11 Tips To Relax Better

Relaxation is more important now than it has ever been with many peoples’ lives being so hectic. When the world around you seems to demand more and you need to meet that demand then you should also assure relaxation time isn’t compromised or eliminated. Relaxation can help you recover from the troubles of life and prepare you to face them as well. It also helps the brain calm down and conserves mental energy for more important things. Sure, relaxation is no substitute for a good night’s sleep, but it is one of the closest things humans have to sleep without actually sleeping.

With all that said, though, it is still important to consider the fact that some people do struggle with relaxation. It seems like something that would be easy and come naturally but for some people it may not. Trouble relaxing can be caused by anything from being a workaholic to a mental or physical health ailment. For example, anxiety, depression, PTSD and chronic stress can all lead to trouble with relaxation.

While underlying conditions (if applicable) should be treated by a professional, there are some general tips to achieve relaxation that may help you if you just generally struggle.

Ways to relax better

Here are some strategies to get high quality relaxation.

1. Release tension

A common misconception out there is that we should use relaxation as a means to combat tension from the jump. Yes, we should be making efforts to combat tension with relaxation, but it is a smart idea to first release some of it to make the process easier. This doesn’t mean we need to be calm to relax, it just means we want to lay a good foundation for achieving a relaxed state.

You can release tension by dedicating 10 or 20 minutes before any relaxation time to let out your negative emotions. During this time, make an effort to feel those negative emotions and let them run their course at max capacity. Let yourself get angry, for example, by feeling the anger, tensing your muscles, or maybe using a punching bag. Feel the sadness by crying. If you feel any negative emotions, release those for a few minutes before you get into relaxing. You don’t have to be devoid of negative emotion in order to move into relaxation. The point of this is just to not start with too much unresolved emotional baggage that can make relaxing harder.

2. Ease tension

The next step should be to alleviate tension. For this tip you should be making an effort to feel free from any negative emotions you may have. Let the anger go, let the sadness fade, let resentment lose control, or whatever. This is the point where tension should be allowed to fade. If you feel that something is bothering you, then ease its effect on you by allowing it to leave/fade away.

3. Relax muscles

Muscle tension can be surprisingly obstructive –holding people back from relaxing properly. It can even actively make humans feel more stressed by convincing us that we are in a tense state. This is especially true for muscles of the face which may tense up and convince you that you are angry, irritated, or upset even if you are not.

Try lying down and fully relaxing yourself and relaxing your muscles. Then, try to notice if you feel tension in any muscle. If you do, make an effort to relax that. This may require extra attentiveness as sometimes people can be oblivious to the fact that their muscles are experiencing tension. While lying down, you can also try tensing up some muscles and then relaxing them progressively from head to toe.

4. Breathe (not necessarily deep, but calm)

Breathing has been credited with helping calm people down and even improving their overall mood. You can try deep or diaphragmatic breathing where you breathe in and feel the breath going into your diaphragm. You should focus on your stomach and feel it expanding. Feel your chest filling up with air. You would then exhale slowly and feel the air empty and your stomach going inwards. You can try closing one nostril and breathing in. Try a breathing, holding and exhaling technique. You do this by breathing in for 4 seconds, holding for 7 seconds, and exhaling for 8 seconds. Try breathing out with pursed lips as well. Do this for a few minutes a day or whenever you feel stressed.

Also, you can try making breathing as comfortable as possible whether your are deep breathing or regular breathing. Make sure your chest has room to expand by avoiding a slouching and bad posture. This is most often an issue when someone sits for prolonged periods of time. Try lying on your stomach, as well.

You can also try focusing on your breathing if you struggle with deep breathing. Basically just breathe as normal and be aware of how you breathe and when you breathe.

5. Let thoughts come and go

One of the most common distractions when trying to achieve relaxation is intrusive thoughts popping up in the mind. Someone may think about something that traumatizes, saddens, angers or worries them. These typically induce an emotional reaction which stops the relaxation process and forces people to either give up on relaxing or have to re-establish calmness again. Unwanted thoughts can really become a nuisance.

To combat this, let thoughts come and go without giving them acknowledgement. Say you are trying to relax and all of a sudden you think of an upcoming assignment at work. Don’t let your thoughts go down a vortex. Instead just let the thought pass and carry on. Yes, there may be an unwanted emotional reaction from that thought, but you can just let this response run its course and move on. You can choose to feel the emotions for a few minutes and then go back to ignoring them (trying not to feel emotions could just make them stronger so try to acknowledge them a little bit).

6. Exercise lightly

Exercise itself can be relaxing but it can also help bring about a relaxed state. Make sure you discuss with your doctor before starting any exercise regimen. Then decide which exercise helps you relax (if any). Maybe walking calms you down, or running, or lifting weights, or biking, or whatever else. Do anything that helps get rid of the troubles.

It’s also possible exercise does not make you feel relaxed – do it anyway as long as your health allows you to. Even if exercise itself doesn’t relax you, there is a good chance that you will feel more mentally and physically at ease after it. Exercise can help release physical tension in controlled ways and it can also aid in the release of mental tension. After exercising is a great time to relax because if your body is tired it is more likely to be responsive to relaxation.

7. Create a relaxing environment

Your home is ideal when it comes to places for relaxing, so you should try making it as relaxing as possible. Calm may not always be available if you live with others or you have annoying neighbors/surroundings, but there are steps you can take to create a more peaceful environment. Try picking a room in the house that does not get a lot of noise (if possible). If it is hard to find quiet, consider ear plugs during relaxation time even if only to mitigate the noise. Make sure your space is decluttered and clean: if it isn’t, make a point of cleaning it. We don’t want a mess in your relaxation area creating a mess in your mind. The list can go on and it really depends on what kind of surroundings make you feel most at ease.

8. Focus on something internal

Most sources of stress and obstructions to relaxation come from peoples’ external environment. In order to increase the quality of relaxation, try focusing on something internal rather than external. This means focusing on how you breathe, your heartbeat, or just imagining something calming or distracting. The goal here is to help take your mind off of the world around you to achieve relaxation no matter what’s in your environment.

9. Think slowly

It’s near impossible to just never think while we are awake and aware. But if we think too quickly we risk going into a thought cycle that could stress us out. We also could get ourselves hyped up by thinking too fast. Set the stage for your brain by thinking slowly so you slow the overall pace of your mind. That little voice in your head; try not to make it sound like a child who had more sugar than they should’ve. If you talk to yourself in your head, do so slowly. If you insist on thinking about something, do so at a slow pace.

10. Envision relaxation

Your imagination is a way for you to design the ideal state you’d like to be in. If you are trying to relax, envision what you’d look like relaxed. Envision an environment that is relaxing (within reason) and try to emulate that as best as you can in your actual environment. You could even just use your imagination to take yourself to a relaxing place that puts you at ease. Your imagination is an important tool for just about any achievement because it helps form the goal and the pathway to it –relaxation is no different.

11. Keep distractions away

Your phone, the TV, your computer or anything else that may distract you should be far away or off. If you must keep your phone nearby then put it on silent or if you don’t get many notifications you could try just ignoring it. When you are done relaxing you can go back to this stuff in moderation.