Stress Relaxtion Techniques

Exercises to Reduce Your Stress!

Stress Relaxation Exercises

Relaxation response lowers your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate as well as relaxes your tense muscles. Here are some relaxation techniques you can practice

Deep Breathing – This is a common relaxation technique which can be done anywhere, anytime and immediately calms you down.

Slowly inhale through your nose, expanding your abdomen before allowing air to fill your lungs.
Reverse the process as you exhale.
Do this exercise for 3 to 5 minutes whenever you feel tense.

Breath counting can enhance relaxation and release tension:

Sit or lie in a comfortable position with your arms and legs uncrossed
Breathe in deeply into your abdomen. Let yourself pause before you exhale.
As you exhale, count “one” to yourself. As you continue to inhale and exhale, count each exhale by saying “two ..three…four.”
Continue counting your exhalations in sets of four for 5 to 10 minutes.
Notice your breathing gradually slowing, your body relaxing, and your mind calming as you practice this breathing meditation.

Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique to help relax muscles. This exercise will teach you the difference between a relaxed and a tense muscle.

Sit or lie down on your back in a comfortable, quiet room with your eyes closed.
Make tight fists, hold for 5 seconds, and then relax your fists. Pay attention to the different sensations of tension and relaxation.
Repeat step 2 with all of your muscle groups: feet, lower legs, thighs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, arms, and face.
Initially, it may take about 20 minutes but with practice, you’ll decrease the time to 5 minutes to achieve the same reward. You can also buy relaxation tapes to lead you through these exercises.