Body Relaxation Techniques

Sometimes making it through to the summer after a full year of work is nothing short from an odyssey. Stress builds up, muscles suffer and your body is tight and aching. But what if you could revert that and use body relaxation techniques to make your everyday a little more enjoyable? Well, it is possible to follow certain steps and relax at home as you never thought you could. Read on and find out which these techniques are, how to apply them to your everyday life and live better in the long run.

The benefits of body relaxation techniques

The benefits of body relaxation techniques are many and very varied. As with any relaxation technique in the world, they depend largely on the subject receiving them. If you are open to every technique you might just get the best out of them, otherwise you might struggle until you do. That being said, this is a list of the most common benefits registered to this date by multiple users.

• Lower your body´s blood pressure
• Slowing the breath rate
• Slow down your heartbeat rate
• Reduce anger, frustration and other stress-derived negative emotions
• Reduce all kinds of chronic pain and muscle tension
• Improve sleep time and quality
• Reduce fatigue levels
• Fight depression symptoms
• Regulate blood sugar levels to keep them within normal levels
• Blood flow increment to major muscles
• Lower the amount of stress hormones and reduce their action span
• Boost confidence and helps to handle problems easier
• Improve concentration and boost good mood

These are only some of the many benefits of body relaxation techniques because more are discovered daily. Of course that most people practicing them get the most benefits by mixing them with other techniques like positive thinking, anger management and reducing stress factors like overworking.

Body relaxation techniques

Although there are many body relaxation techniques, this is a compendium of the ones we think work the best for today´s problems. Many of them have been around for hundreds and thousands of years.

Breathing relaxation techniques

This simple technique doesn´t require much more than a quiet place, some minutes and some room to stretch. the theory behind it says that oxygen in large amounts does wonders to relax your body. According to western medicine, the more oxygen our blood is able to carry, the healthier we´ll be. Let´s see how to get it done step by step Step 1 The first step is to try and breathe from your diaphragm and stomach instead with the shallow part of your upper lungs. So, sit straight with your back against the wall and put one hand on your chest and another one on your stomach. The second one should rise as you breathe. Step 2 Breathe deeply through the nose pulling in as much air as you can. Keep it in and then empty yourself from all the air you inhaled through your mouth. When exhaling you should feel as if your abdominal muscles contract to let it all out. The hand on your stomach should really move when you exhale. Keep on inhaling and exhaling deeply until you start to feel calm. It is possible and recommended to mix this technique with others as soothing music and aromatherapy.

Mindfulness meditation

Mindfulness is a type of meditation that has gained many followers in the latter times. I am sure you heard it being mentioned more than once. Well, it gained popularity because it really is helpful and works great on most people. The basic concept is to let go on the past and not be concerned or worried about the past, but just be present where you are at the moment. Again, you don´t need much to practice it, just some quiet minutes and a place to sit. This is a basic guide to getting it done: Step 1 Find a quiet place and make some time for yourself in which you know you won´t be disturbed. Step 2 Sit down either with your back against the wall, or a straight-backed chair or cross-legged on the floor. Step 3 Focus on a simple thing. That thing can be as simple as your own breathing or something external like a short phrase or even maybe a candle. Step 4 If thoughts still flood your head from every direction, don´t fight them or yourself. Just pay attention to your element, the one you chose. It is about returning your focus gently to what it was before thoughts broke in. Mindfulness meditation is so easy to achieve that it can work in your first attempt. There are people who do it while doing other regular activities such as walking or running.

Guided imagery

Also called visualization, this technique involves a place and a moment in time that brings peace and joy to our mind. It is important to focus on a place that brings a good memory or a smile that can make us feel unstressed and happy. It can be whatever you like; some people like to go back to real places, people and moments and some others like to make that up from a cool photograph they saw somewhere. Whichever is the case, it should make you feel good. The thing with visualization is that you don´t need a 2-d experience, but a 3-d one. You should feel, hear and touch your environment and not only see it. Here is what should be happening.

• Smell – If you are in a sandy beach, you should, for example, smell the ocean.

• Taste – After a big dive into the blue ocean, what better than the salty taste in our mouths?

• Hear – Can you hear the way the ocean comes and go? Hear it and incorporate that steady rhythm,

• See – The way the sun reflects on the waves creating a million colored mirrors over the surface.

• Feel – The heat of the sun on your skin and the sand coming in and out of your fingertips. The ocean getting you wet and the sun tanning your skin.

This is just an example of the virtually limitless you can think of. Just make sure it is your own happy place. Once you are ready, slowly open up your eyes and come back to reality.