by Nina

Meadow by Brad Gibson

Did you ever wake up in the middle of the night with your heart racing, short of breath, mouth dry, and thoughts racing? Maybe you just had a nightmare. Or maybe your mind was spinning, worrying about some difficulty at home or at work, or even about a disaster somewhere else in the world. Then you know intuitively that sleep is not necessarily “relaxing.”

Dr. Herbert Bensen, who originally discovered the relaxation response (see here for information), tells us that sleep, although necessary for our physical and emotional wellbeing, is a very different state than conscious relaxation. In The Relaxation Response he identified the following four basic differences:

  1. Dreams can actually cause stress when you have a nightmare and anxiety dream. On the other hand, during conscious relaxation, the production of stress hormones gradually decreases. And your other symptoms of stress, including physical and emotional sensations, gradually diminish. 
  2. During conscious relaxation, your consumption of oxygen  decreases by 10 to 20 percent during the first 3 minutes of practice (during sleep it decreases only 8 percent after about 4 or 5 hours). In the Rest and Digest state, you body needs less oxygen than when you’re in the Flight or Fight state (and are preparing to run or fight). 
  3. During conscious relaxation, your levels of blood lactate—a substance associated with anxiety attacks—fall rapidly within the first 10 minutes of conscious relaxation. As you relax, your thoughts stop racing and your mind quiets while your body is resting and digesting. 
  4. Slow brain waves (alpha waves), which are not commonly found during sleep, become more intense and frequent during conscious relaxation. 

Dr. Roger Cole, a sleep researcher and long-time yoga teacher, says that during rest or meditation our brain waves may slow to the alpha rhythm (8-12 cycles per second), during which we remain quietly aware of ourselves and our surroundings, without a lot of self-directed mental processing. Sometimes they may slow even further to the theta rhythm (4-7 cycles per second), during which we may get a “floating” feeling, dreamlike mental imagery, and withdrawal from the outside world. There is still much that is unknown about these unique states, but what is known is that regular practice of conscious relaxation helps foster ongoing feelings of serenity, contentment, and even happiness. 

Now you can see why taking a nap or sleeping in on Sunday morning just won’t produce the same results as yoga. On the other hand, practicing conscious relaxation on a regular basis will not only provide you with immediate relief, it can also reduce your overall stress levels, so you can maintain your health and face the difficulties that life presents with greater equanimity. To be honest, I don’t practice conscious relaxation just because I’m hoping that it will reduce my chances of getting heart disease or having a stroke in the future (although that’s definitely a bonus), I do it because it makes my life better, right here, right now.

Furthermore, as anti-intuitive as it might seem, relaxing while you are awake can even help you sleep better. When you are under great stress, it is difficult to fall asleep. Or, if you can fall asleep (because you are so tired) you often can’t stay asleep. To sleep well, your nervous system needs to be relaxed (if you are in a state of stress, you will be wakeful and alert, watching for danger) and your mind needs to be quiet (if your thoughts are racing, reviewing the past or worrying about the future, you will have a hard time settling down). But conscious relaxation, especially practiced before bed, will relax your nervous system and quiet your mind. And any of the methods I listed in my Monday post will produce these results. See here for further information.

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