Members of the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce started their day with a little relaxation therapy when they met at Pinewood Country Club for the monthly Fourth Friday luncheon on Jan. 23.

Guest speaker Gerry Cabirac of the Mental Health Association of St. Tammany guided attendees through a quick demonstration of the technique, designed to alleviate stress through progressive muscle relaxation. The idea is to relax every muscle of the body, starting with the toes and working upward. Speaking softly and slowly, Cabirac encouraged listeners to breathe deeply, inhaling to a count of five and exhaling to a count of seven.

The technique is accompanied by visual imagery, wherein participants picture in their mind a place of comfort and peace, such as a sunny meadow or quiet stream. Cabirac said the process has shown to be very effective with patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Stress management was the topic of the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce'€™s Fourth Friday Luncheon at Pinewood Country Club in Slidell Jan. 23. Pictured are, from left: Cheri Carter, Mental Health Association of St. Tammany; Gerry Cabirac, Mental Health Association of St. Tammany; Jack Francioni, ESTCC Board Chairman; Dawn Sharpe Brackett, East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce Executive Director; Erin Walcott, Woodhouse Day Spa; and Deneb Warner, Woodhouse Day Spa. (Staff Photo by Anne Lautzenheiser)

“Soldiers returning from Iraq have done remarkably well with visual imagery,” said Cabirac. “It affects the areas of the brain that talk therapy doesn’t reach and actually allows healing to take place.”

Cabirac said that while doctors have discussed stress management with their patients for many years, the science behind it and why it works were a little murky. Recent developments in diagnostic imaging, however, have enabled researchers to see which parts of the brain are activated under various conditions.

The frontal lobe is utilized when patients discuss their problems through talk therapy, but the occipital lobe, at the rear of the brain, is where emotions are triggered. For example, the rush of anger you might feel when someone cuts you off in traffic, said Cabirac.

East St. Tammany Chamber CEO Dawn Sharpe Brackett found the session so enjoyable, she asked if she could get it on a CD. Appropriately, the event was sponsored by Woodhouse Day Spa, which gave away a one-hour Swedish massage as a door prize.

The best time to practice relaxation therapy, Cabirac said, is at bedtime.

“As you drift off to sleep, you can go anywhere you want to go,” she said.

MHAST will soon be starting a stress management group at its Slidell office, located at 2237 First St. For more information, call 641-0619.