Techniques to get and stay relaxed!

There are dozens if not hundreds of methods to get and stay relaxed. Some methods have come and gone in fads, some have stuck around for thousands of years, and some are brand new developments due to technology and scientific advancement.

Not every technique will work for everyone, and so rather than provide what I think is the best method, I'll talk about a few different methods and give you a bit of information on each. This page should act as an introduction to most areas, as I am not qualified in all relaxation areas, but external links will be provided so that you can pursue things that sound interesting!

If you have any questions, you can contact me here. Also, if you're unsure as to why relaxation is important, read this!

Yoga

I think it's only natural for me to start with my specialty, yoga. I have been teaching yoga for almost 20 years now and I feel it can be a very positive thing.

When done properly, yoga can let you escape yourself and provide an unparallel bliss. After so many years, I still look forward to my daily routine, especially when life gets a bit more stressful than usual.

My first yoga instructor told me that yoga is as much an emotional exercise as a physical one. While a lot of yoga positions involve stretching muscles, the true definition of yoga in my mind is deep meditation coupled with self-acceptance and inner harmony. After a yoga session, you should feel not only calm and relaxed but confident to do what life requires you to. Yoga allows you to build yourself up to be a self-proclaimed superstar.

Another wonderful thing about yoga is that anybody can do it, and everybody can benefit from it. You do not need to be physically fit, contrary to popular belief. You do not need to be religious and you do not need to devote huge amounts of time to it.

The easiest way to get started is to find a yoga class going on in your area. There are often listings in yellow pages, and the internet can be a very powerful tool for finding such a thing. There are also lots of self-teaching books and videos available (Amazon has an amazing selection of yoga books, videos and tools).

My personal favorite online resource, for information of all kinds, is Yoga Journal. They have a wealth of information for those of you who want to get started!

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is the latest craze in the relaxation scene. It involves monitoring your biological signs, such as heart rate, skin temperature, blood pressure, and how much you're sweating, and becoming aware of your stress triggers and biological responses to stress.

Biofeedback tends to be very hit-and-miss. Some people swear by it and some people swear when they hear people mention it! It is also one of the more expensive ways to relax and can involve long frustrating trips to the hospital to have tests done - not what I call relaxing!

However, there are a lot of positive things to biofeedback. If you are a very self aware person, biofeedback can help you help yourself.

Click here to learn more about Biofeedback

Mental Awareness and physical defense

I used to be in regular contact with a person that taught me a lot about life. She was a devout buddhist and a lot of her views made a lot of sense to me (I am not buddhist, but I do believe the religion has a lot of positive things to offer).

My buddhist friend believed that we should accept our emotions. Rather than try to avoid the stressful emotion, we should accept stress when it occurs, but try to avoid stressful situations.

It brings upon an entire philosophy of how to lead your life, though, and I think it can definitely work for some people. The best way to avoid stress is sometimes to avoid stressful situations. If, for example, a student gets stressed the night before exams, the trick would be to make sure to be well prepared well in advance, to avoid the stressful last-minute crunch that so many students try.

The other part of the philosophy is to accept stress when it inevitably occurs. If you truly learn to say "Ok, I'm feeling stressed now and that's just part of life, but things will look up soon", it can help quite a bit. A similar trick is to put things in perspective. Rather than be pessimistic about the things stressing you out, be optimistic about the things you have that are going well, and the things that could be stressing you out but aren't.

A good way I've found of putting things into perspective is to visit a site such as Daily Confession. Daily Confession is a site that lets users upload things they're confessing to and problems they're having. It remains anonymous and it provides people with a way of talking about their problems without fear of rejection or judgement.

I like to read it (perhaps selfishly) to realize that whatever problem I'm having isn't the worst thing out there. Also, it can help show that you are not alone with a problem, as I've often found people talking about problems that I've experienced.

Meditating and deep breathing

Meditation, as you may have guessed, can also do wonders. I think this section crosses with Yoga because the two share a lot of similarites. The significant difference is that meditation involves no movement and generally more deep focus.

I am by no means a meditation expert, and so it is after hesitation that I've decided not to post my personal technique for meditating. However, the following is a short list of websites that talk a lot about meditation:

LearningMeditation

WildMind

Meditation.com

MayoClinic meditation article

Additional tips and tricks

In addition to the above mentionned techniques, I think that one thing we should always remember is that if we're feeling stressed, there is always a solution to reduce and eliminate stress. Never get overwhelmed - no matter how stressed you may feel, there is always a solution!

Try out different things - in addition to what's listed on this website, try and find your own ways to relax. Dedicate time to do things you want to do, listen to nice relaxing music, go for a nice long unconstrained walk in the park. These things can help more than you think.

If all else fails, read our Devices page for more information on how you can reduce stress in your life!