

January 13, 2009 1:52 PM

I need to introduce some sort of anxiety/stress relief system into my life and relaxation tapes have been suggested. Any recommendations?

My therapist suggested I look on Amazon for such things but I'm leery of just buying one out of the blue with no idea if its too new agey or what. I've reacted badly to a few such tapes in the past (Getting very anxious when specific muscles were introduced probably do to past trauma) but am at a spot where I am willing to try again as anxiety is starting to play a bigger part in my life than I like.

Has anyone used such things? I'm thinking towards the muscle tightening/relaxing type and less sitting in a corner saying Om. Did you find them effective? Any other advice for an anxiety newbie?

(Excuse the poorly written paragraphs. I'm word fishing today due to the depression)

posted by beautifulcheese to health & fitness (10 comments total)

Michael Yapko: I've tried Sleeping Soundly, but also been recommended Calm Down, for anti-anxiety. You just have to get past his very strong american accent!
posted by tamarack at 2:04 PM on January 13

Can't help with tapes... how about MP3s?
I keed, I keed...

It sounds like what you're asking about are some sort of audio that's basically narrated relaxation exercises, probably with a background of soft music.. At least, that's my guess. Am I close?

In stressful periods in the past, I've successfully used a relaxation technique with (surprise!) relaxing music playing.

I was taught to concentrate on something that is pleasurable to one of my senses and think about it (and nothing else) for minute or two, then move on to something else pleasurable to another sense. So, you could start out by putting on some soft music, clearing your head and thinking about nothing but the smell of your favorite childhood breakfast being prepared. After a while, you could think about nothing but the sight of green and grassy meadow in a mountain clearing and all the visual cues that make it so beautiful. Cycle through pleasing thoughts for each of your senses. Rinse, repeat, nap.

As for the music, everyone has different tastes, but I like just about anything by Sigur Ros, Amiina, and Eluvium. You can listen to samples of the music on itunes or Amazon.

Depending on my mood, headphones can be a real treat, but sometimes it's hard to focus if the volume is a tad too high. A warm blanket and a light controlled room don't hurt either.

I guess my general advice is to find a simple relaxation technique, find some unobtrusive and relaxing music and then put them together.
posted by terpia at 2:17 PM on January 13

Hehe yes Mp3s would be better seeing as I don't even have a tape player :)

Yeah you hit it on the spot about narrated relaxation exercises. Guided imagery, etc. I have tried to do this on my own but my mind wanders too much and I end up back obsessing on the stressful matter or past event. I'm hoping with someone else leading me it would be easier to focus.
posted by beautifulcheese at 2:47 PM on January 13

1) Australian meditation society has both music (in case you don't want
to do meditation) and guided meditations.

http://meditation.org.au/


2) The meditation podcast has some. nothing specific to any religion...

http://www.themeditationpodcast.com/download.php

3) Also buddist meditation (breathing meditation)

http://www.audiodharma.org/talks-intromed.html.

Pl. search in #3. There are some good ones, where it introduces meditation.

I used all three and found them useful.
posted by tom123 at 5:13 PM on January 13

The Mindful Way Through Depression, which is an excellent book by a group of scientists and meditation practitioners, comes with a CD of meditations/exercises that are quite simple and useful.
posted by judith at 5:40 PM on January 13

Everyone's suggesting meditation. Meditation isn't for everyone. If you've got some pretty big demons, it'll set them free. That's great if you're ready to take on that project. But you're asking for an "anxiety/stress relief system" and meditation might not be exactly that. (If you're curious, I've been seriously practicing meditation since 1969 and while that doesn't necessarily make someone an expert, in my case, it does.)

So, here's my suggestion: If you can afford it, there's no more effective stress relief modality than a weekly massage. If you're rich, get one every day. Deep tissue massage works best, but you usually have to work up to that. The most important thing? Find the right massage person.
posted by Joe13 at 7:15 AM on January 14

letting go of stress was highly recommended to me—and now used by me—by my therapist.
posted by violetk at 9:44 AM on January 14

2nding judith's recommendation for The Mindful Way Through Depression. The first exercise (a body scan) involves laying oneself down on a bed or other flat, comfortable surface, so even if you're not too keen on meditation it's a good way to focus on relaxing the body.
posted by metabrilliant at 9:49 AM on January 14

Jon Kabat-Zinn is the founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and has done a lot to bring mindfulness meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and other techniques to the field of medicine, with significant success. I find his delivery a little bit annoying, but I still highly recommend his CDs. He's also written some books which might be worth reading, although they are kind of rambling and too verbose.
posted by callmejay at 11:31 AM on January 14

Check out Open Focus, developed by Les Fehmi. I've recommended him in the past and a search should bring up some of the posts where I've gone into a little more detail. There's a number of different ways to learn more about it, there's a book coauthored with Jim Robbins, an excellent chapter on Fehmi in Robbins' book on neurofeedback, 'A Symphony in the Brain', and he also has a number of papers available for free download at his website under Publications.
posted by BigSky at 2:04 PM on January 14