Relaxation Techniques & Stress Relief

Relaxation techniques allow you to relief stress and are an important part to achieve an equated work-life balance, especially when you feel seized by stressful emotions in a hectic work environment. There are many ways to reach a point of deep relaxation beside Stress Management Techniques; from relaxation music, relaxation techniques to meditation techniques, which will be covered in this article.

Relaxation technique #1: Acupressure

Acupressure is a very effective, yet easy to practice stress reliever you can apply on yourself.

1. Take your forefinger and thumb; squeeze the fleshy area between your forefinger and thumb of the other hand
2. Maintain the pressure for about three to five seconds (it should be an uncomfortable, but not painful feeling!)
3. Repeat this on the fleshy area of your other hand
4. Repeat the whole exercises up to two more times!

After you finished the relaxation exercise you will notice that pressure, any sense of tension and stress recede.

Relaxation technique #2: Control your breath!

One of the most effective relaxation techniques that reliefs stress immediately is by applying breathing relaxation. The majority of people are shallow breathers (they breathe from their chest rather than the diaphragm), which disallows them to receive all the oxygen they need! Breathing deeply will allow your mood and your brain to profit from the extra oxygen.

1. Slow down your breathing by taking deep inhalations. Once you close your eyes you will notice your heart rate slowing down, which helps to eliminate stress.
2. Take a view minutes to focus only on your breathing.
3. You can imagine yourself walking through some sort of relaxation garden or any similar environment you associate with recreation and refreshment.

Just have a try at this very effective relaxation exercise to diffuse stress!

Relaxation technique #3: Release stress by exercising

Although many people don’t think of regular exercise as a possible way to relax it will help to release stress. Regular exercise will release endorphins (positive feelings) and boost your mood, which is very helpful for further relaxation exercises.

Relaxation technique #4: Meditation

Meditation allows making your mind peaceful and calm. This mental state, free from worries, helps you to relax and relief stress.

Here is how to meditate:

1. Time! It is very important to plan enough time for a meditation to eliminate stress from the beginning.
2. Meditate in a quiet and relaxing environment. Try to avoid any kind of distractions (phones, television, roommates).
3. Sitting position: you can sit with your pelvis tilted slightly forward. You notice that you have the perfect sitting position once it feels as if you don’t need any effort to hold your torso up.
4. Start to relax. Focus your attention on your deep breaths and listen to it while you start to let all the “inner chat” in your mind fade away.
5. Imagine a place where you feel calm, such as a garden, etc. to keep other thoughts that start to intrude your mind away.
6. Once you are able to quit the “inner chat” and can avoid getting procrastinated by your thoughts you can start to un-focus your attention 

The aim of a meditation is to silence your mind. This can be achieved by focusing on only one thing at a time until you are able to lose all your attention, which requires tremendous discipline.

Relaxation technique #5: Relaxation music

Listening to relaxation music can have an astounding impact on your mental state, as it allows you to calm down and relax. Furthermore, music has a positive effect on the psyche and relief stress. The most powerful relaxation effect can be achieved with slow, ambient music (such as nature noises).

In the following are two relaxation videos that provide you with relaxation music:

There are many ways to relax, but meditation might be the most popular one

Embedded videos removed, sorry for the inconvenience.

Photo by vramak

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