Introduction
Everyone faces stress at some point in their life. Stress is the body’s emotional, physical and mental way of responding to everyday activities that are too much to handle. There is positive stress and negative stress (Greenberg, 2011). Positive stress is useful in assisting us to progress in life. On the other hand, negative stress is bad for our health and our mental functioning. There are a variety of stressors in our environment and to manage stress a lot of stress management techniques have come up. In the following report the stress management technique used is relaxation. The essay focuses on stretching as a relaxation technique for stress management.
Benefits of the stress management technique
The client undergoes a period whereby he/she is required to stretch every morning so as to manage stress. The client who undergoes the process loves surfing and indulges in it in almost a daily basis. On rare days when the waves are not good he doesn’t surf. The waves of the ocean, hence have a huge influence on the mood of the client. The client is affected by common stressors such as finances and loved ones e.g. girlfriend and family. There are numerous benefits of using stretching as a relaxation technique for managing stress.
- Stretching prevents injury for the client. Stretching allows more circulation of blood. It gives the veins more space for expansion, hence, allowing effective distribution of oxygen to the body and removal of wastes products (Greenberg, 2011).
- Stretching is beneficial to the heart. Some muscles have veins running through them for example gastrocnemius (Steiner, 2014). Continual stretching and contracting of these muscles allows for transmission of blood to the heart. In day 5, the client remarks that the stretching assists more than just mentally and spiritually.
- Stretching makes it easier to perform day to day duties with little resistance from the muscles. Through stretching one becomes more flexible making it easier to carry out activities. In this way it also slows down aging. One also gets less tired.
- Stretching enables one to have better health and well-being in general as it makes one feel relaxed (Steiner, 2014). In day 9, the client indicates that stretching enables him to have some fun even when the waves are not great.
- Stretching the diaphragm allows the lungs to be able to hold more air which also has a relaxing effect on the individual (Steiner, 2014).
- Reduces anxiety and enables one to have sound sleep. In day 8, the client is able to get through the stress of his financial problems by stretching.
In general, stretching enables an individual to reduce muscle tension which helps one to remain calm and relaxed making him/her deal with stress in a positive way while reducing stress as well. In day 7, the client says that stretching allows the chemicals in his body to affect his moods. The following chart shows stress levels in different days during which the technique was carried out. The stress levels steadily decrease with use of the relaxation technique.
Challenges encountered while trying to utilize the technique
It is time consuming as the client has to ensure he/she does the exercise on a daily basis. If the exercises are not performed in the right way they could result to injury. Clients with various physical limitations are not in a position to do the exercises such as the elderly. As can be deduced from the clients report on day 13, the stretching exercises can be hectic when one is performing them in the morning and has to go to work thereafter. The client may also be demotivated to carry out the exercise when he/she wakes up in a good mood since they feel no need for the exercise. Without surfing, the client has reduced motivation to perform the exercise as per the information he gave on day 6.
Another challenge encountered is that of the client wanting to push the limits. In day 12 the client says he always wants to push the limits and this can be dangerous. It is difficult to handle the client since it is up to the clients own drive to carry out the stretching. There is no direct observation of this, hence, clients with no self-drive are unlikely to carry out the exercises.
The clients need to be committed and motivated in changing behavior and sorting out their stressors (Olpin & Hesson, 2010). The technique requires a lot of dedication and commitment to follow through something that many people who are already stressed by other factors do not have. A positive attitude is required to work through the process. Sometimes the client may have trouble with having a negative attitude during the exercise regime thereby demotivating him.
Using the technique in future
Stretching as a relaxation technique for stress management is a method I would use in future and would encourage other therapists to use the same. I would use it in future because it provides a long term solution to stress which is what is needed in today’s world. It is also advantageous to both the physical health and mental health and the two are related. Without good physical health it is difficult to have good mental health. The exercises are interesting and fun to indulge in as can be deduced in day 14, where the client expresses his interest to proceed with the exercises. Stressors are everywhere and present themselves in a variety of ways (Olpin & Hesson, 2010). There is the stress people face while at work and personal stress. Stress cannot be eliminated in totality, it is good that individuals either learn to be resilient to the stress or to deal with it.
Conclusion
Stress interferes with ones, performance and health physically, emotionally and mentally. Stress is hindrance to effective performance at the activity at hand e.g. learning or working. A lot of medical conditions arise from stress especially because stress is linked to lowered immunity. Whatever the cause is, people need to learn to cope with stress as it is something one will face at one point or another in their life.
References
Greenberg, J. S. (2011). Comprehensive stress management, 12th edition. New York: McGraw-
Hill.
Olpin, M. and Hesson, M. (2010). Stress management for life: a research-based, experimental
approach, 2nd edition. Wadsworth. Cengage Learning.
Steiner, D. (2014). The Benefits of stretching. U.K. Bodyology School of massage.
<http://massagetherapy.co.uk/therapies-information/articles-and-notices/the-benefits-of-
stretching/>
