Most of us understand that too much stress can have a negative impact on our body. Over time, the effects of stress on the body can contribute not just to unhappiness, but potentially devastating physical ailments.

Emotional and physical reactions to stress are partly determined by the sensitivity of your sympathetic nervous system. This system provides the fight or flight reaction in response to stress and excitement, speeding up and heightening the pulse rate, respiration, muscle tension, glandular function, and circulation of the blood. These are not always a bad thing, and were helpful to survival in ancient times.

But these same physical symptoms of stress that helped keep our ancestors alive often have a detrimental effect in today’s modern world.

If you have recurring symptoms of anxiety when facing major or minor emotional upsets, your thoughts are likely having a more negative than positive effect. Your thoughts and how you react to them can cause an overreaction of your sympathetic system. 

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a technique that will help you deal with stress, relax and center yourself. While you can turn to Progressive Relaxation In times of extreme stress, including a relaxation and meditation practice as a daily ritual will help you become a more balanced, healthy and fulfilled person.

This article is an introduction to a progressive relaxation technique you can use to decrease your stress and gain more control over your mind and body.

Dr. Edmund Jacobson, a Harvard trained Psychiatrist developed the progressive relaxation method nearly 80 years ago after noticing that people under stress tensed their muscles, and that tension created anxiety, headaches, ulcers, high blood pressure and colitis.

How to Practice Progressive Relaxation

• Go to a quiet, softly lit room. Shut the door and sit in a comfortable chair, feet flat on the floor, eyes closed. 

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Laughing out loud is great stress relief. This simple act can help your health and improve your mood in untold ways.

Don’t believe me?

Short term, when you laugh it lightens your mental and emotional load by causing physical changes in your body. Laughter stimulates your organs by taking in oxygen-rich air, and at the same time releasing endorphins in your brain that cause calm and relaxation.

Long term, laughing improves your body’s immune system, helping you fight off sicknesses of all kinds, promoting longevity and well-being.