Help Yourself Heal: Biofeedback
How can you know if these relaxation practices are effective? By using simple biofeedback techniques you can see actual changes in your body's response to stress or relaxation. These are subtle changes you wouldn't have known about without the feedback technique.
This can help you assess how well your relaxation practice is working. It can give you more control which will help you feel better. It can motivate you to recognize and move beyond small distractions that might stop your relaxation practice. It can help you get back on track quickly and help you trust the results of your practice.
How it works
When you're stressed, most of the time you are either breathing too fast or you are holding your breath. When that happens your blood vessels constrict so there is less blood flow, less oxygen being delivered to the organs of your body.
There are small blood vessels in your hands, called peripheral blood vessels, which also constrict during times of stress, preventing blood flow that supplies an adequate amount of oxygen to the hands. As a result your hands get cooler. This is a way of knowing that you are stressed. When you start to relax, the blood vessels open up and dilate, allowing more blood flow and oxygen to be delivered. As you do that your hands get warmer.
You can use this technique during any of the relaxation practices to monitor how effective the technique is by the temperature of your hands.
You can also use this technique to start your relaxation practice, especially if you feel that you are very, very stressed. As your hands get warmer and warmer you know that you are getting more relaxed and calmer. The hand temperature really is like a biofeedback machine that feeds you back information on whether you are relaxed or stressed.
Download MP3 of Biofeedback Audio
Monitoring your progress
There are other simple ways of monitoring the progress of your relaxation. One of them is called a bio dot that lets you see immediately whether you are relaxing or stressing.
In the Resource section of this site, we recommend a web site to purchase bio dots. If you have the bio dot it can be easier to monitor the warmth in your hands and your level of relaxation by noting how the colors change. This bio dot changes color from black when you're stressed, gold to brown when you're getting out of the stress mode, green when you're starting to relax, blue when you're calm, to purple when you're very relaxed. It is similar to the mood rings of the 1970's, in that it gives you instant feedback on the progress of your relaxation. And the more you are able to validate how relaxed you are, the deeper you can go into relaxation.
If you purchase a bio dot, before you start any of the relaxation practices I will teach you, place a bio dot on your hand as illustrated in the written directions that come in the bio dot package. Then find a comfortable place to sit and begin the breathwork exercise.
If you want to be a little more precise, you can use another biofeedback tool called a stress thermometer. This equipment records any subtle changes in hand temperature that reflects how you're feeling, whether you are getting more stressed or more relaxed. Without this equipment you can only tell that you are stressed when you are already overly stressed.
These techniques can train you to listen to your body a little bit more closely and can help you make changes as early as possible.
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