1. RELAXATION TRAINING
Have person sit in a comfortable chair. Sit facing the person, so he/she can see you. Perform these exercises
in a quiet room away from distractions. Do the exercises with the person, demonstrating each exercise and
doing it together. Make sure the person follows your lead, goes slow and does them correctly. Each session
starts with deep breathing and goes into muscle tension/relaxing of major muscle groups. These procedures
are modified for individuals with cognitive impairments. By having the person physically move body part in
desired way, it automatically ensures tension in specific muscle group. Although the person does not have to
be verbal, they do need to be able to imitate simple motor movements. It is important to do this procedure
daily, when individual is calm and responsive, before using these exercises when upset.. Once learned, an
abbreviated version (deep breathing, arm pulls, arm pushes, shoulder shrugs, deep breathing) can be used
when individual is experiencing a stressful event.
Start sessions with deep breathing:
Deep Breathing:
1. Place hands in lap, close eyes and relax.
2. Inhale deeply through nose, trying to take air all the way down to your stomach.
3. Stomach should expand while inhaling.
4. Exhale slowly through mouth, trying to empty lungs completely.
5. Inhale and exhale slowly to the count of three or more.
6. Repeat at least 5 times.
Following deep breathing, start muscle relaxation:
Muscle Relaxation:
This procedure focuses on deep muscle relaxation through tensing and relaxing major muscle groups. Each
movement should be performed slowly (7 to 10 seconds duration) with 10 second relaxation between each
movement.
1. Bend foot down
2. Bend foot up
3. Leg raises: straighten legs; raise approximately 6 inches from floor.
4. Tighten stomach by sitting straight and pushing stomach in.
5. Take 3 deep breaths and slowly exhale.
6. Tighten back by bending arms and pushing arms behind back.
7. Straighten arms, make fists and bend them down.
8. Straighten arms, make fists and bend them up.
9. Arm Pulls: bend arms, interlock hands in front of chest and pull against interlocking hands.
10. Arm Pushes: bend arms, palms together in front of chest and push hands together.
11. Take 3 deep breaths and slowly exhale.
12. Shoulder shrugs: lift both shoulders as high as possible toward ears.
13. Touch chin to chest.
14. Touch right ear to right shoulder.
15. Touch left ear to left shoulder.
16. Open mouth as wide as possible.
End session with deep breathing exercises….5 deep breaths.
Author: Bill Nason, LLP