Working hard to stay in shape is important. 

But so is relaxation. 

In fact, relaxation is so important to our health and wellness that you can find a myriad of benefits and studies to back it up. 

Among other things, relaxation helps you to cope with the ‘stress’ of everyday life.

It also helps you to:

• Slow your heart rate
• Lower your blood pressure
• Slow your breathing rate
• Improve digestion
• Reduce muscle tension
• Ease chronic pain
• Improve sleep quality

…the list truly goes on and on. 

But how do you relax?

Well, for those of you who may struggle with this one, here are 3 tried and true techniques to actually help you achieve a better, more relaxed state of being. 

Let’s dive in and talk about them.  

1. Autogenic Relaxation

Autogenic relaxation is a type of relaxation technique in which you look within yourself for relaxation. 

An example of this may be to focus on a mantra, to imagine a beautiful beach, to calm your mind through meditation, etc. 

Then, you focus on your inner-self, both mentally and physically. 

You work to control your breathing, you try to slow your heart rate—you basically work from within to will a greater sense of relaxation upon your body. 

This technique works really well in conjunction with most classic mindfulness techniques. 

2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation

This relaxation technique requires you to calm yourself, and put yourself into a very relaxing position (perhaps laying down on your bed or on a yoga mat). 

Then, you start at one end of your body, and visualize relaxing every single muscle. 

You may start with your toes, then work your way up to your feet, then work your way up to your ankles, then calves, etc. 

Once you’ve gone over your entire body, and intentionally relaxed every single muscle, you can either just drift off into a state of meditation, you can go to sleep, or you can go over your body again, entering an even deeper state of muscle relaxation. 

3. Visualization

With the visualization method, you basically visualize, in your mind, some kind of peaceful place or situation. 

You can visualize a beautiful field of flowers, a sunny beach, a beautiful forest path—or really any setting that helps you to feel calm. 

The difference between visualization and autogenic relaxation is that autogenic relaxation focuses more on being self-aware, and using anything necessary to achieve a more relaxed state (mantras, visualizations, breathing techniques, etc.). 

Visualization focuses primarily on visualizing something or someplace calm, and using it as a focal point for your inner sense of peace. 

It’s like creating a ‘calm center,’ and then using that as a center point for relaxation. 

You can also incorporate deep breathing, massage, meditation, yoga, music, or other elements into this technique to help make it as relaxing as possible. 

In Conclusion

Hopefully, this post has helped you to understand 3 very basic relaxation techniques, and how to deploy them in your own life. 

Just remember. 

Inner peace starts within you. 

So get intentional about your positive feelings, and start your transformative journey with the understanding that you have the ability to create calm and peace for yourself. 

You also deserve it!