The Top Three Relaxation Exercises

Meditation used to be something that just your hippie friends, college professor, and manicurist did to stay "focused." But now, nearly everybody does some form of relaxation exercise. The reason: It relieves stress, clears your mind, slows down your system, helps you feel rested and peaceful, and strengthens your immune system against stress-related illnesses.

Deep breathing
Meditation
Positive visualization

Deep breathing, meditation, and positive visualization exercises help reduce stress. To get immediate relief when you're stressed, also try getting a massage, taking a hot bath, listening to music, and doing something that makes you laugh.

We've been breathing since birth so you'd think we would have it down pat by now, but most of us breathe the wrong way. So add breathing to your list of things to change.

To breathe the right way, your shoulders need to be straight instead of sloped so the breathing can come from the lower abdomen. You know you're doing it right if your belly expands like a balloon being blown up when you inhale, and it contracts when you exhale.

Breathing the right way is important for the following reasons.

It lets you feel and experience emotion more deeply and intensely.
It helps you stay focused on the present instead of letting your mind wander off.
It makes you feel peaceful.

Deep breathing is used by Olympic athletes to release tension before a competition. When you feel stressed out or uptight, try deep breathing. Take a very deep breath through your nose, hold it and count slowly to 10, then release forcefully and completely through your mouth. Do this three times and you'll notice a significant release of stress and increased ability to focus.

When you meditate, your muscles relax and you are breathing properly so you feel tranquil, restful. Your mind focuses on a mental activity --like counting breathes --so you aren't focused on your anxious or blue thoughts.

For meditation to work it must be done regularly for 15 to 20 minutes each time. Here is how to do it:

Find a spot at home where nobody will bug you and unplug the phone.
Wear loose, comfortable clothing.
Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes.
Concentrate on slowly relaxing each part of your body, allowing tension to flow out of your arms, legs, neck, and back.
Begin to breathe deeply and rhythmically. Your chest and abdomen should both move together as you inhale and exhale.
Try to picture a peaceful image in your mind--a stream, a beach, a quiet landscape, or a word or sound.
Maintain your focus on your chosen image, or sound. Let your thoughts continue to flow but do not dwell on them, merely note them and return to your point of focus.

Sometimes transporting yourself through your imagination to a tranquil place can renew your energy and soothe you. Select your favorite scene in nature and record every detail in your mind using every one of your senses (think about how it looks, sounds, smells, and feels).

You can use positive visualization when you are stuck in a line or in a traffic jam by envisioning yourself in the Bahamas sipping a cool drink by the sparkling blue pool. While waiting to go in for your performance evaluation, envision yourself climbing a mountain, resting to take a drink from the green water jug you used to trek across Europe during college. Taste the cold water from the jug and drink in the beauty of the nature around you.

Here's how you do it:

Sit down, close your eyes, and breathe slowly and deeply.
Become aware of each breath and concentrate on how your body feels.
Visualize a beautiful scene from the beach, mountains, desert, or any other peaceful relaxed setting you love.
Make the visualization as real as possible to all your senses. If it's an ocean scene you visualize, smell the salt air, hear the gentle sound of the surf, touch the grains of sand, and feel the balmy air on your face. Use deep breathing techniques to derail anxiety.
If your mind wanders back to the problem creating the stress, make yourself return to the peaceful thought and stay there for a few minutes.

Visualization can be a critical survival tool, as was shown by the released American hostages who survived years of isolation by mentally transporting themselves to a more comforting place. They realized that the only thing their captors couldn't control was their minds. Exercising this type of mind control kept them from going crazy and losing hope. And when they were set free, they readjusted to society more quickly because they had developed wonderful mind control techniques and were stronger mentally than many of those around them.