Relaxation Technique 3: Calming visualization

Visualization is a powerful mind tool. Research showed that the subconscious mind can’t differentiate between real events and visualized ones. Because of that visualized imagery can have a profound effect on the mind.

- Sit comfortably or lie down. Close your eyes and do a number of slow breaths. Allow yourself to be undisturbed by turning off communication devices near you.

- Imagine being in a quiet, calming place of your choosing. It could be on a quiet beach, in the woods, sailing on a boat or any other place that generally makes you feel relaxed.

- Hold that image and imagine experiencing the bliss of the moment, all the positive feelings that come being at that place.

- The more realistic your imagination is, the more positive you will have.

- When you feel comfortable and more relaxed, slowly get out of the visualized world and return to the real one.

Relaxation technique 2:Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation is a known relaxation technique. It was developed by American physician Edmund Jacobson around 1939. The argument is that since muscular tension accompanies anxiety, relaxing muscular tension will reduce it. While performing the exercise, don’t tense the muscle too much and don’t tense muscles that are not at the specific group mention at each step. The muscles should be more relaxed after releasing tension than before it was applied to that group. Sit comfortably in a chair or lie down. Do a number of slow breaths.

Then move in the following progression:

Hands. The fists are tensed; relaxed. The fingers are extended; relaxed.

Biceps and triceps. The biceps are tensed (make a muscle – but shake your hands to make sure not tensing them into a fist); relaxed (drop your arm to the chair). The triceps are tensed (try to bend your arms the wrong way); relaxed (drop them).

Shoulders. Pull them back (careful with this one); relax them. Push the shoulders forward (hunch); relax.

Neck (lateral). With the shoulders straight and relaxed, the head is turned slowly to the right, as far as you can; relax. Turn to the left; relax.

Neck (forward). Dig your chin into your chest; relax. (bringing the head back is not recommended – you could break your neck).

Mouth. The mouth is opened as far as possible; relaxed. The lips are brought together or pursed as tightly as possible; relaxed.

Tongue (extended and retracted). With mouth open, extend the tongue as far as possible; relax (let it sit in the bottom of your mouth). Bring it back in your throat as far as possible; relax.

Tongue (roof and floor). Dig your tongue into the roof of your mouth; relax. Dig it into the bottom of your mouth; relax.

Eyes. Open them as wide as possible (furrow your brow); relax. Close your eyes tightly (squint); relax. Make sure you completely relax the eyes, forehead, and nose after each of the tensing.

Breathing. Take as deep a breath as possible – and then take a little more; let it out and breathe normally for 15 seconds. Let all the breath in your lungs out – and then a little more; inhale and breathe normally for 15 seconds.

Back. With shoulders resting on the back of the chair, push your body forward so that your back is arched; relax. Be very careful with this one, or don’t do it at all.

Butt. Tense the butt tightly and raise pelvis slightly off chair; relax. Dig buttocks into chair; relax.

Thighs. Extend legs and raise them about 6in. off the floor or the foot rest but don’t tense the stomach’ relax. Dig your feet (heels) into the floor or foot rest; relax.

Stomach. Pull in the stomach as far as possible; relax completely. Push out the stomach or tense it as if you were preparing for a punch in the gut; relax.

Calves and feet. Point the toes (without raising the legs); relax. Point the feet up as far as possible (beware of cramps – if you get them or feel them coming on, shake them loose); relax.

Toes. With legs relaxed, dig your toes into the floor; relax. Bend the toes up as far as possible; relax.

Relaxation technique 1: Breathing to relax and to calm down

The most basic skill you need to allow yourself to calm down quickly and relax is controlled breathing. Taking your breathing under conscious control for some time distracts from other stressful thoughts you might have. Some breathing techniques have fast tranquilizing effect. I suggest the following breathing exercise:

- If possible, lie down or at least sit comfortably.

- Close your eyes and concentrate your attention on your nostrils, where air enters the nose.

- Take a slow and deep breath in through your nose. Notice how the air is cold, entering your nose.

- Hold your breath for a seconds holding your attention on the same spot.

- Breath out slowly and quietly through the nose. Notice how the air is warm on your nostrils on the way out.

- Do this for a few minutes, until you let disturbed thoughts go and feel relaxed.
The above exercise uses several techniques to calm you:

- Closing eyes and getting in a comfortable position already induces a little relaxation.

- Slow breathing with a stop in middle reduces the heard rate. It is especially useful when you feel agitated for some reason and need to calm down fast. You might do this at times of pressure, without all the preliminary steps, if there’s no time or place for them.

- Concentrating on the cold and warm air moving through the nostrils occupies the mind and distracts you from other, negative thoughts, you might have.

Building relaxation into everyday life
For these techniques to be of real use, you will need to build them into your everyday life, so that when something very stressful comes along, you are already thoroughly practiced in the skills of relaxation and can put them to good use in the midst of difficulty. The day of an examination, interview or presentation is not the day to begin practicing.

As time goes by, you will probably find that you are more readily aware of any signs of tension in your body. As you become more alert to the early warning signs in your body, you can begin to relax before tension becomes a major problem.

You may become so proficient that you do not need to tense up muscle groups prior to relaxing them - the tensing stage is not actually necessary, but was introduced as an easier method for beginners. You may find in time that you can simply relax at will.

You cannot overdose on these exercises; nor are they in any way harmful or addictive. They simply make good use of a natural process.

Practice when life is going well, and then gradually build it into more stressful events. Incorporate it into all aspects of your life and then you will be well able to keep disabling tension at bay when stressful events arise.