The relaxation reflex - Robin Sands

With the increasing evidence of stress in all aspects of our daily lives, it is important to learn how to relax. This handbook explains how stress builds up in the body, and shows how techniques of relaxation can be applied to combat this stress and repair the damage both to body and mind.;The author shows how our automatic nervous system represents a balance between two reflex systems - one providing rapid response including reaction to danger, emergency or stress; the other providing the post-stress adjustment through sedation and relaxation. If we allow these two systems to get out of balance and inhibit the instinct to relax after stress, the damaging effects are well-documented.;The key is to retain the balance and to ensure that our mechanism to relax is equally as strong as its counterpart. The author explains a number of techniques to enable relaxation, and provides exercises which should assist readers to achieve this. He explains both the principles and the practices which should enable readers to strike this essential balance.