Rec me

[resonant]

Can anyone recommend an audio or video thing for meditation, relaxation, and/or stress relief?

It's not so much for me (though I might use it), but the spouse has expressed an interest. The spouse is wound pretty tight, and I'm much in favor of anything that might help him loosen up.

Comments

reposted twice for edits

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

*bookmarks, just in case*

I wish I had recs, but I've never had much success using any kind of spoken word relaxation tapes. I'm so contrary that if some recorded voice tells me I'm relaxing, my immediate response is "The hell you say! How would you know? I'll have you know I've never been tenser in my life!"

I have slightly better success with ones that tell me what I ought to be doing instead of blithely insisting that I *am* relaxing, though I still tend to bristle and do the exact opposite.

Re: reposted twice for edits

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

ones that tell me what I ought to be doing instead of blithely insisting that I *am* relaxing,

Hee! Somehow this strikes me as akin to the healthcare worker's "we" -- "we need to get our blood pressure down."

[slash-eater.livejournal.com]

Oh, sorry, this is off-topic, but I must show you this: LINK (http://slash-eater.livejournal.com/7347.html?mode=)

:P

[slash-eater.livejournal.com]

Um, btw, I posted that because you 'reported me', so I thought it's funny...

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Bwah! That's pretty funny. I totally understand about the Cherry Garcia.

[schemingreader.livejournal.com]

I am also reposting, because I didn't give enough detail. I recommend yoga for relaxation, because you don't have to suspend disbelief as you do for a guided meditation, and it's nice to do something with your body. Patricia Walden, a well-known Iyengar school instructor, has a DVD for beginners.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I'll look for that!

[mzcalypso.livejournal.com]

If you want to email me at the address in my profile, I'll send you the script for a self-hypnosis relaxation tape. This script eliminated my own insomnia and has been a pretty useful basic tool (it can be adapted for specific suggestions; this one's for stress relief and general relaxation.) The nice thing about a script is that it can be previewed and recorded by someone the user trusts, or at least someone with a voice that doesn't set off nails-on-chalkboard (most of the professional relaxation tapes I've used were performed by folks whose voice I didn't care for. Then again, I'm not crazy about listening to myself read the thing, but for some people that works really well.)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I discover, when I think about this, that I don't really want to know whether my voice is relaxing to him or not! I think I'll try some of the book/cd things mentioned below first. But thanks!

[aruna-sharat.livejournal.com]

I would love to try the self-hypnosis relaxation tape and wanted to sent you an e-mail...but I can't find the address anywhere on your profile....could you maybe mail me the script?
(If it is there and I'm to stupid to find it, I'm sorry but it has been a 12 hour working day and I can't even hit the right keys on my computer any more)
Thank you very much! aruna.sharat AT gmail.com

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Jon Kabat-Zinn's "Full Catastrophe Living" is a book that comes with audio tapes/CDs to guide you through an eight-week program in mindfulness, deep relaxation, and healing. The program involves sitting meditation, body scan meditation, and light hatha yoga, and it totally changed my life. I am not an evangelist by nature, but in all honesty, I am so much less stressed out since doing this program. Highly recommended.

Feel free to email me for details.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I found it right away on amazon, and have added it to my wishlist.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Glad I could help! I hope it works out for your sweetie.

[kudra2324.livejournal.com]

i'm out of town at the moment, but i have a thing a doctor gave me that's from harvard's institute on alternative medicine (or something, i'm sure i have the name incorrect). i'll happily rip it and upload it for you tomorrow assuming i can put my hands on it - just poke me in a day or two if i don't post a comment here with the link.

[princessofg.livejournal.com]

ocean wave tapes always worked for me.

if he wants to learn to meditate, it's good for everything that ails you. but i don't have a rec for an instructional video for that.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Meditation would probably be good.

I used to have a tape of ocean waves, but it was recorded from a boat, and every now and then there'd be a loud, I don't know, boat noise -- I know nothing about boats -- there'd be this totally unexpected and very loud creak, crack, or thud. Least.Relaxing.Tape.Ever!

