8 Relaxation Techniques That You Can Use Daily

In our constantly moving environment, our bodies and minds are suffering from wear and tear. We call this stress. When we are facing family problems, money problems, relationship problems, problems at work, and any other trials and tribulations that life throws at us, stress comes at us from all sides.  We try to deal with everything that comes our way day to day. To live a healthy lifestyle you have to reduce your stress levels. Developing ways to deal with your stress makes you more resilient, more energetic, with you thinking patterns more effective.

We all have those days…weeks?…months?…when we feel as if everything and everyone is on top of us.

Learning to relax is an essential skill because our natural responses to stress are often more harmful than the stress itself. When things are not going as planned and we begin to feel the worry building up we have a propensity to react excessively to some of the most trivial situations. Think about the times you have endured stress just by thinking about something that might happen.

People who live busy lives find themselves in a no win situation when it comes to de-stressing throughout the day. On the one hand, they have such busy schedule they just believe they don’t have the time to de-stress. On the other hand, that busy schedule is going some way to creating the stress in the first place and something has to break this cycle. And facts are facts, no matter how little time they have to spare, they have to find the time to deal with their stress. If not they find plenty of time on their hands when they are layed up ill in bed.

Thankfully, it is possible to deal with your stress. You can learn to take small amounts of de-stressing time throughout the day which will allow you to relax without invading on your busy schedule. The following eight tips offer you insight into ways to relax in less than ten minutes at a time.

Relaxation is a key component of Personal Development, so read these, and determine which one you are going to adopt straight away!

1. Listen to classical music

Music can act as a great relaxation technique. It can have a very effective calming influence on your over worked, stressed out mind. Music can help you by calming you down, giving your mind the opportunity to relax if only for a mere ten minutes. Scientific studies have shown that the brain can be calmed by listening to classical music, and that it can cause your breathing and heart rate to slow down. So turn on the music, shut your eyes and take some deep breaths. Focus on the sound and push any thoughts away from your mind. Let yourself just get lost in the sound, and relax.

2. Deep breathing exercises.

Deep breathing is one of the fastest ways to get yourself to relax and calm down. There are many different types of deep breathing exercises all of which can help you reach a relaxed state really quickly. Find a quiet place to sit down. Shut your eyes and take deep breaths, in and out. Then take a very slow slowly, counting to five, hold that breath to the count of four, then release it very slowly. Keep repeating this. Doing this breathing technique for ten minutes will be very calming.

3. Enjoy a brisk ten minute walk.

Getting yourself out into the fresh air and getting your body moving are both great ways to clear your head and relax. A nice fast walk gets the blood flowing and your lungs working properly. This will have the added benefit by enabling your mind to focus better and it will reduce the immediate impact that stress has been having on you. It means you are getting away, even for a short time, from your normal environment. This is particularly relevant for us bloggers.

4. Immerse yourself in a scent that you love.

The calming aromas of essential oils for relaxation can cause instant relaxation and have a powerful effect on the mind and body. We can drastically change our moods with the right scents. Learn a little bit about aromatherapy and figure out how to take a few minutes out of each day to bring yourself back to a calmer place using the right aromatherapy oils. When you talk about relaxation, aromatherapy plays an important part in achieving that state. Relaxation depends on good breathing techniques so the best way to do this with disperse the essential oils in the air and inhale it. This can be achieved by burn an aromatherapy candle, or just put some essential oils blends in the diffuser. To make you more relax you can play some music and do the breathing exercise.

5. Take 10 minutes for Meditation

Meditation is one way to bring about a sense of calmness, quietness and peaceful relaxation. Meditation allows the mind to settle down and really experience an inner state of calmness. The more you use meditation to help yourself relax the easier it becomes to bring yourself to that peaceful state of mind. Using meditation on a daily basis will help you to focus more on the positives in life, you will notice an increase in your creativity and you will find joy in the small things in life.

6. Alternatively Visualize for 10 minutes

The use of visualization is another powerful tool that you may use to rid yourself of stress and bring about true relaxation. To effectively use visualization you should find yourself a place where you can be alone with no noise around you. Close your eyes and try to quite your mind then vividly imagine that you are in the most peaceful place you can think of, picture that place in your mind. Completely immerse yourself in the picture as though you are really there experiencing the whole event involve all your senses, feel the wind, imagine how it smells, hear all the sounds allow yourself to be a part of the scenery. The practice of visualization is so powerful it can remove you from the stress of real life in a matter of moments. Practice it often as the more you use it the easier it becomes to relax and really get yourself swept up into a beautiful fantasy.

7. Stretch your Body

Slow easy stretching is a wonderful exercise to use to bring you into a state of complete relaxation. When we become stressed our muscles tighten up and get sore leaving you uncomfortable and tense. Slowly stretching the muscles and tendons loosens you up in a couple of ways first it stretches the muscles helping you to feel like your not all tied up in knots and just the act of stretching takes your mind off anything that may have been causing you stress.

8. Put Your Muscles into a state of total relaxation

Muscle relaxation is a very effective technique that involves concentrating on one muscle group at a time. When using this technique you focus on tightening and then relaxing the muscle group. Using this method helps to take your mind off any worries you might have and it allows you to focus on the physical sensation of bringing your muscles to a state of relaxation. You should start tensing and relaxing your muscles in your toes then your feet and progressively work your way up through all the muscles in your body in a methodical pattern. You should tense your muscles for five to ten seconds and then relax for 30 seconds then repeat this process until you reach the top of your head. You will find this exercise to be very relaxing and stress relieving as it frees your mind from the pressures of the day.

Bringing yourself to a state of total relaxation takes practice but the benefits you will receive such as stress relief make it all worthwhile. Whether you have a lot of stress in your life or a little and you believe you have it under control, you can always benefit from the many types of relaxation techniques.

By making concerted and consistent efforts to calm your mind you will cut down on or even eliminate much of the stress that we all face everyday. Learning to use some proven relaxation techniques will have a significant affect on your overall enjoyment of life.

DON’T let the effects of stress make your life miserable and affect your health! Make a positive resolve to adopt relaxation techniques. Every week I will now be creating a section where I provide a relaxation technique, and a full description of how to do it. Read through the different techniques. See what appeals to you. And try them out. Combine one or two and make sure that you look forward to your relaxation time.

Score Your Way To Good Health - With Our Healthy Lifestyle Plan

Score your way to good health with our healthy lifestyle plan and it's unique 70 point weekly scorecard!

Click here to find out more