How to Relax | Relaxation Techniques
Summary: There are many ways of relaxing to lessen stress, tension, anxiety. Finding a positive outlet for these things is essential. Some of the best methods are breathing techniques, visualize and release the tension, as well as progressive relaxation of the body.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Hi everyone! This video is going to be about ways to relax yourself. I will talk about a variety of ways that have helped me. You can utilize some of these techniques in stressful situations to help you relax and reduce the anxiety you are having in the moment.
When you are stressed and anxious, it’s good to have a positive way of coping. I have a video dedicated to finding a positive way of coping that I’ll have an annotation and a link in the description. [Coping] By utilizing these positive relaxation techniques over the negative, self-destructive ones, it will help you understand yourself and cope much easier.
Many times when we are out somewhere or just feeling anxious, we tend to not think about ways to relax ourselves. Instead, we can dwell on this feeling of anxiety and it builds and builds from there. We often do not think about what causes us these problems. If we had a positive way of coping with it by learning to relax and release those negative thoughts and emotions, we will have much greater control over the situation. While it may still happen, we would be better at releasing it and channeling it into something positive.
There are many ways to relax when you are feeling stressed and anxious. You need to find what works best for you. These techniques I am about to share are about both physical and mental relaxation. When you are physically or mentally stressed and tense, the other will be as well. When you can relax yourself physically, your mind will relax. Same goes for relaxing your mind, it will relax your body.
Ways to Relax
These relaxation techniques are all ones I have utilized with great success. It takes time, practice, and dedication, but it’s worth it because it allows you to understand when you are feeling stressed and need to relax. You can combine various techniques to get even better results from them.
One of the most common ways to relax is to focus on the breath. Breathing is essential to relaxation. When you are not getting enough oxygen, or taking short breaths, your body will be more tense. So, during the day remind yourself to take a few deep breaths. Breathe in slowly all the way, hold it for three to five seconds, and then release it slowly and feel how it relaxes your body and mind. Physically your muscles may become less tense, while mentally you may have better concentration and a clearer mind. Allow it to happen and don’t force it. This is one of the most beneficial techniques.
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Additionally, another way of relaxing is to visualize and release. Close your eyes and see the trouble spots on your body where your muscles are tense and need to be relaxed. I personally see these spots as a bright red, while relaxed spots are a cool blue. Practice your breathing technique and breath into these trouble spots and as you exhale, watch the red slowly leave your body and dissipate. Then when breathing in, watch the blue come over the area and soothe it and relax you. After some attempts of this, you will find this to be an incredibly powerful technique at relaxing your physical body, while also calming the mind.
Sometimes I like to remove the pain and discomfort with my hands. What I mean is, I visualize and use my hands to remove the pain and discomfort. So, if my shoulders are tense, I will grab the discomfort and tension in my hands, and slowly pull out the unwanted tension. When I have it out, the area is now free from tension and more relaxed. It’s about visualization and imagination. Your mind alone can be a very powerful tool.
Relatedly, you can sort of talk to the trouble spots and see what it wants. Question the pain. When you are having pain somewhere on your body, analyze and study it. Ask why the pain is there and what you can do to relieve it. Sometimes our bodies are tense and we do not know why. If we question the pain and try to understand why we have it, we may discover it could be from being overworked, perhaps mentally and physically. So, question it and see how it originated.
Another tactic that I find beneficial is progressive relaxation of the body. Now, it took me a while to be able to do this efficiently, but with enough practice, I was able to master this technique. So, definitely do not give up if you are unable to accomplish what you want in the beginning. What I personally do is lay down and relax my whole body. Depending on how stressed and tense I am, this can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. I do some deep breaths and combine what I already mentioned by breathing into the trouble spots and releasing the tension.
Then, I start with my feet and imagine them free from stress and becoming very heavy, like being encased in concrete. I slowly work up my body, relaxing each part individually, and feeling the spots so heavy that I cannot move them. I test to make sure I cannot move the parts. As I continue to work up, my muscles become more and more relaxed and after a short while, my entire body is so relaxed that sometimes I cannot even feel it. I cannot move it either.
The biggest obstacle for me early on was I would rush things and not allow. You have to learn to allow it to happen and not make it happen. If you test your legs to see if they can move, and you actually move them, then you have not relaxed enough. Keep trying and be patient. It takes time. Additionally, another problem I ran into was that I would get itchy. I of course would move my body to scratch these spots. That was preventing me from fully relaxing. The itching sensation is essentially your mind testing your body to see if it’s asleep. If you can ignore it and focus your attention on something else, it will not bother you and you’ll be able to achieve a deeper relaxation. Again, give it time.
What happens for me now when I get an itch when relaxing is that my body seems to handle it automatically. I would feel an itch somewhere and around the area a muscle would twitch and it would dissipate. It twitches automatically and that is normal. I find the twitching is directly related to the itching since every time I feel an itch now, my body will twitch in that area and the itch would dissipate, leaving me even more relaxed. It’s like observing what your body is doing, without having any control over it, allowing things to happen on their own without resistance.
Another beneficial way of relaxing is to use audio, like music, nature sounds, rain, whatever you enjoy. You can even do guided meditations, binaural beats, or similar audio recordings. Listening to relaxing music can be highly beneficial at calming your active thoughts. Just listen to the music and it will take your mind off what is troubling you. It’s a form of distraction which is beneficial if you cannot get your mind to slow down. I personally love music, but my favorite is the sound of rain. You can find plenty of audio recordings on YouTube of nature sounds or rain. Additionally, there are plenty of free apps you can get on your mobile device that can play these sounds or tones for extended periods of time. Perhaps even to promote better sleep.
And lastly, another important thing is to find a relaxing place in your mind to let go of stress and anxiety. I have a video dedicated to finding your inner relaxing place that I’ll have an annotation and a link in the description. [Inner Relaxing Place] But essentially what you want to do is create a world in your mind that allows you to fully relax yourself when you are feeling tense or anxious. This will allow you to release those negative emotions and find peace and relaxation. You can condition this and trigger the relaxed feeling whenever you are feeling like you need a break.
Conclusion
There are many ways of relaxing to lessen stress, tension, anxiety. Find one that works best for you and do not give up and keep at it since it will get easier when you know what your body and mind can do and how you can relax. Let me know your thoughts and ways you relax. Thank you for watching and I hope this video was informative and helpful!
Additional Info
My entire life I’ve had so much difficulty relaxing. When someone would tell me to relax, my response was, “How?!” I had no idea since relaxation for me, was usually extreme stress for most people, and it still didn’t even fell like relaxation to me. Regardless, I learned how to relax, not only my body, but also my mind.
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