• shoulders
• back
• chest
• stomach
• right leg
• left leg.
Practise in a quiet, darkened room and give yourself plenty of time. Some people find relaxation CDs / DVDs helpful; you can buy these in shops and online.
Physical exercise
Aerobics, swimming, squash, running, walking, football, weight training, badminton and 100 other sports are a great way to relax.
If you exercise regularly, you’ ll be less tense and anxious. Why not start to exercise? If you’ re unsure how to begin, approach your local gym. If you’ re very unfit, consult your doctor before you start any strenuous physical exercise.
Yoga is another good way of learning to relax. Muscle relaxation, yoga and meditation all require effort to relax the mind and body.
These methods of relaxing should be carried out each day to have the best effect. Setting aside this time is not always easy. Results will be worth the effort.
The following exercise gives guidelines for one type of relaxation. Before trying it out, remove any tight-fitting clothing and jewellery. Make sure that the room is comfortably warm and that you won’ t be disturbed.
Exercise 3: Meditational relaxation
• Sit quietly in a comfortable position( put your feet flat on the floor and lay your hands flat on your lap).
• Close your eyes.
• Breathe through your nose. Become aware of your breathing.
• Breathe easily and naturally, not deeply.
• Whenever your thoughts wander to other things, don’ t worry. Just slowly guide yourself back.
• Carry on doing this for 15 to 20 minutes. Open your eyes to check the time, but don’ t set an alarm. With practice, you’ ll acquire an in-built awareness of how long you’ ve been relaxing.
• Don’ t worry about whether you have been successful in becoming deeply relaxed. Keep a peaceful state of mind and let the relaxation happen at its own pace. If you’ re distracted( and this is common when you first start), ease yourself back gently.
• When you finish, sit quietly for several minutes. Sit with your eyes open. Don’ t stand up for a few minutes.