Slow down those thoughts: Learn relaxation techniques

A number of people I've seen this week seem overwhelmed with the idea of facing decisions about food. They don't realize the power that they possess to resist ‘temptations'. They constantly think about food and whether or not they can resist it. If they don't resist, they feel like a failure.

A lot of this thinking is emotionally driven. There are background repressed feelings; feelings of unworthiness, feelings of helplessness, feelings of being overwhelmed with everything that is going on in their life.

Settle the brain first, before you grab for those snacks. There are many relaxation techniques that we should all practice regularly, but don't. The simplest being learning breathing techniques (which I will describe), ‘progressive muscle relaxation' and ‘visualizations', but these take practice.

Slow breathing or abdominal breathing is easy to do:

1. Lie down or sit quietly, and close your eyes. Take a moment to notice the sensations in your body, particularly where your body is holding any tension. Take several breaths and see what you notice about the quality of your breathing. Are your lungs filling up all the way? Does your chest move in and out when you breathe?

2. Place one hand on your chest and the other one on your abdomen, right below your waist. As you breathe in, imagine that you are sending your breath as far down into your body as it will go. Feel your lungs expand as they fill up with air.

3. Continue to gently breathe in and out. Let your breath find its own place. If your breathing feels unnatural or forced in any way, just maintain your awareness of that sensation as you breathe in and out. Eventually, any straining or unnaturalness should ease up by itself.

4. After breathing deeply for several breaths, begin to count each time you exhale. After ten exhalations, start the count over with one. When thoughts intrude and you lose track of the number, simply return your attention to the exercise and start counting again from number one.

I remember at one conference how a psychologist had taught relaxation breathing techniques to one of his patients. She was confronted at a wedding with tremendous desire to have several big pieces of wedding cake. What she did was go into a bathroom stall and practice slow deep breathing to regain her composure and her will power. When she came out, she was totally able to resist the temptation of the cake.

Centre yourself. You are stronger than you think. If you are at home and a desire for ice cream, cookies, chips or chocolate enter you mind, remove yourself from the vicinity of the tempting food and practicing some deep breathing. You will feel in much more control and may even be able to resist the food.

Try anything to remove those emotional temptations. Keep practicing... it will take time

You can do it. Just don't ever give up.

Dr Doug