What is relaxation and how to acheive it?

HOW TO ACHIEVE RELAXATION

Someone has remarked that the doctor who tells a tense, nervous, high- strung person to relax might just as well tell him to stop breathing. But the art of relaxation can be learned. If the guidelines we give you here do not work, then some form of treatment is required. It may consist of a few talks with your sympathetic physician or, in extreme cases of compulsive inability to relax, may require psychotherapy.

Any medical advice must take account of individual differences. No two people react precisely the same way to a prescription for digitalis or other medicine. Similarly, there is a tremendous difference in the way people relax; in what makes them relax, in how much relaxation they take, in how much of a toll work takes from them. We know two surgeons who work the same long hours from 8:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. with some night calls. Yet one ends the week rested, happy, and ready to enjoy a fun weekend; the other ends the week a bundle of nerves, with a body so tired that it takes until Monday morning before he has recovered his stamina for the week ahead. We know two business partners, one of whom returns from a month's vacation perfectly rested while the other returns from his vacation more fatigued than when he left. To achieve suitable relaxation, each person must take an inventory of need.

One chronically fatigued person we know did so and learned that his really effective work span-the time he could work at peak efficiency and without fatigue-was only four hours. He rescheduled his life, put a couch in his office, and with an hour's rest every four hours has increased his work output and become thoroughly relaxed. Consciously or unconsciously, a relaxed person has carried out an inventory and knows when rest and change of pace are needed during his daily work. Some men like to spend part of their lunch hour at a gym or athletic club, taking a swim or engaging in other physical activity; others prefer a nap or a book; still others thrive on luncheon with friends. There is an almost endless variety to activities that can provide restful, relaxing change of pace during the day. It's the change that is important-and at the end of the day as well.

The sedentary worker may benefit from a long walk or some jogging or other physical activity; on the other hand, the person whose work is physically demanding may need a quiet hour, stretched out, perhaps napping briefly, or listening to the radio or watching TV. Some fathers find relaxation with their children; others need to be insulated from the demands of the children-and possibly from any of the wife-when they arrive home. The housewife, too, is entitled to, and no less needs, change of pace. And it doesn't matter what the change involves, so long as it is restful and relaxing to the individual woman. A break for coffee or tea! Fine. A pause to watch a favorite TV program, call a friend, read a magazine or book-all good if the individual finds them rewarding.

No less than the man who works away from home, the woman who works at the demanding job of running a home and caring for children needs to make her inventory of need and find activities that diminish her fatigue and renew her zest. And for both man and woman, important elements in relaxation are recreational activities, sports, and vacations.