“Sure, pretty much everyone could benefit from therapy. But not everyone can afford it. Thankfully, there’s a whole world of free or affordable mental health care out there designed to help you with just about every issue, whether that’s kicking an addiction, managing your emotions, finding a group of like-minded peers, or recovering from trauma. Even better? Some of these resources are available whenever you need them. (No need to schedule an appointment between the hours of 9 and 5.) Support groups, hotlines and call centers, websites and online forums, and even apps can be put into action when you have a crisis or just need extra support.”
To help get you started, I’ve included a simple relaxation exercise that you can do anywhere at anytime.
The Relaxation Response
The following is the technique reprinted with permission from Dr. Herbert Benson’s book
The Relaxation Response pages 162-163
1. Sit quietly in a comfortable position.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Deeply relax all your muscles, beginning at your feet and progressing up to your face. Keep them relaxed.
4. Breathe through your nose. Become aware of your breathing. As you breathe out, say the word, “one”*, silently to yourself. For example, breathe in … out, “one”,- in .. out, “one”, etc. Breathe easily and naturally.
5. Continue for 10 to 20 minutes. You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm. When you finish, sit quietly for several minutes, at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes opened. Do not stand up for a few minutes.
6. Do not worry about whether you are successful in achieving a deep level of relaxation. Maintain a passive attitude and permit relaxation to occur at its own pace. When distracting thoughts occur, try to ignore them by not dwelling upon them and return to repeating “one.”With practice, the response should come with little effort. Practice the technique once or twice daily, but not within two hours after any meal, since the digestive processes seem to interfere with the elicitation of the Relaxation Response.
* It is better to use a soothing, mellifluous sound, preferably with no meaning.or association, to avoid stimulation of unnecessary thoughts – a mantra.
Mental Health Resources:
https://greatist.com/grow/resources-when-you-can-not-afford-therapy
Taking a minute to relax can do such good things for all of us! I need to get better about making/taking the time for this. So important. While not everyone can afford therapy or counseling, I know people who believe certain types of meditation can 100% take its place. So I hope that people who are really struggling will take advantage of outside help through another less expensive avenue, if counseling is too cost prohibitive. I have seen too many people I love go down dangerous paths with out seeking help or an antiquated stigma about asking for helping preventing them from doing it. While meditation is an excellent supplement and an important practice for our mental health (I’m going to try your exercise this afternoon;)!), I hope that as a culture more people will do as you did by pointing people in the direction of help!! And hopefully, we will all be more mentally well as a result!