Self Relaxation
One major issue amongst athletes is dealing with excessively high levels of anxiety and tension. Although other athletes suffer from low levels of arousal, it is dealing with anxiety and tension that has become the biggest problem. The increase in tension and anxiety will most like result in weakening an athlete's performance. By combining this causes and effects and you get what is called the anxiety/stress spiral, which is high levels of anxiety and stress lead to a poor performance. However, four different relaxation procedures have surfaced to the top to help athletes cope with stress and anxiety. These four procedures are progressive relaxation, autogenic training, meditation, and biofeedback. The ultimate goal of any relaxation procedure is to enhance the relaxation response to counter stress in a specific situation. Amongst these four procedures there are also four factors involved for enhancing the relaxation response. All factors are present in all the procedures of relaxation. These four factors are mental device, passive attitude, decreased muscle tone, and a quiet environment. Progressive relaxation was introduced to us by an
According to Jacobson, an anxious mind cannot exist in a relaxed body"(Sports Psychology, Cox. In addition, Jacobson believed that nervousness and tenseness of involuntary muscles and organs could be reduced if the associated skeletal muscles were relaxed. "Limbs feel have because of a total lack of muscle tension, and the body feels warm due to dilation of blood vessels"(Sports Psychology, Cox. These two sensations are heaviness in the limbs and a feeling of warmth throughout the athlete's body. There are a few steps required for Jacobson's relaxation procedure: 1) The athlete must lie on their back with arms to their side, or seated comfortable in a chair 2) The athlete should be in a remotely quiet room with their legs cross to avoid any unnecessary stimulation 3) The athlete should learn how to tense a muscle first then relax it, this will help them understand the difference between a tense and a relaxed muscle. The finally component of the autogenic training process is the use of specific themes. Two sensations are associated with autogenic training. Imagery is when the athlete is persuaded to visualize images of relaxing scenes while at the same time focusing on the feelings of warmth and heaviness in their body. Mediation should be practiced in a particularly quiet room, and seated in a comfortable position. "It was Jacobson's basic thesis that it is impossible to be nervous or tense in any part of the body where the muscles are completely relaxed.
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