Here’s how relaxation techniques can reduce anxiety:
- Counteracting the Stress Response: Relaxation is often described as the opposite of tension. The stress response, often associated with the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) fight-or-flight reaction, prepares the body for action. Relaxation activates the body’s natural relaxation response, which is part of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The SNS and PNS cannot operate simultaneously, like two elevator operators, one only going up and the other down. By activating the PNS, relaxation can switch off the stress response and allow the body to recover.
- Reducing Amygdala Activation: The amygdala, a part of the brain involved in creating anxiety and initiating the stress response, is directly influenced by relaxation. Techniques that promote relaxation, such as breathing exercises and meditation, have been shown to reduce activation in the amygdala. Reducing amygdala activation in turn reduces SNS responding.
- Calming Physiological Symptoms: Anxiety is associated with physiological symptoms like muscle tension, rapid heart rate, sweating, dizziness, and shortness of breath.
- Muscle Relaxation: Relaxation techniques, like progressive muscle relaxation, target muscle tension, which is increased by the SNS. Relaxing muscles can help ease anxiety and promote PNS responding.
- Breathing Techniques: Slow, deep breathing, particularly diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing, is a key relaxation technique. Making the exhale longer than the inhale stimulates the PNS. Deep breathing can lower heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension. It also helps correct imbalances caused by hyperventilation, a common symptom of anxiety. Conscious breathing can increase Heart Rate Variability (HRV), a marker of stress resilience and indicator of balance in the autonomic nervous system.
- Promoting a State Incompatible with Anxiety: The relaxation state is fundamentally incompatible with anxiety; it is difficult to be anxious while relaxed. By intentionally shifting the body into a relaxed, low-energy state, you send signals to the brain that the need to fight or flee has passed, making high alert unnecessary.
- Providing Mental Distraction and Refocusing: Some relaxation techniques, like visualization or certain breathing exercises, can help distract the mind from anxious thoughts and worries. Imagining a safe or peaceful place can help the body and mind relax. Meditation and mindfulness involve focusing attention, often on the breath, which can help detach from racing or negative thoughts and bring focus to the present moment.
- Facilitating Acceptance rather than Control: While some relaxation techniques may temporarily reduce symptoms, their effects may wear off if underlying causes aren’t addressed. Some approaches, like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), integrate relaxation not primarily to get rid of anxiety but to help let go of the struggle to control it. Relaxing muscles and using techniques like deep breathing can help interrupt the automatic impulse to control anxiety, making room for acceptance and mindfulness.
- Enhancing Effectiveness of Other Therapies: Relaxation techniques, particularly deep breathing, are often used as coping strategies within other therapeutic approaches like exposure therapy to manage the anxiety that arises when confronting feared situations. Learning to remain physically relaxed even when accessing difficult feelings is seen as an essential tool for recovery.
Regular practice of relaxation techniques is crucial for them to become effective and even automatic responses to anxiety. Consistent use can lead to lasting changes in brain circuitry, reducing overall anxiety levels and increasing resilience.
It is noted that for some individuals, particularly those with certain breathing difficulties or panic attacks, focusing on breathing might temporarily increase anxiety. In such cases, alternative strategies like muscle relaxation or distraction might be more helpful initially.