Many times we become aware of our stress, anxiety or anger from symptoms such as: feeling hot, sweaty, flush, increase in heart rate, or noticeable fidgeting. Thoughts and feelings that create fear can initiate the fight or flight response in all of us. A potential threat (example: seeing a spider in front of you) can cause a chemical reaction in our bodies (release of adrenaline). The release of adrenaline can cause an immediate increase in heart rate, breathing and lower body temperature. Stress Management is a broad term that encompasses education, training in the nature of stress.

Stress management also teaches and promotes skills and practices such as body awareness, proper breathing techniques, progressive relaxation, meditation, visualization, increased control of physiological functions, goal setting, time management, setting priorities, and assertiveness training. Relaxation is the ability to change the physiological state that you are encountering. Relaxation training is very similar to stress reduction.

Methods of relaxation and reducing stress using biofeedback equipment

Hand Warming
The SC911 Digital Biofeedback Thermometer is a small, affordable unit used for hand warming exercises and monitoring of finger temperature.

The main goal of hand warming is to assist in measuring your level of stress through skin temperature, and thereby allow you to change our stress level to meet the circumstances. The more stressed you are, the lower the temperature in your hands, feet, and other extremities.The lower the stress level, the higher the temperature should be in the extremities. The SC911 Thermometer makes it easy to monitor these changes.

Hand warming is one of the many different methods used in Biofeedback training for stress reduction and relaxation. At this point it may be useful to specify exactly what Biofeedback is and is not. The first incorrect idea about Biofeedback is that Biofeedback instruments actually change or influence bodily processes. This belief is incorrect. Biofeedback equipment merely monitors or measures bodily functions. The instrument "feeds back" information to you, so you become aware of small changes in your body, and the factors that bring about these changes. Through this, awareness develops that makes it possible to control your physiological functions.

The basic theory behind hand warming comes from our understanding of the fight-flight response. The fight-flight response is an automatic change of physiological markers that take place when a person suddenly perceives danger or stress. Blood flow is significantly decreased in the extremities while being increased to the vital organs of the body. This enables you to react physically to danger. This physiological change was very favorable and served as an automatic protection device in primitive society. Although the fight-flight response has been beneficial and necessary for survival, it can also be harmful. If you overuse this natural response by constantly interpreting things as being stressful or dangerous, that really are not, we are chronically sending this response to the body.

Deep Breathing
RESPeRATE utilizes a patented technology to pace your breathing from the normal range of 14 to 19 breaths per minute to the "therapeutic zone" of under 10 breaths per minute.

Within a few minutes into the exercise the muscles surrounding the small blood vessels dilate [relax], thereby allowing blood to flow more freely, resulting in lower blood pressure. The RESPeRATE's pacing technology enables you to perform these therapeutic breathing maneuvers effortlessly.

Your breathing returns to normal after each session but the beneficial impact on your blood pressure accumulate. With regular use of the RESPeRATE significant and sustained reduction in blood pressure and overall stress level can be achieved. The basic idea behind each of these methods is to focus your consciousness on the experience of being profoundly relaxed.

Brainwave Training
The ABT Bioscan measures small electrical signals from your brain, known as brain waves. Your alpha brain waves in particular, are idling rhythms that occur primarily when our eyes are closed and our mind is completely free of thoughts.

The ABT Bioscan reads brain waves in the theta, mid alpha and SMR/low beta brain wave bands to help reduce the symptoms of insomnia, anxiety and attention deficit disorders and for improving meditation.

It may be used at home in bed, during reading, listening to a lecture or during other situations where the user has trouble in relaxing or paying attention.

The ABT Bioscan can help you become aware of thoughts that cause you to feel stressed, so that you can learn to manage these potentially destructive thoughts.

GSR for Relaxation
A GSR unit measures the resistance of the skin to the passage of a very small electric current, known as the Galvanic Skin Response. It has been known for decades that the magnitude of this electrical resistance is affected, not only by the subject's general mood, but also by immediate emotional reactions.

The EDA Bioscan GSR unit not only measures your immediate stress response, known as state anxiety, but it also tells you about your overall stress, known as trait anxiety. By taking note of your trait anxiety reading, you can tell on a day-to-day basis if are becoming more relaxed or more anxious.

The EDA Bioscan can help you learn about what causes you to feel stressed so that you can learn to manage stress in your life. You can use EDA to know how tense you are and to easily train yourself to relax.