based breathing exercises . Guided relaxation helps to deeply calm the mind and body . Doing it is simpler than you think : You can download an audio file on your smartphone , put in your headphones , close your eyes , and follow along on a journey to a peaceful state .
Guided relaxations calm the nervous system by decreasing blood pressure , heart rate and muscle tension while increasing blood flow . When your mind is in a state of stress from pain or anxiety , your breathing becomes tense and shallow . But research shows that when you consciously change your breathing , you can quickly change how you feel as well . In doing so , the mind is lulled into a state of peaceful relaxation . When the physiological “ attack " signals are silenced , mind and body enter a state that signals " trust and safety ," which promotes physical and mental well-being .
In our research with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with trauma , we found that one week of intensive breathing practices ( called sudarshan kriya yoga ) normalised anxiety — and the results were maintained one month and one year later . There ' s more to the expression " take a deep breath " than we think .
2 . The Meditation Solution
Meditation is another technique that cultivates the healing re‐ laxation response . Brain scans of regular meditators show re‐ duced activity in the regions of the brain associated with pain and increased activity in regions associated with emotion regulation , along with many other benefits . People with chronic pain or anxiety who learn to meditate report that their pain or trauma has less of an impact on them ; it may still be there , but it matters less and is , therefore , less distressing . Research we conducted at Stanford University on compas‐ sion meditation showed that meditation significantly reduced chronic pain . ( Try a loving-kindness meditation .)
When diaphragmatic breathing , relaxation , or meditation are used regularly , your mind and body are retrained to be less reactive to pain and other stressors — and your nervous system is calmed .
3 . Thought Control
Patterns of negative thoughts can increase pain and suffer‐ ing , so it ' s important to learn how to stop obsessing and catastro-phising .
One way to do this is through cognitive behavioural therapy ( CBT ), which helps people identify and change unhelpful beliefs and thoughts that make physical or emotional pain worse . Scripts like “ there is nothing I can do to reduce my negative feelings ” and “ I can ’ t do any of things I love because of my pain " can be reframed and replaced .