Relaxation Techniques
For Stress & Anxiety Reduction

Relaxation techniques may be defined as any activity or practice that helps a person to relax or improve their level of calmness.

• Do you feel like you are constantly in hurry-hurry-rush-rush mode ?
• Do you feel like you are running an endless race - always trying to catch up ?
• Are you constantly tired, tense & easily agitated ?

Well, studies have shown that high levels of anxiety, anger and stress have had adverse effects on a person’s physical, mental and emotional health.

Increased demands are being placed on people to keep up with the fast pace of their stressful lives and more and more persons are getting stressed out.

To counter this, it is very important that you practice useful techniques to help you relax, especially those that can be done in the comfort of your home, so that you can recharge and regain your balance.

photo courtesy of mysza831

Unplug

Turn off the cell phone,computer, tv, radio or any other form of technology guaranteed to distract you.

Direct your attention to having fun relaxing moments with yourself, your loved ones or your pet.

Recharge

Recharge your mind and body with some of these Relaxation Techniques:

Meditation for Beginners

Meditation for Beginners allows you to relax your body while you focus on your breathing and clear away distracting thoughts.   This helps you to become more calm and relaxed.

Yoga Relaxation Technique

Yoga Relaxation combines breathing with stretching and that helps to relax the body and ease physical tension and restore emotional balance.

relax now

Self Massage

 The soothing touch from self massage helps to ease any soreness of your muscles or tension in your body. As the tension and soreness fall away, relaxation takes over.

Deep Breathing

Practicing good Breathing Relaxation Techniques is ideal for relaxation.

Taking deep cleansing breaths are perfect for not just filling your lungs with air but giving your muscles well needed oxygen.  Greater oxygen flow helps to reduce muscle tension as well as slows down your heart rate in order for your body to become relaxed.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

The more aware you are of muscle tension in your body, the more control you have over anxiety and stress.  When you practice Progressive Muscle Relaxation , you will be able to identify muscle tension more quickly and you will know what to do right away to reduce muscle tension and return to a relaxed state.

Walking

Walking is a low intensity exercise that requires you to take deeper breaths while exerting energy.  Increased oxygenation leads to reduced muscle tension and the energy exerted during walking allows you to release harmful stress toxins leading to greater relaxation.

Take a walk around the block or invest in a good treadmill  ( if you already own one, just know that it’s not for hanging clothes on or for sprucing up the home décor – Get on it and start walking ! ).  You will soon see how good it feels to burn some calories and walk off the stress.

Make it a part of your daily lifestyle.  Choose the best time of day depending whether you are a morning person or an evening person.

Listening to Relaxing Music

Music has the power to soothe you - to lift your spirit and elevate your thoughts. I find that whenever I am in my car, on my way home from work, listening to the right music helps the stress of the day to melt away.  I am no longer thinking about the difficult customer situation that I just handled or the looming project deadline – I am caught up in the rhythm and the soothing beats of the music.

When you are home, find a comfortable spot, turn on the radio and listen to some soothing music, whether you prefer classical, jazz or instrumental it’s your choice as long as it’s not too loud or jarring. Allow yourself to be wrapped up in the soft soothing melodies and to be led into calmness & relaxation.

You can also combine music with your meditation session and there are quite a few relaxing types of music for meditation.

Positive thinking & visualization

Let go of negative energy and choose positive thinking.  A good way to be more relaxed is to rid yourself of negative energy and negative thoughts.  Negative thinking is draining and causes you to be more tense.

It is important to remove the negative thoughts but you must replace them with positive thoughts.  Focus your mental energy on positive, motivating thoughts.

Become more aware of your thoughts.  Sometimes when your mood is shifting in a negative direction, catch yourself and think about what you are thinking.  Replace those negative thoughts with positive ones and you will start to see a shift in your mood.

Watch the words you say.  Start saying “I Can!” more often that you say “I Can’t !”


A Positive Thinking Exercise

• Find a quiet spot at home
• Ensure that you are comfortably seated
• Close your eyes
• Think about an image or memory that brings a smile to your face – maybe the day you first held your newborn baby or the day he proposed
• Focus on that image or memory
• Think about how good it makes you feel or made you feel
• Now, start visualizing a desired goal or achievement and picture yourself feeling the same way or even better when you achieve that goal or become that person who you want to be
• Stay in that moment for a few minutes
• Now gently open your eyes

You will notice that your mind starts to be at ease and your body starts to relax. Whenever you start to be feel tense just repeat this exercise.

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Be sure to try any one or a combination of the easy relaxation techniques previously discussed.  There is no doubt that you will be better off for it. Whichever one of the techniques you choose, what is important is that you make relaxation an integral part of your daily life.

Schedule it for the same time of day, preferably early in the morning before all the daily chores and cares rush in.

The more aware and alert you are when practicing these easy relaxation techniques, the better the results will be and you wont risk falling asleep mid-practice - considering that these techniques are designed to relax your mind and body.

Of relaxation techniques, choose the one that best works for your lifestyle and fitness level.  The more it appeals to you, the more you will remain consistent in your daily practice, incorporating it into your daily lifestyle.

Also, check out these real simple relaxation tips

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