Comment April 1978 Page 3 of fans as his most stressful situation, we asked him to imagine the most relaxed situation he could think of. For this particular young man it was a soft, quiet Approach stress snowfall outside, while he was warm and comfortable’ before a fire.’’ Taking him backward from the greatest stress while performing he admitted to experiencing less tension while playing before high school students, then junior high students. Finally, he was most relaxed playing in the backyard with small neighborhood children watching through the fence. nt Id In ch th en ist ‘“‘We tried to help this student achieve the same amount of relaxation— picturing the neighborhood setting— when he played in the gymnasium. It worked and he was able to complete a very successful season,’’ said Dr. activity level to return to a more normal state. ‘People who are experiencing a great deal of up-tightness are doing so because _ they have acquired an emotional habit of responding in a way that is similar to the way they react under stress—when in fact the stress is not present,’’ said Dr. Carson. They are creating and main- Carson. FEELING STRESS? Dr. Gary Carson, right, explains the western behavioral approach to stress management. Tony Spanos, foreign student advisor, tries out relaxation techniques. taining stress reactions and must assume responsibility for eliminating these emotional habits through selfmanaged processed or with professional assistance. reactions such as sweating palms, know we’re the to restore a more Relaxation state and back off tension include eating, injesting alcohol or drugs, running and or crease stress and it becomes exercise, relaxation emotive imagery. a vicious include and new sense generates a mental rational RELAXATION he was ready to quit although he was an outstanding player. It has been reported Johnny Mathis suffered from acute apprehension until using this same process. The young athlete came in for help. Using his experience while per- forming before a knowledgeable crowd by 10-second intervals over a 2 minute time frame. Having engaged in deep breathing in this manner the person then allows the normal rate to be established and becomes aware of the natural rythmn and relative effortlessness of his breathing and in this context imagines himself functioning optimally in what is usually a_ stress-inducing. circumstance,’’ said Dr. Carson. Practicing this process three times a day for 3-4 minutes, assists a person in the process of emotional TECHNIQUES study the sensations...relax; straighten the best of your ability. Each time pay close attention to your feelings when you chest, stomach, and lower back, hips, thighs and calves, followed by complete it, tense up. Straighten arms. Feel tension body relaxation. the tension again...relax; your straighten out, notice the difonce more...repeat with left fist. your left fist while the rest of in the triceps muscles along the back of your arms. Stretch arms and feel tension. Relax. Get your arms back into a wards from four to one. You should feel fine and refreshed, wide awake and in your right fist, hand, forearm...relax. Let the fingers of your right hand become the contrast in your relaxed your loose, and feelings...try all over. right observe fist Once to more, tight...hold out your fingers and feel relaxation. Continue relaxing hands and forearms more and more...Bend elbows and tense biceps, tense them harder and harder and study the tension again. relaxation develop...tense biceps; tension and observe When you wish to get up, count back- comfortable position. Let the relaxation proceed on its own. The arms should feel comfortably heavy as you allow them to calm. Enjoy the contrast...Repeat once more, relax. Straighten the arms once more so clench the left fist, tight and tense...do you P.S. Please finish reading paper before you begin or it will slip off onto the opposite of tension-relax and feel the difference. Continue relaxing for a muslces; straighten them. tension...relax. Concentrate your body relaxes; clench that fist tighter and feel the tension...relax. while...Clench both fists tighter and tighter, both fists tense, forearms tense, feel the tension in the triceps Feel the on pure relaxation in the arms without any tension. Get your arms comfortable and the floor. reeducation, resulting in the reduction of stress. relax the facial area, neck shoulders, and upper back for 4-5 minutes. Relax Settle back as comfortably as you can. clench a full-house audience. It was so stressful Deep breathing exercise involves inhalation and exhalation seperated carefully...Straighten arms and relax to (time: 4-5 ARMS Let yourself relax. As you relax clench your right fist, tighter and tighter. Study the tension. Keep it clenched and feel the notice fingers ference Clench relaxed state and then imagining a series of scenes that more and more closely approximate the testing, math or performance circumstance that creates maximum amounts of apprehension. ‘‘As an example,” said Dr. Carson, ‘“‘we had an athlete a few years ago who was under extreme stress playing before Let hold OF min.) become desensitization and involves attaining a Rational Emotive Imagery, feels this to be the most efficient process for emotional reduction and_ stress management.”’ let them relax further and further. Continue relaxing your arms ever further. Even when your arms seem fully relaxed, try to go that extra bit further; try to achieve deeper and deeper levels of relaxation. Using the same procedure as above, RELAXATION tension of of the tension that exists in the muscles. Gaining this mental awareness comes through a process in which a person contracts and relaxes the various muscle groups in the body. Eventually the relaxation is recognized by the person as an active involvement in ‘‘letting go’’ of the tension, by increments. Learning relaxation by steps, and practicing over a period of several weeks, the person can eventually induce states of relaxation, gaining a general anti-stress capability. rational responses a awareness of what it feels like to let go Often when we feel anxiety we resort to eating. Eating has reduced similar feelings of anxiety in the past. Habits adopted to lessen tension, such as eating, drugs or alcohol, have later consequences of their own which then in‘circle. More adaptive of the beginning. comfortable engaging in relaxation emotive imagery. generation aliveness and freshness, Dr. Carson said. It is important to be moderate, building up to it and not over-taxing in experiencing apprehension, Dr. Carson said. Anumber of responses we can use that seem foundation for inhibiting anxiety associated with specific stress inducing situations such as taking tests, math classes or engaging in the performing arts, including athletics. This process is known as systematic that taxes the body drains out tension. The advantage of draining off tension is in- creased heart rate and breathing, and “butterflies’’ in the stomach. These clues let us Relaxation can also be used as the Any strenuous exercise such as calisthenics, jogging, and swimming There are many clues to anxiety responses, including psysiological Rational emotive imagery is a similar process involving deep breathing exercises coupled with scenes created by the person in which they see themselves functioning in the fear situation in an optimally effective way. ‘‘Maxi-Maultsby, M.D., author of