How To Feel More Relaxed

How To Feel More Relaxed Stress Management Management Techniques Relaxation Print How to Become Relaxed in Your Life By Elizabeth Scott, MS twitter Elizabeth Scott, MS, is a wellness coach specializing in stress management and quality of life, and the author of 8 Keys to Stress Management. Learn about our editorial policy Elizabeth Scott, MS Updated on December 11, 2019 Feeling relaxed is easy with PMR, meditation, and other simple strategies. Brand New Images/ Getty Images More in Stress Management Management Techniques Relaxation Physical Techniques Time Management Effects on Health Situational Stress Job Stress Household Stress Relationship Stress The skills of becoming relaxed when necessary and remaining relaxed whenever possible can be transformative and can make a measurable difference in health. This is because living in a state of chronic stressâ€"remaining physiologically stressed over long periods of time, without triggering your bodys relaxation responseâ€"can impact your health in a variety of negative ways. Learning to become relaxed readily and easily can bring a healthier and more enjoyable life. Fortunately, there are several simple ways to become more relaxed quickly and easily. They each bring their own unique benefits, so its good to know a variety of techniques that you can use to become relaxed in a pinch. Here are some of my top recommendations: Breathing Exercises Breathing exercises are a terrific way to become relaxed quickly and easily--they can be done by just about anyone, anywhere and at any time. Slowing your breathing, breathing from your diaphragm, and even using a breathing visualization are ways to use breathing exercises to relax your body and your mind. Breathing Exercises to Reduce Stress Meditation Meditation is a very old, proven strategy for becoming and remaining more relaxed. Popular in the east for centuries, its enjoyed a huge rise in popularity in the West in recent years as researchers have found proven benefits in scientific studies. Meditation isnt difficult, but it does take practice. Fortunately, regular practice can help you to feel relaxed during and after each session and, over time, can actually help you to be less reactive to new stress you face. How to Practice Basic Mindfulness Meditation PMR (Progressive Muscle Relaxation) Progressive Muscle Relaxation, or PMR, is one of my oft-used methods of getting relaxed quickly. The technique involves tensing and relaxing muscles systematically from head to toe (or from toe to head), thereby releasing tension and ushering in the relaxation response. With practice, this technique allows for total-body relaxation in a matter of seconds. Its an easy but very effective method of becoming quickly relaxed. Reduce Tension with Progressive Muscle Relaxation Visualizations Because the body reacts physically to the imagery created by the mind, visualizations are an effective form of getting relaxed and are as simple and fun as daydreaming. There are many, many different visualizations you can try to get more relaxed and reverse your bodys stress response. You can visualize yourself in a relaxing location, visualize a positive result from a stressing scenario, or, more simply, just visualize tension and stress leaving your body with each breath. Visualization Techniques for Relaxation Have a Good Laugh Laughter is a wonderful, natural way to release tension in your body and get your mind in a better place so your stressors dont seem so...stressful. If you have the time, I heartily recommend seeing a nice, funny movie or reading a funny book to get a little laughter into your day. But if you dont have the time in the schedule for that, simply maintaining a sense of humor throughout your regular day can help quite a bit in the way of keeping you relaxed. There are many benefits of laughter. Strategies for maintaining a sense of humor are great tools for stress relief. How to Laugh in the Face of Stress Change Your Perspective Much of what stresses you comes not from your stressors/link] themselves, but from your response to them. More specifically, your interpretation of your stressors, as well as your approach to dealing with them, can make the events themselves feel much more (or less) stressful. Happily, you can choose different thoughts, even if you cant choose different life circumstances. And there are a few tricks for gaining a better perspective for remaining relaxed under trying conditions: first, you can adopt the thinking style of optimists by interpreting certain facets of a situation in a way that brings hope and eliminates self-doubt. You can also adopt the view that you may have more power in a situation than you realize (called having an internal locus of control, which is also known to eliminate feelings of stress), and then looking for new solutions. Finally, be sure that youre not already sabotaging yourself with overly negative thinking, and read over these common distorted thinking patterns, or cognitive distortionsâ€"do any sound familiar? If so, you can become aware of them and eliminate this type of thinking. Ongoing Practice Works Wonders Each of these practices can be effective for stress relief. However, some may appeal to you more than others, or some may work best in certain situations. Try as many as you can and see what fits best for you. Whatever strategies you use, practice them and use them often, and you can maintain a much more relaxed lifestyle. Your stress management efforts will be most effective if you continue to learn about stress and practice stress relief techniques regularly. Stress management resources can help you to find ongoing information and support to help you to manage stress in your life from now on.