SLEEPING FZTHOUT PILLS RELAXATION AS AN EXERCISE

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28823, 18 February 1959, Page 12

SLEEPING FZTHOUT PILLS RELAXATION AS AN EXERCISE

written for “The Prase" by “SOMNUS.")

Druga are two-faced. They soothe the ills for which they are taken, .and when the effect wears off they make the original symptoms worse. . One could therefore take sleep-ing-pills to prevent one from sleeping, nerve-soothing sedatives to jangle jmd frazz the nerves, painkillers to aggravate pain. That is the devlish .thing about these innocent-looking little pills and capsules. They produce a certain effect, and then produce the effect’s opposite. And the more you take the more you have to take.

But drags have their uses. Painkillers ease pain when pain is fierce and unbearable, giving the body a chance to make its adjustments. Sleeping-pills bring the blessed relief of pleep when pain or worry are just too great to be borne. Time, is the real healer. Pills help us while time the surgeon operates on our wounds. Coanting Sheep There is least excuse of all for taking hypnotics, sedatives, sleep-ing-pills. Oddly enough, it is lazy people who take them. People who rely on sleeping-pills are lazy because, although they Jnay have been told dozens of times to relax, they can't, or they won’t —because relaxation is an exercise. Counting sheep is a relaxation exercise and there is a lot more to this time-tried method than most people think. Ordinarily, relaxation is merely physical relaxation. A worrying person worries less when physically active. As soon as he stops working, or fidgeting, he starts to worry snore. This is because thinking, feeling, and doing all take energy. Worry is a kind of “folie a deux” between thinking and feeling. The worrier lies down, pleasantly tired. He relaxes his body. Then a little thought starts up, a nasty little worrying thbught It stimulates a pang of unpleasant emotion. The. unpleasant emotion stimulates the thought; and so it goes on. He is soon wide awake. He begins to panic, reaches for a bottle of sleeping-pills, literally knocks himself out—and wakes up with a hangover.

The secret of relaxation is to • relax completely—mind as well I as body. But how is this to be done ■ when one has “so much on one's mind”?

Counting sheep offers a due. While the body is relaxed, the attention is focused on sheep jumping a fence. It is as simple as that Try it but don't let the attention slip. One need not count sheep. Just counting itself is effective. If the attention insists on stray, ing. make the counting more difficult Count one to fifty, and then count backwards to one. Sometimes, while counting, the body becomes tense again. The thing to look out for is the tense muscle here, the tense muscle there. The chief offenders are the muscles of the stomach and the mouth. When relaxing physically, it is a very good plan always to start with the mouth. But there is an even better relaxation exercise than countliig sheep. Look at a picture of a seated Buddha. He is not detached from ms body. He is fully inhabiting it \ For the Stubborn Worrier ' Here is an exercise that will put the most stubborn worrier to sleep if he or she will practise it assiduously. Lie down on the back. Consciously relax the muscles of the face. There, are thousands of them, remember. Then direct the attention to the right foot until you fed sensation there. You cannot describe it other than as “sensation of foot.? When you do so you will be surprised to find you are not normally aware of it, pt any part of your. body. Keep the attention directed for about half a minute; then direct , it on to the right hand, and do the same: feel the sensation of “hand",. From the right hand go to your face, then to the top of the head, then to the abdomen, then the left hand, and finally the left foot. When you reach the left toot start going round again, round and round the body, right to left This exercise will put you to deep fpr certain, sooner or later. But even if it does not even if you find your attention wandering after some minutes of it you will discover other benefits, and bene-, fits of a kind that will make you want to try the exercise again and again, and make a permanent habit of it. It is an exercise one can do when wide awake, too. Try it