Relaxation CDs can be an extremely effective technique for ridding your mind of stress, anxiety or even depressive feelings. Using relaxing music as a solution for your troubles may sound too easy to be true. However, the nature of relaxation CDs varies greatly, making them a flexible and viable method for a wide variety of people who are looking to reduce stress and anxiety in their daily lives.
What exactly constitutes a relaxing song will differ from person to person, making relaxation CDs a highly effective tool for dealing with stress and anxiety. Relaxing music for some may be purely instrumental music, such as classical scores or ornate operas. Others may prefer extremely mellow music using one instrument like an acoustic guitar, a piano or a quaint flute. Some may even find their favorite heavy metal rock band to be the most soothing. This fluid nature of relaxation CDs makes them an extremely accessible, popular relaxation technique.
Relaxation CDs are not limited to musical compilations alone. Many people enjoy CDs that are comprised of relaxing sounds. For example, many people enjoy listening to CDs that emulate some of the more soothing sounds of nature. Relaxing sounds often include: waves crashing on a sandy beach, the wind whistling through an evergreen mountain forest, the subtle rushing of a mountain stream, the low growl of an approaching thunder storm or the soft pattering of rain drops on the window. Relaxation sounds can even include other “white noise” such as radio static or wind chimes.
Relaxation CDs can be used to take you away on a guided journey to the world’s natural places. There are many relaxation CD programs in which a narrator guides the listener on a mental excursion out of his or her own world and into a peaceful, relaxing setting that seems utterly worry-free. Guided relaxation CDs can also serve the purpose of promoting self-esteem by using the repetition of mantras or positive-self talk. The narrator in these types of relaxation CDs guides the listener on a journey through understanding his problems, coming to terms with them, and lovingly accepting himself.
The ultimate goal of any effective relaxation CD or relaxation technique will be to solicit the relaxation response from the body, bringing the individual’s brain to the point where it is operating most productively using Alpha Brain Waves. The relaxation response is considered to be the physiological opposite of the “fight or flight” response. When the body is in a “fight or flight” state, it is aroused and on the defensive. Many people who have high stress and anxiety levels find themselves in this state far too often. Relaxation CDs can help bring the individual back down to physiological equilibrium by relaxing the mind and in turn, the body. Once the relaxation response has taken affect and the individual is in a resting state, the brain can begin to emit what scientists have termed Alpha Waves, a most desirable level of cognitive functionality. There are a number of cognitive benefits for the brain when using Alpha Waves, including increased creativity, stronger problem-solving abilities, emotional control, potentially enhanced athletic ability, decrease in fears or phobias, and even a stronger immune system.
Relaxation CDs are not the only relaxation technique that will elicit the relaxation response and promote the use of Alpha Brain Waves, but it is one simple and relatively accessible method. Using relaxation CDs in conjunction with other types of relaxing activity would be even more effective in helping individuals to achieve a state of relaxation.
