Back from Stanford, and I wonder...

[texas2006]

For those here who have made the trek, or those that just read AHIP and found success with the Paradoxical Relaxation...What made it click for you? I'm only back a little over a week, and I am struggling with it. The first tape deals with relaxation of the face and shoulders, and when I lay in bed, those aren't tensed. They just aren't. Any hints from those with a little more experience in the skill?

Thanks.

[kpbos]

They may not be tensed but I think the point is just to start developing the skill of feeling any sensations at deeper and deeper levels. And then as you progress you can apply it to the pelvis. I still struggle with the tapes, resting with the tension can be really difficult especially on bad days.

[alprost]

A key point is that you may or may not feel tension in all parts of your body. Paying attention to the sensations in different parts of your body is the 'object of meditation', just as some people use a mantra or music etc. Try to avoid expecting relaxation, and just feel the sensations and progress through the tapes as instructed. By doing this, you switch your mind from analytical thoughts to feeling, sensing and accepting. This promotes a relaxing, healing environment in your body which is reflected by changes in stress hormone levels and brain wave activity.

If your experience relaxation in any part of your body, great. If not, don't worry about it, just stick with feeling the sensations.

[LightningTree]

I do a similar relaxation protocol but not with the Stanford tapes (never went) The total body relaxation technique has a few purposes:

1) It builds up body memory of what relaxation feels like
2) It builds up a repeated physical action so that relaxation becomes an automatic response. Over time, relaxation occurs more quickly.
3) Relaxation of some parts of the body are easier when you can sense the tension, and when other parts of the body are relaxed. Going through the whole body is like a Preflight Checklist to get to the parts that are critical.

Now the tape I use now was made for me by a local psychologist/yoga instructor and it goes through the whole body in a 30 minute session. As I apply it, I am slowing increasing the speed over time to get it down to about 10 minutes or so. The goal is to get total relaxation to be a rapid body habit.

In my experience, the relaxation helps more after there is less muscle and nerve irritation, but it is important to start practising right away, sot hat when the stretching has helped calm things down some, the meditation kicks in in effectiveness. Took me a year to go from agonizing pain to liveable daily pain, and another 1.5 years to go from daily pain to only mild pain when I sit. I'm now working on that last bit. But that first year, of going from agony to liveable pain was a major breakthrough.

*when the nerves had calmed down some
*and when I had learned to feel the tension in the pelvis in the first place

Personally, I think there are metabolic factors involved, but that general improvement through the Stanford/Wise-Anderson Protocol is the way to go.

You are just beginning on a long road. The key is to keep it up.