Relaxation skills to fend off stress and rejuvenate you

House Speaker Kenneth Marende had a nice holy dip last Sunday. His face didn’t betray much, as is often the case, but he was the picture of calm and humility as he submitted to the man of God (and the leading of the spirit, no doubt) who submersed him in the sin-cleansing water.

In his job the speaker needs calm and relaxation. His primary job of keeping order in the House (of Babel) is the very epitome of stress. Sometimes, when the country needs a Solomon to save it from itself, he writes long, albeit rambling, rulings, and we haven’t even mentioned that he is somebody’s husband and the father to his children.

It is not easy, you know, which I presume must have informed his search for divine indulgence. Can I humbly also recommend that he takes up relaxation techniques for stress management? Jesus would actually approve.

It is impossible, Mr Speaker Sir, to avoid stress completely — however hard you try — and in fact you shouldn’t be able to. The stress response floods your system with chemicals that alert you of possible danger and prime you to either fight or flee.

It is important in real emergencies but if you are always strung up like a guitar wire or your stress response is activated at the drop of a (speaker’s) wig then you are slowly wearing your body down and eventually something will give before you can even say “order”.

The body has an in-built natural relaxation response to stress which brings it back to balance through deep breathing, reduction of the stress hormones, the slowing down of the heart rate and blood pressure and the relaxation of muscles.

Unfortunately, we lose it as we grow up and to reactivate it we have to re-learn it all over again, which is a shame really because in addition to physically calming you relaxation also combats illness, relieves aches and pains, makes one alert and boosts motivation and productivity.

I don’t suppose, Mr Speaker Sir, that you are one of those people who equate relaxation response to lying down on the sofa with a beer the entire weekend, sleeping, or just lazing around.

You are wrong if you are, but relaxation that works is best done when one is fully awake and it engages the mind actively and leaves the body active, alert and relaxed.

Or perhaps you are one of those who go into a “fight or flight” mode whenever relaxation is mentioned because your pastor told you it is a heathen oriental religious ritual where they curl up on the floor and worship idols, cows and snakes.

Well, maybe some religions do that but there are scores of relaxation methods you could choose from and you don’t have to sit down on a mat cross-legged to do deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation and meditation (without OM-ing).

In fact learning the basics of these relaxation methods is quite simple and if you crave solitude you can do them in the privacy of your home.

To get the most out of a chosen relaxation routine, you should shoot for at least 30 minutes but you will soon enjoy it so much that an hour will not be enough. Be careful, though, that you don’t turn into a relaxation junky.

You should however set aside a time of the day, preferably to coincide with your morning devotion.