The 10-Day Relaxation Plan
The 10-day relaxation plan has been worked out with the average person in mind, but all of us are different and sometimes it is necessary to spend a couple of days sampling one particular section or another. Keep your plan flexible. It is far better to give yourself a chance to assimilate the day’s relaxation teaching and be confident that you are happy with it before you move on than to rush through the course in the minimum of 10 days and maybe not achieve the desired result.
Each day’s relaxation training takes between 20 and 30 minutes to complete, and ideally it should be practised twice during the course of the day. Once learned, the exercises are revised and then built into your own individual relaxation routine.
Choosing your method
Learning to relax is not a push-button process that can be switched on in the same way by everyone. We are all made differently and stress affects us differently as well. To some extent age comes into this, but so also do other characteristics.
I suggest three groups of students for my three rather different relaxation programmes:
Group 1: This technique usually works best for younger age groups (15-35).
Group 2: This is mainly for the 35-60 age group, but some from this age group will find Group 1 techniques
more attractive than Group 2 methods, even if they are nearer 40 than 20.
Group 3: Most of those who use Group 3 techniques to relax are over 60, but some of that age group cheerfully opt for Group For some, a disability will direct them towards this group despite their more tender years.
Spend a little time looking at the group identification chart on the following two pages before you go ahead and learn to relax in 10 days. But don’t be put off if you find that you do not fit precisely into any of the three groups. The aim of the programme is for you to discover the technique that best triggers the relaxation response in you. If in doubt, start by following the course you think you will most enjoy; and change if it does not work for you.
