Practical Relaxation Tools for Everyday Health Challenges

In this week's minisode, Rebecca Lyons underscores the transformative power of relaxation in managing chronic illness and promoting overall well-being.  Rebecca's dual expertise in public health and yoga shines through as she shares profound insights into the relaxation response—a game-changing concept introduced by Dr. Herbert Benson. 

Listen and Learn:

• Evidence-based techniques to effectively reduce stress, ehance immune function, and improve mental health
• The benefits of the relaxation response for chronic illness management 
• Ways to integrate relaxation techniques into healthcare engagement programs

Expert: Rebecca Lyons, Healthcare Strategist and Yoga Instructor

Thanks for tuning in. Subscribe today to receive new episode drops, comment with questions for our hosts/guests and follow @GoMoHealth on social for the latest in healthcare engagement.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
There are times in the world and life when a
discovery changes how we dothings.
Hi, I'm Shelley Schoenfeld.
Join me on this journey ofdiscovery as we unfold a whole
person health delivery sciencefor people in need.
Welcome to Human ResilienceChanging the Way Healthcare is
Delivered.
In this episode, we'll hearfrom Rebecca Lyons.
We all know the importance andthe power of relaxation on our

(00:23):
mental health and mindset whenit comes to daily living and
sometimes that's hard toremember to do.
To relax, step back, take abeat, take a breather, take a
moment to get a better mentalpositioning on what we need to
manage in our daily lives.
Rebecca Lyons of GOMO Health isgoing to share with us today

(00:46):
some evidence-based data on thepower of relaxation when it
comes to complex chroniccondition management and the
incredible positive impact itcan have in those situations.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Hi, my name is Rebecca Lyons.
I have a master's in publichealth and an undergraduate
degree in developmentalpsychology.
I also am a registered yogainstructor through the Yoga
Alliance and I've worked overthe years in many health care
settings designing patientengagement and education

(01:22):
programs, and also have workeddirectly with individuals to use
yoga and breath work to helpthem through various health care
journeys.
Today I'm going to be talking alittle bit about something
called the relaxation responseand how it's been such a big
part of what I've understood isimportant for healing and really

(01:48):
for all of us everyone to thinkabout how we activate the
parasympathetic nervous systemto take ourselves out of fight
or flight kind of stressors inour life, regardless of whether
or not we're also dealing withchronic health care issues or in
the middle of an acute healthcare experience.

(02:10):
I'm going to share a little bitabout the relaxation response.
I'll explain what it is and whyit's important when supporting
those who are living withchronic illness or those going
through stressful lifetransitions.
The relaxation response is aphysical state of deep breath

(02:31):
that changes the physical andemotional responses to stress.
It was first described by DrHerbert Benson in the 1970s as
the opposite of thefight-or-flight response.
When the relaxation response isactivated, it helps to
counteract the harmful effectsof stress by slowing the heart
rate, lowering blood pressureand relaxing muscles.

(02:51):
This is especially important toconsider for those who are
dealing with chronic illness.
Of course, everyone can benefitfrom these practices, but for
those with chronic illness, therelaxation response is
especially beneficial becauseone, it reduces stress.
Chronic illness often comes withpersistent stress, which can

(03:14):
exacerbate symptoms and lead toadditional health problems.
The relaxation response helpsto reduce the stress, promoting
a sense of calm and well-being.
Two, it improves immunefunction.
Chronic stress can weaken theimmune system, making it harder
for the body to fight offinfections.
When we reduce stress, therelaxation response can help

(03:34):
improve immune function.
Three, it helps to manage pain.
Techniques that elicit therelaxation response, such as
deep breathing, meditation andprogressive muscle relaxation,
can help manage chronic pain byreducing muscle tension and
promoting a sense of controlover the pain.
Four, it can enhance emotionalhealth.

(03:54):
Chronic illness can take a tollon mental health, leading to
anxiety and depression.
The relaxation response isbeneficial to help mood and
reduce symptoms of anxiety anddepression.
Now I'll move on to explaintechniques that one can use to
elicit the relaxation response.
Below are just a few, althoughthere are a few many that can be

(04:19):
used For today.
I'll just focus on some of themost common and most researched.
The first is deep breathing.
So in order to do this, oneshould focus on slow deep
breaths that calm the nervoussystem.
There are many apps availablenow with guided meditation,

(04:39):
guided breath work that can befound for free and also for paid
subscriptions.
There are also multiple thatyou could find on YouTube just
by searching deep breathing ordeep breathing for relaxation.
One to try.
There are so many differentkinds, but one to search up
would be box breathing.

(04:59):
Another practice would bemeditation, which allows people
to practice mindfulness.
Guided meditations are alsofantastic.
They help to relax the mind andbody.
There are myriad apps nowavailable to help one start and
stick with a meditation practice.
It could be as simple assitting still for just five to

(05:20):
10 minutes in silence.
You don't even need an app.
You can really just sit andfocus on your body sensations
and your breath and just watchthe breath as it comes in and
out, just paying attention tothe moment in a non-judgmental
way.
Another practice that many arevery familiar with would be yoga

(05:41):
, which is a mind-body practiceusing physical postures,
breathing exercises andmeditation.
It's really a combination ofwhat we've already talked about
to promote relaxation byfocusing the mind on bodily
sensations and reducing muscletension.
Another, maybe less commonpractice that has gained
awareness recently is callednon-sleep deep rest, or

(06:05):
sometimes NSDR for short.
This is a term that was coinedby Dr Andrew Huberman, a
neuroscientist at StanfordUniversity.
He describes the state of deeprelaxation that can be achieved
without actually sleeping.
Nsdr encompasses variouspractices, such as meditation,
yoga, nidra and hypnosis, whichcan help to calm the nervous

(06:28):
system and promote mental andphysical recovery.
One of the best teachers ofthis practice that I've found is
named Kelly Boyes.
That's K-E-L-L-Y, new wordB-O-Y-S.
You can find her content forfree on YouTube, or I really
love what she has recorded andplaced on the Waking Up app,

(06:50):
which is available on the AppleApp Store.
That's Sam Harris's app.
You can try a month for freeand access all of her deep rest
content on that app.
A regular practice of thesetechniques can help individuals
with chronic illness managetheir symptoms more effectively
and improve their overallquality of life.
At GOMO Health, we providesupport and programming for

(07:13):
people living with chronicillnesses.
As such, we often includeeducation and guidance to
encourage our programparticipants to utilize many of
these techniques to elicit therelaxation response.
Some examples of how we'veleveraged these practices and
techniques are as follows We'vereduced caregiver stress caused

(07:37):
by caring for a child withautism by providing links to
guided meditations, yogapostures, breathing exercises.
We've provided simplerelaxation techniques to support
general wellness and reliancefor those in the military.
We've taught general wellnessand stress reduction to
employees through our WellSyncprogram and we've also provided

(07:59):
quick in-the-moment breathingexercises and body scans to
support busy new moms who arestruggling with baby blues and,
in some cases, even postpartumanxiety and depression.