[hypothalamus.livejournal.com]

I tend to have trouble sleeping (as evidenced by the time of this post) so I've bought a lot of this stuff-- I've particularly liked the Delta Sleep System by the Relaxation Company. It didn't actually put me to sleep, but I actually fell into a very deep meditation thingy, so. Good stuff! Here's the link:

http://store.relaxationhosting.com/cd3085.html?gclid=CIu6la3P4I0CFRUhgAodWjQuZA

I also recommend valerian root. It's just a really mild natural sedative, and it's often used for stress, anxiety and sleeplessness. I found that it didn't make me groggy, just much more relaxed. I also like Bach's Rescue Remedy for particularly stressful moments.

(Long live California.)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Interesting! Thanks!

[julad.livejournal.com]

Maybe try http://www.pzizz.com/ - it's kind of like little randomly generated napping soundtracks. I tried this for a while (I got a free licence - I might be able to find it for you). It was okay -- I'm not really into that kind of thing but I think it must have been quite good because what really bugged me was when it woke you up after the nap. *g*

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Wow, napping soundtracks! The world is a far stranger place than I had supposed.

[korestemenos.livejournal.com]

In the old days when people made and sold tapes, I made a meditation tape with a friend. The music is gorgeous (I didn't write or play it!), and one half hour section is a full body relaxation and the other half hour section is a colour visualisation. I've converted it to mp3 and given it away to several people who have been really happy with it - they listen to it before they go to sleep and it sends them right off... Here's a link to one and the other is uploading right now:

http://www.yousendit.com/download/ZUcxeFVVNkdiR0kwTVE9PQ

Best of luck with the sleeping!

[korestemenos.livejournal.com]

Here's the other link:

http://www.yousendit.com/download/ZUczRkJWT005NVUwTVE9PQ

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Oh, how cool! Thanks so much. I'm looking forward to listening to these.

Hey, I could burn a CD and we could play it on our -- wait for it -- Discman! yay old technology!

[brynwulf]

My spouse used to meditate to drumming. There was a tape he used called shamanic drumming, I think, but no one spoke on it.

Good luck. I need to find my own kind of help in that direction.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

There are some interesting suggestions in the comments. I'm betting this is one of those really personal things where what works for one person makes another want to tear her hair out!

[100wordspermin.livejournal.com]

I'm on the hunt for stuff like this myself, and have ordered a couple of CDs from Amazon. Once they arrive, I can let you know if they're helpful at all.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks -- I'd like that.

Update!

[100wordspermin.livejournal.com]

Here are some quick-n-dirty reviews of the CDs I purchased (all are readily available on Amazon):

Your Present: A Half Hour of Peace by Susie Mantell--This one was the winner for me. It's a 30 minute guided meditation with a body scan built in. One of the best things about it is that the author asks you at the beginning to decide whether you'd like to return to wakefulness at the end of the meditation or remain in a state of relaxation, and then reminds you of your choice at the end; it's suitable for listening to in the middle of the day, or when one had tasks to complete afterwards, while still being deeply relaxing. I've been using it to help me fall asleep after some back-pain-induced insomnia, and it's worked flawlessly. There's a lot of permission built into this script, which might be helpful if your spousal unit tends to have a hard time telling himself it's okay to take time to relax. I know I'm finding it helpful.

Journey into Deep Relaxation by Doreen Blumenfeld--Similar to the above, but less effective for me. 40 minutes running time; the reader is a hypnotist. It feels a bit more like you're being TOLD to relax instead of being invited and encouraged to. I've yet to make it through all 40 minutes without falling asleep, though, so it must be effective to some degree.

Guided Meditations: For Calmness, Awareness, and Love by Bodhipaksa--Guided meditations on breath awareness, lovingkindess and a walking meditation. These are exactly what the box describes: guided meditation. The author is Buddhist, and assumes you're doing seated (or walking) meditation. I haven't tried the walking one yet, but the other two are great, if less focused on physical relaxation than the above CDs. The one on lovingkindess starts by asking you to wish wellness, happiness and ease from suffering for yourself. Then you wish the same for a close friend, then an acquaintance, and then someone you have a difficult time with. I honestly feel more likely to be nice to mean people after listening to it, which makes me wish I'd had it around when I still worked in customer service! As an additional bonus, the author has a lovely British accent.

If I were the rate them, it would go in this order:

1. Your Present
2. Guided Meditations: For Calmness, Awareness, and Love
3. Journey into Deep Relaxation.

Hope this was helpful!

