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New Choices in Natural Healing: Tape Your Way to Relaxation

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Tape Your Way to Relaxation

Tape Your Way to relaxation

You buy one of those fancy relaxation tapes, assuming that a calm voice and a bit of New Age music will help you find the inner tranquillity that has eluded you.

But you may be disappointed.

Commercially produced relaxation tapes have a couple of critical limitations, says Matthew McKay, Ph.D., clinical director of Haight Ashbury Psychological Services, a nonprofit counseling center in San Francisco, and co-author of The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook. First, the tape may advocate a relaxation or meditation technique that isn't particularly effective for you. Second, you might not find the music soothing.

"There are tapes out on the market that claim to be relaxation tapes. But our studies show that if a person doesn't like the music, those tapes can actually increase anxiety," says Valerie Stratton, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Pennsylvania State University in Altoona. "The bottom line is if you want to relax, listen to something that is familiar and that you like rather than a preprogrammed relaxation tape."

Dr. McKay suggests that you try making your own relaxation tape. Creating your own tape allows you to combine relaxation techniques that work for you, and you can change the tape as your needs change. Using your own voice can also make your tape more personal and friendly.

"Using a tape frees you from trying to relax while giving yourself directions in your head. That can be difficult to do, even for people who have been using relaxation techniques for years," says Janet Messer, Ph.D., a psychologist in Eugene, Oregon.

Tape this chapter's instructions for the technique that works best for you, Dr. McKay suggests. Speak slowly and in a calm tone. Leave gaps in the tape to give yourself adequate time to follow the recorded instructions.

Experiment with dubbing your voice over background music if you want, but to simplify the process, Dr. McKay suggests recording the script without music. Then when you practice the relaxation technique, play the script on one tape deck, and if you wish, play music on a second deck or CD player. Finally, don't be discouraged if it takes several tries to get the instructions recorded at the right speed for you.

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