In my own life, anxiety nearly The Body’s Miraculous
Plan for Stress Control: Breathe Deeply and Let Tension Go by Marylou Gantner
S
everal years ago the Journal of the American Medical Association listed 27 symptoms due to tension and improper breathing. Doctors warned of an over-reliance on anti-anxiety drugs that often lead to crippling dependency. I agree—there is a better way! For 35 years I’ve successfully worked with thousands of clients who suffer from anxiety/ tension disorders and stress by using scientifi c relaxation skills, diaphragmatic breathing techniques and EMG biofeedback. 22 Central Florida natural awakenings
overwhelmed me at an early age. Through the years nothing I tried worked. Marriage, family, religion, meditation and therapy offered only brief periods of respite. In my junior year at Rollins College, I undertook independent studies in Psychology at the University of Florida. One morning I heard the renowned psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Wolpe speak. He was world-famous for his groundbreaking treatment of anxiety and stress disorders. He said, “If you are relaxed, you can’t be anxious and tense. Relaxation is a technical skill. Anyone can learn it.” Hearing these words changed my life. I asked Dr. Wolpe to train me personally at his behavior therapy unit at Temple University School of Medicine. Later I worked at Orlando Regional Mental Health Center as a mental health trainee. I noticed what was called the “revolving door syndrome.” Patients went from one crisis to the next, returning in six to eight weeks for more counseling. With my supervisor’s encouragement and Dr. Wolpe’s help, I developed training programs for the Center and began working directly with patients. To my delight, even the most diffi cult patients benefi ted from the training. The technical skill I taught is called Progressive Relaxation (also referred to as Scientifi c Relaxation). This Relaxation Response was discovered in the early 20th
century by the
brilliant internist, psychologist and physiologist Edmund Jacobson. As a young boy, he became curious about the nervousness he felt in himself and saw in others. As a young man, Jacobson entered Harvard Graduate School in the departments of Psychology and Philosophy with the hope of understanding and correcting this human condition. Instead, he found his professor, the famous psychologist William James, to be extremely nervous and unclear about its cause or what to do about it. Jacobson was further disheartened to learn that James was the author of what was referred to as “The Bible on Relaxation.”
Inspired that so few understood the condition of nervousness, Jacobson
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