If you enjoy these downloads, subscribe to Relaxation by Inner Health Studio podcast for a new relaxation download each week. Episodes of Relaxation by Inner Health Studio can be saved to your computer or burned to CD for your private, personal use. To access relaxation audio from each category, click on the heading and you will go to a page with a list of relaxation downloads that you can play directly from your computer. Quick List of Relaxation Downloads Categories details below :.
Visualization is the process by which you relax by picturing a relaxing scene, place, or image. The guided imagery scripts provided here allow you to relax and make positive changes. Guided Imagery can be used to visualize positive actions, changes, or accomplishments.
Relaxation specifically targeted at reducing anxiety in the moment by calming the mind and body. Relax by focusing the mind. A variety of physical relaxation exercises, whether by focusing on a specific muscle group, tensing and relaxing muscle groups, moving or stretching.
Relax using creative outlets - art, music, movement, or other forms of self-expression. In a hurry? Try these strategies to relax quickly, any time and any place. Relaxation audio scripts specifically aimed to help you quickly and easily fall asleep. Relaxation techniques that involve imagining your limbs are warm and heavy, breathing is slow and regular, etc. Sensory relaxation involves the use of the senses vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell to bring about relaxation.
This may involve imagining or experiencing different sensations. These kids relaxation audio downloads are free scripts for children that can be used to guide children or adults to relax using quick and easy relaxation techniques. Not sure where to find the download you are looking for?
You can search this site or see a complete list of relaxation scripts on the site map. Relaxation Techniques What is Relaxation? Back to Inner Health Studio Home. Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?
Please Note: Use relaxation audio and videos wisely. Passive Progressive Muscle Relaxation This free passive progressive muscle relaxation script guides you to relax each part of your body from head to feet. The quality of the overall research in the review was low to very low, but the possible benefits were deemed to be enough to recommend using the strategies in clinical practice.
Can relaxation techniques lower blood pressure? A review of 17 studies involving 1, participants indicated that slow breathing exercises led to a modest reduction in blood pressure and may be a reasonable first treatment for people with prehypertension or low-risk high blood pressure. The studies in this review, however, differed in how they were done and had short follow-up periods and high risk of bias. A review found that relaxation therapies and biofeedback might be helpful for reducing blood pressure, but only weak recommendations were made for their use because the quality of data from the 29 studies ranged from low to very low.
Following your treatment plan is important because it can prevent or delay serious complications of high blood pressure. Do relaxation techniques help anxiety? General stress and anxiety. A review looked at 24 studies— participants total—on heart rate variability HRV biofeedback and general stress and anxiety. HRV biofeedback involves receiving data on your heart rate from a device and then using breathing techniques to change your heart rate pattern. The review found that HRV biofeedback is helpful for reducing self-reported stress and anxiety, and the researchers saw it as a promising approach with further development of wearable devices like a fitness tracker.
A review of 3 studies, with a total of participants, found preliminary evidence suggesting that diaphragmatic breathing exercises may help to reduce stress. Promising positive changes were seen in mental health self-evaluations and in certain physical measures, such as cortisol levels and blood pressure.
Anxiety after a stroke. About 20 percent of stroke patients have anxiety at some point after their stroke. A review looked at interventions for anxiety after stroke. The review included one study on 21 stroke survivors with diagnosed anxiety.
The participants used a relaxation CD five times a week for a month. After 3 months, the participants had reduced anxiety. Anxiety related to surgery or dental procedures. A study included adolescents who were randomly assigned to nature sounds, relaxation exercises, or silent rest before undergoing scoliosis surgery.
A study included 68 periodontal patients with dental anxiety. Patients received either progressive muscle relaxation and oral health education or only oral health education before periodontal treatment once a week for 4 weeks. The people who received progressive muscle relaxation had reduced dental anxiety and depression symptoms 4 weeks and 3 months after treatment.
An earlier review on dental anxiety included 12 studies— participants total—on relaxation training or relaxation training combined with other treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy or graduated exposure. The researchers noted, however, that many of the studies were small and poorly designed, and the study designs differed from each other.
Anxiety disorders. A review of 16 studies that included people with anxiety disorders generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder found that relaxation therapy reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression, phobia, and worry. This review found relaxation therapy to be more effective than cognitive behavioral therapy for reducing anxiety.
Another review of 50 studies and 2, people found that relaxation therapy seemed to be less effective than cognitive behavioral therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. No difference was found between relaxation therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy for other anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias. The review noted, however, that most studies had a high risk of bias, and there was a small number of studies for some of the individual disorders.
Can relaxation techniques relieve pain? Pain after surgery. A review looked at various interventions done before surgery on pain after surgery in people who had elective surgery with general anesthesia. An analysis of 13 studies that involved relaxation techniques as part of the intervention found that relaxation techniques helped reduce pain after surgery.
Two reviews looked at the effect of relaxation techniques for postsurgical pain—one on abdominal surgery and the other on total knee replacement surgery. In most of the included studies, the interventions were done after surgery; in a few, the interventions were done both before and after surgery; one intervention was done during surgery. Because of a lack of high-quality studies, neither review found evidence to support the use of relaxation techniques for postsurgical pain.
