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Dr. Miriam Franco

Holidays bring on glad tidings and also excitement, increased activity and expectations to enjoy oneself.  With Thanksgiving almost upon us and Christmas decorations in full regalia at every mall and plaza, it's time to revisit how to lower holiday stress, duress and busyness that accompanies every holiday season.  Those with MS need to factor in rest periods, pace themselves realistically and practice lowering physical and emotional stress that can exacerbate MS symptoms.  Increased spasticity, fatigue, and sometimes depressed mood can creep into holiday celebrating.

Here are some basic de-stress tools, simple yet profound relaxation and guided imagery centering techniques to practice and to help take the 'bah humbug' out of holiday festivities.  As you learn to become deeply relaxed,  if you add sensory images to this process you can lower physical and emotional tension in the body very quickly and can shift perception and emotional states very rapidly. Relaxation and Guided Imagery techniques have been found to be helpful in coping with MS. When practiced, they can lower stress and anxiety, reduce muscle tension and spasticity, renew energy and reduce fatigue (Franco, 2008; Sutherland, Andersen and Morris, 2005; McGuire, 1996).

1. All forms of stress reduction require learning how to relax and center yourself.  This is often referred to as "a letting go" process.  The best way to engage this process is to start to breathe from a centered place.  Relaxed breathing is from the diaphragm. All you have to do to learn to breathe deeply from your belly is to slow your exhales.  As you exhale more slowly, you will bring more oxygen to your muscles and will reduce muscles tension. You will also start to slow down inside, become more present in the moment and quiet some of the "mental chatter" in your mind. 
2. As you exhale slowly, start to close your eyes and allow yourself to take a couple of deep, cleansing, refreshing breaths.  You'll start to shift into a state of mind that allows you to wander in and out of awareness, like day dreaming.  Once your breathing is slowed, try imagining, with your senses, a safe place.  Maybe it's someplace from your childhood or some place you have never been but would like to visit now.  The important thing is to imagine it with all of your senses with eyes closed and with relaxed breathing.  Take your time picturing the panoramic beauty of this special place, hear its special musical sounds and rhythm, and then feel whatever you might lie upon or sit against in this special place. You may even feel the imprint of this place on your skin as you imagine the cool mist of a waterfall, a gentle breeze caressing your cheek, or the balmy, moist cool wind that surfaces after a summer rainfall. 
3. You can always close your eyes, exhale slowly and return to this special place during the holiday season to anchor yourself.  It is there within you, to return to at any time you need to recall it.  When you get tired, scared or just need a break, return to this special place to calm yourself and renew your spirit.
4. Another centering technique that opens you to holding onto positive, loving feelings and energy and can help sustain an open and receptive mood, is to picture someone easy to love.  Again, practice this first by closing your eyes, taking several full, relaxed, deep breaths and while exhaling slowly start to remember a time when loved flowed easily with someone easy to love.  This can be a live or deceased person or pet.  The important factor here is to imagine them with your senses as this is the way your body gets it and repeats the healing properties of this image, reverberating it again and again in your system.  Once you have imagined this easy to love person or pet, spend time feeling this love gently surround you and feel the loving energy from this image surround your heart. Imagine it loosening and massaging any tense, tight places or heavy spots within you.  Gently fill your inner core with this loving energy allowing yourself to imagine feeling more peaceful and open.

These self- empowering techniques can be practiced several times a day in preparation for the holidays or a challenging activity. Practice when you need to rest to increase energy  and restore balance and function. These techniques are not only helpful, but are also fun, playful ways to improve quality of life for those affected by MS.

To learn more about relaxation and guided imagery techniques visit Dr. Franco's website: imagerywork.com

To learn more about the use of Guided Imagery for MS Care, visit: msfocus.org/Alternative-Treatment-Options.aspx and msassociation.org/publications/winter08.cover.story.asp.