To stay healthy and happy, you should try to eliminate stress as much as possible. Too much stress agitates the nerves and leads to permanent damage to health.

 

People who are often nervous and irritable usually have few positive relationships with other people, because stress acts as a negative pole when dealing with other people. You should not simply accept stress as part of your life, but consciously do something to calm your nerves.

 

Various methods for calming nerves

- Yoga

- Tai Chi

- Soothing music

- A warm bath by candlelight

- Sport and gymnastics

- Meditation

- Hypnosis

- Massage

- Autogenic training

 

Calming the nerves involves more than contentment and leisure enjoyment. Relaxation is an important process that slows down ageing and helps both body and mind to cope with life's difficulties. Relaxation techniques improve the way we deal with stress. Physical effects of relaxation include slowing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure, calm breathing, improved circulation, relaxed muscles and reduced oxygen consumption.

 

Autogenic training refers to the internally induced relaxation of body and mind. This technique reduces stress through visualisation and body awareness. Certain words or images are repeated in the mind to relax and loosen the muscles. You visualise a peaceful place and at the same time concentrate on calm breathing, a calm heartbeat and sensory impressions as well as the gradual relaxation of the individual parts of the body.

 

Through conscious muscle relaxation, you concentrate on individual muscle groups, which you first tense slowly, hold the tension briefly and then relax the muscles. This allows you to notice the difference between tense and relaxed muscles, as you often don't even realise that you are keeping certain muscle groups tense. You usually start with your toes and work your way gradually through your whole body to your head and individual facial muscles. The muscles are tensed for 5 seconds and then relaxed for 30 seconds.

 

A good way of calming the nerves is through visualisation. Imagine a beautiful and peaceful scene using your senses, e.g. smells, sounds and textures. If you imagine a relaxing scene by the sea, think of the warm rays of the sun, the sound of the waves, the smell of salt water and the feeling of grains of sand between your fingers.

 

Further tips for calming the nerves

Avoid caffeine, which irritates damaged nerves even more

Consume less sugar

A healthy diet with fruit, vegetables and wholemeal products

Consciously take breaks at set times during work, set an alarm if necessary

Walk around the room in between, close your eyes and take a deep breath

Long walks

Avoid alcohol

 

If you feel that conventional relaxation methods do little to calm your nerves, you may have a behavioural disorder that should be treated by a doctor.