In a review of 6 studies participants , 5 studies found that autogenic training or biofeedback-assisted autogenic training helped to reduce headache pain. But because there were few studies and limitations within the studies, the review authors said the findings should be viewed cautiously. In a review, five of eight studies found that hypnosis—usually self-hypnosis and often paired with guided imagery —resulted in less headache activity in people diagnosed with migraine or chronic headache disorder.
None of the studies in this review, however, were rated high quality. A review looked at 19 studies 2, total participants on psychological interventions for migraine and tension-type headache.
Most of the interventions involved relaxation training, cognitive behavioral therapy, or biofeedback —either individually or in some combination. Fifteen of the studies saw headache improvements, but the amount of improvement differed among the studies.
Depending on the study, participants reported a decrease in daily headache frequency ranging from 20 to 67 percent. While relaxation training paired with cognitive behavioral therapy appeared to have the most supportive research, the review authors said that the overall research was lacking in quality.
Low-back pain. The American College of Physicians recommends using nondrug methods for the initial treatment of chronic low-back pain. Chronic back pain is defined as back pain that lasts more than 12 weeks. Progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback are two of several nondrug approaches suggested in the most recent guideline. The guideline was based on a review that found that progressive muscle relaxation resulted in moderate improvement of low-back pain and function and that biofeedback led to a moderate reduction in low-back pain, though the evidence was rated as low.
A study of 58 people with chronic low-back pain found that progressive muscle relaxation helped with pain, anxiety, depression, quality of life, and sleep.
Participants had taken opioid medicines without any beneficial changes in the 3 months before starting the study. A review of 7 studies— participants total—found that guided imagery may be beneficial for adults with arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. The guided imagery was delivered by audio technology and ranged from a one-time exposure to twice daily for 16 weeks. Four of the studies, with a total of participants, looked specifically at pain.
An evaluation done in looking at nondrug treatments for chronic musculoskeletal pain found insufficient evidence for progressive muscle relaxation and no clear benefit from biofeedback for fibromyalgia.
This was based on 2 studies of biofeedback 95 participants total and 3 studies of relaxation techniques participants total. A review evaluated the research on heart rate variability biofeedback to treat fibromyalgia.
The review included 6 studies participants of chronic musculoskeletal pain and found that heart rate variability biofeedback was related to decreased pain. Although the review saw biofeedback as a promising treatment for chronic pain, only one study looked specifically at fibromyalgia-related pain. A review suggested that a single session of guided imagery was helpful for an immediate reduction in fibromyalgia-related pain, but results on the effects of prolonged guided imagery programs were conflicting.
The review included 6 studies on guided imagery, with a total of participants. Can relaxation techniques help during and after cancer treatment? In , the Society for Integrative Oncology updated its clinical practice guidelines on using integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology endorsed the updated guidelines. In the guidelines, relaxation techniques were recommended for improving mood and depression. The guidelines also said that relaxation techniques might help to reduce stress and anxiety and to control nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy in some individuals and could be offered to them.
Can relaxation techniques help you sleep? According to practice guidelines from the American College of Physicians , research is insufficient to understand how relaxation techniques might affect the sleep of the general population and older adults with chronic insomnia.
A review looked at 27 studies of psychological interventions to try to improve sleep. The studies involved 2, college students who ranged from healthy sleepers to those with a diagnosed sleep disorder.
Similar to the guidelines from the American College of Physicians, this review recommended cognitive behavioral therapy to improve sleep in college students. The review also found that relaxation approaches helped somewhat with sleep quality and sleep problems but especially with mental health. A review found that autogenic training or guided imagery helped shorten the time to fall asleep but that the treatments were no better than a placebo.
Seven studies involving a total of participants were considered. What does the research say about relaxation techniques and other conditions? Irritable bowel syndrome. A review on psychotherapeutic interventions for irritable bowel syndrome IBS included one small study that involved relaxation techniques. Sixty-nine adults with IBS participated in a 5-week course that had an educational component, psychological component, and training in progressive muscle relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing.
Compared to a wait-list control, the course led to improvements in IBS symptoms, depression, and quality of life. A single small study, however, does not provide much evidence. A systematic review found that relaxation techniques and cognitive behavioral therapy both helped improve mental health in adults with irritable bowel syndrome. But whereas cognitive behavioral therapy helped to improve daily functioning, relaxation techniques did not.
The review included 2 studies on relaxation techniques, with a total of adults. Similar to the prior review, this review had a small number of studies, so it does not provide a clear understanding.
A review found overall evidence that paced breathing could significantly improve hot flashes. Here are some of the best guided meditations for sleep. Note: these meditations are meant to guide you to sleep and you may fall asleep while doing them.
Instead of listening and meditating in a seated position, you will want to get ready for bed and lay down before you start. This 30 minute guided meditation features the soft a relaxing voice of a man. He will guide your breathing to remove tension and help your body relax and prepare for sleep with the sound of calming ocean waves.
You will easily drift off to sleep with this guided meditation. If you prefer to listen to the guided meditation on MP3, it is available to purchase from Amazon here. This 60 minute guided meditation for sleep features a quite male voice that will guide you from the stress and anxiety of your day into a calm and restfull sleep.
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