We all get stressed and anxious from time to time and many of us just put up with it, find unhealthy ways to cope such as over-indulging in alcohol, drugs or even food. These things might seem to help in the short term, but they can cause problems later.
A simple technique for calm
You can help yourself relax and I am going to show you one simple technique now.
You would be amazed at how easy it is to help yourself feel calm and relaxed. I’m going to help you by giving some easy-to-follow pointers. You can do this anywhere as long as you are not disturbed. You can just read it, that’s fine or you might want to record these instructions or get a friend to read them to you.
Firstly, find somewhere comfortable where you can relax and will not be disturbed.
Deep breathing for relaxation
Now take a deep breath and feel how it feels as the cool air enters your nose, and your throat and goes down into your lungs. Hold that for a moment then slowly breathe out. Aaah! Notice how good that feels. Say to yourself calm and relaxed.
Breathe deeply again and feel how it feels. Keep doing this. Push your tummy out so you are breathing with the whole of your body.
Relax all your muscles
Now you can relax your body some more. Start with your feet. Tense up all the muscles in your feet as tight as you can. Hold this for ten seconds. Then let go. Repeat this. Then move up your body repeating this tense and relax routine. First your calves, then your thighs, then your tummy and lower back, then your core, then raise your shoulders and let them drop, releasing all the tension. Tense and relax your upper arms and then your forearms. Then, one by one concentrate on your fingers, first relax your thumbs, then your index fingers, middle fingers, ring fingers, little fingers. Notice how your hands feel, they may feel slightly warm or tingle a bit. That is a sign you are relaxing.
Focus on your spine and imagine each part letting go of any tensions. The focus on your neck and then on your jaw. Let your tongue fall to the bottom of your mouth, and let your jaw relax. Allow that feeling of relaxation to slowly spread up your face to your head, then let it spread down the back of your head.
Colours to calm you
Now imagine your favourite colour. Close your eyes for a moment and see that colour. Open your eyes and imagine everything around you being washed or tinted with that favourite colour. Now imagine as you breathe in the air you are breathing in a gentle shade of that colour, then as you breathe out imagine that colour becomes stronger. Repeat this several times and feel yourself surrounded by that colour from your breath. That colour is surrounding and protecting you with a calm gentle energy.
Enjoy feeling calm
Imagine yourself surrounded by that most beautiful colour. Your favourite colour. Enjoy that feeling. Put your hands out and feel that colour. Breathe it in and feel that calm energy. Enjoy this for as long as you want. Then stretch your limbs and get on with your day, feeling refreshed and relaxed.
How you can use this relaxation technique
This is such a simple technique, and I hope you enjoyed doing this. You can do this whenever you want and wherever you want. If you would like to learn more techniques like this, then contact me.
