Before you turn to tranquilizers to relieve stress and anxiety, you should try a safer, more effective way to relax.
You can take a meditation class, but if you really want to relax deeply and quickly, try relaxation CDs.
There are any number of relaxation CDs available in record stores.
Some of them are hypnosis CDs and others of them are simply soothing music, such as New Age music.
The ones that most people find work the best for them, though, are brainwave entrainment CDs.
Brainwave entrainment is a proven, scientifically verifiable way to relax.
Our brains are always emitting brainwaves.
The beta range of frequencies is the range associated with our normal waking state of consciousness.
Beta waves cover a broad spectrum of brainwaves, from a high of 38 hertz to a low of 12 hz.
The more anxious or stressed we are, the high the frequency.
Brain-waves got their name from the way they appear on an EEG readout.
They look like the crests and troughs of waves.
If you listen to sound pulses or beats that match a particular brainwave frequency, your brain follows the beat and "entrains" to it.
Relaxation CDs employ these rhythmic beats in order to bring your brainwaves down into the desired frequency.
They begin with a rapid beat that is designed to closely match the aroused state of mind you are in at the beginning of the CD.
This helps you to entrain more quickly.
As the beats slow down, so does your brain activity.
This happens through a process known as the Frequency Following Response.
With no effort on your part, it just happens.
Most relaxation CDs take around five minutes to slow down into the deeply relaxing alpha range, below 12 hertz.
When that happens, you will feel your stress melt away.
You are in an alpha state of consciousness when your brain is operating at between eight and 12 hertz.
This entire range is associated with various degrees of relaxation.
In this state, your stress levels drop dramatically.
As you go into slower and slower rhythms, you will find yourself in a meditative state.
This is one of the most delightfully blissful states of consciousness you can be in.
You can use CDs to take you into even deeper states of relaxation.
Below the alpha range are the theta and delta ranges.
Theta is the range of light sleep and dreaming, while delta is the range of dreamless sleep and unconsciousness.
People who have used CDs that entrain their brain to the theta range sometimes have extraordinary, even paranormal experiences.
Others may fall asleep when they listen to CDs that go this low, but after they have adapted to them, experience lucid dreaming and other unusual realms of consciousness.
One of the most amazing things about these relaxation CDs is that they work on just about anybody who tries them.
First time users in particular are often amazed with the results.
They say that they were feeling distressed and anxious when they started the session and within ten minutes were perfectly relaxed and happy.
Even experienced meditators say that they never meditated as deeply, even on a good day, as they do with the help of one of these CDs.
If you are curious, you can download a free sample and find out for yourself.