...the recommended therapy to best combat stress and it's attendant harm upon our bodies and minds is to 'relax and lighten up.' Sounds simple enough to me, but deeper inspection reveals that merely prescribing this regimen is bound to failure as therapy for two major reasons: One is that it is not natural to relax, and by "natural" I could also say "adaptive" and mean the same thing. The other reason for failure is that people do not know how to relax and require training and practice before they can. (emphasis added)
The good news is that the training and practice can be done at home, or the workplace, if you can get some privacy, and doesn't require the presence of a special instructor, therapist or guru. Although there are several different methods for achieving the relaxation response, the end result for all, as it pertains to the goals of this article, is the same: a profound sense of a relaxed, well-being, a rejuvenation of resources and specific, beneficial physiologic changes (which will be discussed later in this article.) Despite the fact that hypnosis, Transcendental Meditation and Benson's Method are different in their methods, does not prevent the relaxation practitioner from obtaining the desired results: relaxation and stress reduction.
Hypnosis, in the clinical setting, often uses a technique called Progressive Relaxation, as a preface for the subsequent hypnotic suggestion that follows in the same session. I follow a script when treating patients in clinical hypnosis, and the reader could easily tape-record this for personal use.
The essential difference between hypnosis and other forms of relaxation is the inclusion of the hypnotic suggestion that follows the relaxation phase and, thus, hypnosis is not the easiest or simplest way to practice relaxation.
Transcendental Meditation, as relaxation techniques go, can be regarded as another technique that is relatively simple to use. However, having said that, this technique requires attending classes (which requires money) over a period of time. In addition, some have argued that this technique constitutes something akin to religious indoctrination. Thus, it, too, is not the easiest or simplest way to practice relaxation.
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