Last week I had the chance to practise my own therapy. I used to get so anxious about going to the dentist and hygienist – you know the story, belly churning, natural colonic, checking you’ve locked the door, turned your straighteners off ……………. Anyway, I cracked that sometime ago with deep breathing and self-hypnosis and I now look forward to half an hour relaxation and, whilst the hygienist is poking around in my mouth with water and polishers, I drift off to a nice half hour paddleboarding in the sunshine.

Well, last week was the real test – some minor surgery under local anaesthetic. No nerves in the morning and tummy quite OK, in fact a little hungry! Enjoyed a nice ride on the tram to my appointment and a drink in the sunshine (non-alcoholic of course!). I arrived early so that I could have a little chill out time with a magazine. No such luck – they called me in straight away.

‘This will be very uncomfortable’ the surgeon said. ‘The needles for the local anaesthetic are very unpleasant but won’t last too long’.

‘No problem’ I said acting all brave and looking forward to my lie down.

‘I’ll make a start – sharp scratch’ ……. I closed my eyes and started to drift off to my happy place.

‘Here’s a stress ball to squeeze’ the nurse said. I took it out of politeness but just held it and closed my eyes again.

‘Are you OK?’ they kept asking. ‘Yes, fine thank you’.

I think they thought I had passed out or died maybe!

They kept on talking to me so I decided in the end to leave my paddle boarding and have a nice chat with the nurse. ‘We have never had a patient so calm’ they told me at the end.

Me - ‘I’ll leave you my business card!’

So what was my secret?

I already had the self hypnosis skills I had taught myself for the dentist. This time, I wanted a little more so I made sure I was as relaxed as I could be. I knew the evidence behind using progressive muscle relaxation along with imagery, mindfulness and breath work. I practise progressive muscle relaxation anyway but decided to go for it twice daily leading up to my surgery. We often tell ourselves that we don’t have time for such things but you either make time for it or time to be anxious. It was a no brainer. Research shows that 15 minutes of PMR twice daily can enable us to relax on demand. It also gave me better quality sleep, helping me to drift off faster than usual so win-win.

So what is progressive muscle relaxation?

It is a way that we can release tension in our bodies we didn’t even know was there. By tensing and relaxing different muscle groups along with some breath work, you can learn to release all the tension out of your body. It’s surprising how good it feels. A bit like the feeling after a massage.

You can use it :-

- when you’re feeling anxious

- when you’re preparing for a stressful situation – a medical procedure, interview etc

- if you’re struggling to switch off at night or wake up feeling tense or wired

- if you find yourself holding tension in your body – headaches, clenching the jaw etc.

- at any time of the day when you need some calm.

When we hold too much stress in our bodies, through emotion, responsibility, life situations or whatever it may be, PMR gives us permission to let it all go.