Question:
Looking for some info on the physiology behind deep muscle relaxation.
Dates back to 1938, someone named Jacobson.
This is a technique used for stress reduction in which muscles are
tensed and then relaxed progressively in order to counter anxiety. The
psych textbooks say muscle relaxation is incompatible with a stress
reaction.
What though is the relation between muscle relaxation and anxiety?
Stress is usually associated with the sympathetic branch of the
autonomic nervous system. Why would muscle, which is part of the
somatic branch, have anything to do with this? Or looking at it
another way, why do stressed people have tense muscles?
Answer:
From what I have seen, Jacobsen pioneered a behavior therapy for
chronic pain and is more regularly used in Germany than in the States.
They don't always do and unstressed people have rigorous tonus as
well.
I think perhaps a somewhat related question is, why does visualization
affect the body, even without self conciously trying to physically move the
body parts into what is being visualized? Another example of our complexity
is bio-feedback.
A conjecture would be that there is a cognitive link between parts of our
nervous system. Or perhaps the division between sympathetic and autonomic
is more severe in the textbooks than in our bodies?
This probably could all be worked into a theory of improving weight-lifting
techniques, but I for one am not up to the task....
In fact, muscle relaxation techniques are used quite
a bit by the mainstream medical community a great
deal these days. They can be very effective in relieving
stress and in helping people get through chronic pain
and anxiety episodes without taking excess medications.
The old, Cartesian view of medicine separated mind and body.
This view has been significantly challenged in recent years by
clinical studies that support the mind/body connection.
Good question!. What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Muscle relaxation techniques are used by the mainstream
medical community a great deal these days. They can be
very effective in relieving stress and in helping people get
through chronic pain and anxiety episodes without taking
excess medications.
A few years ago, a Kaiser physician recommended a
tape called, "Letting Go of Stress" to a friend of mine
who was about to undergo surgery and a long recovery.
She recommended that I also use nightly to me to help get
through anxiety and insomnia I was experiencing from a
difficult divorce. That one tape proved to be my most
valuable possession during those very difficult months.
While there are several techniques on the tape, the one
I responded to most strongly was the muscle tension
and relaxation technique.
My insurance company also paid for biofeedback to help
with migraines. The clinic attached electrodes to my
chest, head, fingers, etc. to measure heart rate, muscle tension,
heat at the fingertips, etc. to a very fine precision. As muscle
relaxation progressed, I could see each one of the gauge
needles go down. I was able to get into a deep alpha state.
Very relaxing and, in conjunction with the seratonin-
Enhancing drug (imitrex), aids the healing process.
There are tapes available at bookstores, but the acknowledged
*best* relaxation tape out there is the by a psychiatrist called
Dr. Emmet Miller. He uses hypnosis in his practice. The
Tape is called, Letting Go of Stress," and it can be found
At the following website:
http://www.drmiller.com/manage.html
