July 07, 2010
Relaxation Tips Newsletter
Hello,
I'm Candi, with Inner Health Studio. Welcome to Edition 21 of Inner Health Studio Relaxation Tips.
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In This Issue...
Inner Health Studio Updates and News
New Relaxation Scripts
Tip of the Month: 5 Ways to Overcome the Freeze Response
Inner Health Studio Updates and News
I'm pleased to announce that my book, Words to Relax: Relaxation Scripts for Personal Growth and Stress Relief, by Candi Raudebaugh, is now available. This book can be purchased through Amazon.com or Amazon.ca, too.
As a subscriber to this newsletter, you can purchase Words to Relax for just $29.95 (list price $35.95) using this discount code: 4E9Q3S6Z
Words to Relax is an instructional book for how to relax, and includes more than 60 relaxation scripts you can use to experience the relaxation response.
New Relaxation Scripts
Overcoming Freeze Response Freeze is a common response to fear, especially in life-threatening situations that are difficult to escape. This relaxation script uses grounding techniques to help you decrease panic symptoms.
Tip of the month: 5 Ways to Overcome the Freeze Response
Have you ever been frozen in place?
You have probably heard of the fight-or-flight response. This response is also known as the fight, flight or freeze response, because freeze is a common response to fear. Freeze is especially common in life-threatening situations that are difficult to escape, however, freezing can occur any time anxiety is high or the brain perceives danger.
A reader of this newsletter described freeze very well:
I think that for people with generalized anxiety, as well as other types of anxiety and panic such as social anxiety, we often don't fight or flee, we freeze. Once we freeze, we get really planted in our place, not knowing which way to move or what to do next. Then the anxiety rises even more, loss of focus, flitting from thought to thought. I've actually reached the point of starting to physically move one direction and gotten so scared, I stopped, but moving another direction drew the same result. It can feel almost like a physical paralysis, and it is very disturbing, cycling deeper into fear.
Freeze, like fight or flight, is an involuntary response. This means that it is not under conscious control. The body freezes automatically. Because this response is automatic, it can feel like a physical paralysis, and can be very frightening.
Remember that this response is normal. It is something your body is doing in an attempt to keep you safe. Freeze is like “playing dead.” It can be a useful response if you are chased by a bear, but an unwelcome response in most day-to-day situations...BUT, your body does not know the difference between various anxiety-provoking situations.
When the body is in panic-mode and goes into the freeze response, people usually experience a feeling of being disconnected from themselves or their environments. Freeze is a state of sensory overload, meaning that the ability to process sensations (such as vision, hearing, and touch) is overwhelmed. Attention is directed toward so many different things at once, the brain does not process all of the information taken in, and the senses are overloaded.
Grounding techniques can help you re-connect with your surroundings if you experience a freeze response. These techniques allow you to process the sensations around you, rather than being overwhelmed. Once you are grounded, the freeze response stops. These techniques are helpful for overcoming the freeze response, or for other types of panic and anxiety.
5 Ways to Overcome the Freeze Response:
1. Focus your eyes on one spot.
2. Concentrate on your breathing.
3. Notice the environment around you, using the senses of touch, hearing, and vision.
4. Evaluate your surroundings and see that you are safe.
5. Rub your hands together, feeling calm...able to move.
By practicing often, you can become familiar enough with these techniques to remember to use them during a freeze response. For a detailed relaxation script outlining this grounding process, see this page: http://www.innerhealthstudio.com/freeze.html