Relaxation Music for Reducing Stress
Stress is a significant factor that negatively impacts our health, specifically our physical and mental health. When stress becomes prolonged and overwhelming, the risks for mental health and medical problems increase. For example, long-term stress increases the risk of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, bipolar and sleep disorders, as well as symptoms such as irritability and difficulty concentrating.
Stress that's not dealt with can also lead to many medical and physical health problems. A few of the medical issues that a person can develop due to an inability to manage stress effectively are high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, gastrointestinal problems, and asthma. Unresolved stress is also positively correlated with substance use or addictive behavior problems.
Difficulty dealing with stress can also negatively impact an individual's work and vocational pursuits. Prolonged stress can affect a person's productivity, job satisfaction, absences, tardiness, and a company's employee turnover rates. Mood swings, withdrawal, loss of motivation, lower commitment, less confidence, and increased emotional reactions such as burnout and being more aggressive can also be symptoms of stress.
Stress can also negatively impact relationships with family members, friends, and intimate, romantic partners. When people are experiencing high levels of stress, they become more withdrawn and distracted, and less affectionate towards their friends and loved ones. They also have less time for leisure activities, which leads to alienation between friends and partners.
There are many coping mechanisms and stress management techniques that help with stress. Regular exercise, deep breathing exercises, massages, getting enough sleep, and guided relaxation techniques allow people to better cope with stress. In addition, seeking guidance and counseling, attending a support group, balancing work and play, and socializing with friends and family can help a person deal with stress better.
Therapeutic relaxation music is one of the most effective techniques for effectively and efficiently reducing stress and promoting relaxation. Listening to relaxation music has powerful effects on both the body and mind. Relaxation music slows breathing, lowers heart rate and blood pressure, quiets the nervous system, eases muscle tension, reduces anxiety, improves sleep, and can help with physical healing and recovery.
In my practice as a psychotherapist, I utilize therapeutic relaxation music to help my clients learn how to experience a deep state of relaxation and, as a result, reduce their anxiety and stress. When relaxed, clients tend to have a better and more productive outcome in counseling. I am a licensed therapist and a musician. As a musician, I have used my skills to create my brand of therapeutic relaxation music.
I have also mixed my therapeutic relaxation music, which is intentionally very slow in tempo, with binaural audio tones, primarily in the theta range. The binaural audio tones enhance the relaxation experience and response. Each recording of my music also includes a brief introduction to enhance the relaxation experience further. My therapeutic relaxation music is also excellent for the practice of meditation.
The optimal way to listen to my therapeutic relaxation music is with good-quality headphones. It is also important to rest comfortably in a chair or lie down while listening to the relaxation music recording. As you listen to my music, focus only on the relaxation music. When your attention wanders from the music, gently bring it back to paying attention to only the relaxation music.
As you continue to listen to the relaxing music, notice your breathing and ensure that you breathe slowly, feeling the air entering your nose and then exhaling as the air leaves your body through your nose again. Remember to pay attention to the relaxation music until the recording ends. Listen to the therapeutic relaxation music recording every day.
Each recording of my therapeutic relaxation music is approximately 30 minutes long and costs only $2.95. In addition, each recording comes with a full money-back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied. If you are a provider of healthcare services and are interested in how you can incorporate my therapeutic relaxation music in your clinical work, please call me at 305-498-3442 for a free consultation.
Dr. Harry Henshaw
Positive Affirmations for Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is essential to our health and well-being. Self-esteem affects every aspect or domain of our lives. Whether our self-esteem is positive or negative, it will affect our work and vocational aspirations, finances, relationships, and mental and physical health. When we have negative self-esteem and think and believe that we are not good enough, we tend to have a negative self-fulfilling prophecy and, as a result, self-sabotage.
Many people attempt to create positive self-esteem by having, doing, or by other people's opinions of them. Some believe that acquiring things of monetary value, like an expensive house or car, will make them think and feel good about themselves. Others believe they will feel good about themselves if they can do something, like a valuable job or essential profession. Still, others will think that getting others to like or think highly of them will make them feel worthwhile and increase their self-worth.
Many believe they can improve their self-esteem by utilizing the abovementioned methods, but none create lasting, authentic self-esteem. There is only one genuine way to improve self-esteem. The most effective method for improving or enhancing self-esteem is cognitive restructuring. Cognitive restructuring is a technique that helps you identify and challenge negative thought patterns and replace them with healthier, positive ways of thinking.
Cognitive restructuring can involve using positive affirmations to help you redefine or transform your current negative self-image and, as a result, improve your self-esteem. An affirmation is anything that you say or think. We can transform our self-image by repeating positive affirmations throughout the day. While this process of transforming oneself is simple, it takes work. Transforming your self-image using a cognitive restructuring strategy with positive affirmations takes time and must be done daily to have the desired effect.
Positive Affirmations have a powerful and profound effect on our psychological and physiological well-being. Using positive affirmations decreases stress, reduces anxiety, increases positive self-worth and self-esteem, controls and eliminates self-sabotaging thoughts and speech, improves academic performance, improves mood, improves problem-solving, promotes positive coping, helps individuals be open to behavior change, improves work, improves relationships with others, improves your ability to be more optimistic, enables you to sleep better.
As a practicing psychotherapist, I have created positive affirmation recordings. I utilize these positive affirmation recordings to help my clients learn how to reduce their negative thoughts and increase positive thinking. This results in improved self-image, self-esteem, and confidence. When my clients use the positive affirmation recordings as prescribed, they get positive results.
My positive affirmation recordings use ten positive affirmations recorded and presented to the listener in a loop fashion. My therapeutic relaxation music is mixed with the positive affirmation recording to relax the individual listening. Research has shown that when a person is relaxed and comfortable, he is more open and receptive to fully accepting positive affirmations.
The optimal way to listen to this recording of positive affirmations is with good-quality headphones. It is also important to rest comfortably in a chair and in front of a full-length mirror while listening to my recording. Ensure you will have no distractions while listening to the positive affirmations on this recording. You must give your full attention to the positive affirmation recording.
When you eventually hear a positive affirmation, there will be a pause of about seven seconds before you hear the following positive affirmation. During this seven-second pause, you will repeat the positive affirmation you just heard aloud. It is essential to say the positive affirmation to yourself in the mirror. During the recording, keep your attention only on the recording of positive affirmations and the image of yourself in the mirror.
If your attention wanders from looking at the picture of yourself in the mirror or listening to the positive affirmations on the recording, gently bring your attention back to the positive affirmations and the image in the mirror. Keeping your attention focused on the positive affirmations and your image in the mirror is part of the meditative experience of the recording. Listen to the entire positive affirmation recording until it ends.
As the recording ends, choose one of the ten positive affirmations to rehearse verbally during the day. This is your positive affirmation to repeat to yourself throughout the day. Choose another positive affirmation the next day, and so on, until you have verbally rehearsed all ten of the positive affirmations on the recording. Continue this practice daily.
Each recording of my positive affirmations is approximately 30 minutes long and costs only $2.95. In addition, each recording comes with a full money-back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied. Click below to experience my positive affirmation recording and to buy it today. When you buy the positive affirmation recording, it will be emailed to you immediately.
Dr. Harry Henshaw
