The Relaxation Workbook

by Martha Davis and Elizabeth Robbins Eshelman

How to reduce stress and relax workbook This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0934986045
• ISBN13: 9780934986045
• Release Date: April 1985
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
• Length: 207 Pages
• Weight: 4.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Stress reduction for dummies

Sure we're all stressed a little now and then, but when the stress REALLY starts to build up and becomes too much, consider this little helper. An oversized volume (making it much easier to read), this book contains not one, but MANY different ways of reducing your stress- that's why its called a workbook. And this is precisely what makes this book such a gem- there's virtually something in it for everyone. If you don't like one technique, no problem, just go to the next chapter and try another one until you find one that suits you. A handy book that should help de-stress a lot of people, I give it 5 stars easy. Can also recommend The Sixty-Second Motivator for readers who have trouble getting motivated to do healthy things regularly- like practice relaxation techniques!

Best compilation of current techniques available

Unlike many books, this book is exactly what the title purports it to be. It is a workbook containing most of the common and not so common techniques being used for relaxation and stress reduction today. Each chapter not only describes a technique but also what symptoms you can expect it to relieve and an estimate of how long you will have to use it in order to master the technique. I have seen no other book that does such a thorough job as this one. That is not to say that there are not others that are much better on a specific technique, but this is the best overall survey of all the currently used and effective techniques and the only one that guides you to what to expect, the details of the techniques and how long you will have to practice before seeing results.

I love this book

This book has helped me deal with stress in a practical way. Fist it explores where you store your stress and how it manifests in your life. Then it will help you identify the stress reduction exercises that will help you the most. The exercise explainations are very easy, step-by-step and assuring. It does not include religous overtones, so anyone can enjoy it. Like I said, it is a very practical guide. It has made a real difference in my life.

an absolute "must-have"!

I am a university instructor of stress management education, and this is the textbook I use. The authors cover the salient points of modern stress and how to manage it in an easily readable and understandable way. I recommend this workbook to all my students and clients. This is, by far, the most concise and efficient book available today for every person!

A Cornucopia Of Coping Strategies

Brew yourself a cup of your favorite herbal tea and curl up in a quiet corner because you're in for a treat. This book is exactly what the title says it is - a workbook for relaxation and stress reduction - and its user-friendly style enables the reader to dip into any chapter at will and derive something useful and informative from it. The book's orientation is very much a holistic approach and the authors' emphasis on mental coping methods dovetails nicely with the chapters on reducing physical stress symptoms. I found the progressive relaxation guidance (including instructions for creating your own tape) particulary well done and helpful. As the authors make so clear, many of us are unaware of how and where we store our tension and how our breathing impacts our ability to move from a stress response to relaxation. Methods such as progressive relaxation - systematically tensing and relaxing all the large muscle groups in the body - aid in gaining awareness of what we are experiencing physically both during stress and in relaxation. The book also discusses goals, time management, nutrition and exercise, with copious worksheets for the reader to dissect which area(s) he or she most needs to focus on to achieve more individual balance, and therefore less stress. The end of each chapter includes suggestions for further reading, providing the reader a jumping off point for deeper work in a particular area, if needed. Each chapter is a module for bringing about psyche/soma homeostasis. The book's one drawback in my view is the length of the personal stress analysis worksheets. One is of course free to skip over them or complete only a portion of each one. Overall though, the book provides a palatable plethora of nurturing and nourishing ideas and methods for bringing mind, body and spirit to a place of respite and repose, whatever one's outer circumstances may be.