This is a tremendous gain in itself, and more than enough to justify
their use.
The most important effects of relaxation and exercise are psycho-
logical: They move fearful people from passively accepting their disorder to
doing something about it. This shift in perception shift is crucial to healing
from any psychological disorder, and it cannot be achieved through talk-
ing alone. It must be experienced.
The procedures themselves are simple. Exercise can be a brisk walk
or anything else that gets the heart rate up for at least 20 minutes a day.
As for relaxation techniques, there are many. You’ve already learned
one approach in the chapter on basic calming.
Some techniques are more mechanical. They involve active relax-
ation of muscle groups in a standard sequence. The key is knowing that
it’s easier to relax a muscle if you tense it first. Try it yourself: Tighten the
muscles in your face into an exaggerated frown. Hold it to the count of
five. Now let go. Do you feel the difference? The Jacobson deep muscle
relaxation technique does this sort of thing with feet, calves, legs, buttocks,
stomach, chest, and so forth. It’s direct and specific, if a bit unimaginative,
which, if you think about it, is the perfect approach for people whose imag-
inations run away with them.
Other techniques, like imager yand self-hypnosisare more creative.
They exploit the fact that the brain can’t tell reality from fantasy. Try this:
- Imagine yourself throwing up in public, with a bunch of
people pointing, laughing, and holding their noses. As you
picture this alarming scene, what happens to your body? I’ll
bet it turns on your fight or flight response. - Now imagine lying on the beach in the warm sunshine
without a care in the world. See the palm trees, smell the salt
breeze, hear the slow steady rhythm of the surf. Try to feel
yourself nestling down into the soft warmth of tropical sand.
Are you feeling more relaxed?
There are countless variations on this same theme, repeated end-
lessly in books and recordings. All of them work. The magic is inside.
It’s just a matter of picking one and doing it over and over. I often sug-
118 ❧Explosions into Fear