Re: Update!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Belated thanks for this! I'm hanging onto your e-mail until I'm ready to buy something. I like the idea of walking meditation.

[mzcalypso.livejournal.com]

non-verbal notion... what always works best to de-stress my spouse is a footrub.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

His workplace has an employee wellness program where you get a little break on what you pay into insurance if you do certain things to improve his health. And he's having trouble because he already works out five days a week, doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, and eats a lowfat diet.

So saying "use meditation tape three days a week" would probably be acceptable as a goal, while "get spouse to rub my feet" probably wouldn't!

[jood.livejournal.com]

I swear by these: "Wild Sanctuary (http://www.galaxie.ca/en/1/wildsanctuary.html)" recordings. I got them locally, but it looks like you might have to hunt a bit to find them online.

There's something very rich and deep about the recordings, so they're great for tuning out and calming down. They really do transport you to another place. My faves are:

Green Meadow Stream (trickling water & birds)
Loons of Echo Pond (perfect sound of sunset, incl. frogs)
Distant Thunder (great variations on thunderstorms)

I've liked every one I've bought so far.

I also have a strange love for "Debussy by the Sea (http://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Sea-Various-Artists/dp/B000001KIH/ref=m_art_li_0/103-5235203-3775814)", which is harp, oboe and crashing waves. The Clair de Lune is quite nice.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Huh, interesting. I can't imagine thunderstorms would be exactly relaxing to listen to -- are they?

[jood.livejournal.com]

Totally soothing, at least for me. Everybody likes something different in nature. Maybe wolves or crickets or something?

Green Meadow Stream is awesome, but the trickling water does make you have to pee after a while.

[jadedthief.livejournal.com]

Solitudes makes a number of CDs that are probably very similar to the "Wild Sanctuary" ones, but I can't say for sure. My brother and I have both used Solitudes CDs for help sleeping and stress relief, and they also have one for meditation. They have a couple tracks on each, and loop well. Here they are on amazon:

Natural Stress Relief (http://www.amazon.ca/V1-Natural-Stress-Relief-Musi/dp/B00004U4UT/ref=sr_1_2/701-1285306-8102735?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1186504696&sr=1-2)
Natural Sleep Inducement (http://www.amazon.ca/Natural-Sleep-Inducement-Solitudes-Gibson/dp/B00000J107/ref=pd_bxgy_m_img_b/701-1285306-8102735?ie=UTF8&qid=1186504696&sr=1-2)
Natural Meditation (http://www.amazon.ca/Natural-Meditation-Don-Solitudes-Gibson/dp/B0000549KI/ref=sr_1_2/701-1285306-8102735?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1186505703&sr=1-2)

[mad-martha.livejournal.com]

You might quite like Monastery Garden (https://www.newworldmusic.com/uk/product.php?xProd=185&jssCart=d5813e02afdbb898b26f06cb75c14dfa) - it's very peaceful and I like to listen to it when I'm reading sometimes.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Huh -- interesting. I had no idea there was such a variety of audio recordings like this!

[muppetk.livejournal.com]

I've recently become *very* fond of the Paraliminal CDs by Learning Strategies. They sound cheesy and their marketing is very very slick, but in spite of that, I think they've got a really good product. Having heard good reviews of it and being a bit of a self-improvement junkie, I bit the bullet and ordered their huge "ultimate you" library a couple of months back, and have listened to one or more of them almost every day since. I'm *impressed*. In your husband's case, he might just want the "Deep Relaxation" CD one, or maybe even the Anxiety-Free CD.

Oh right, links would be good, wouldn't they...
http://www.learningstrategies.com/Paraliminal/Home.asp (for the official descriptions with lots of info), and if you just want an amazon link to wishlist:
http://www.amazon.com/Paraliminal-Deep-Relaxation-CD/dp/B000CQJ486/

Incidentally, I find that one to be about as effective (if not more so) as pain killer for my period cramps/muscle aches, etc. Migraines still require some chemical intervention though.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Thanks! I'll take a look.

Actually, before I had meds for migraines, I used to cope with them using self-hypnosis. I wasn't very good at it, though; the best I could do was put myself to sleep, over and over. But it's better than nothing.