Two useful relaxation exercise for quick stress relief

Relaxation exercise is great for those times when you are under stress and need a 'timeout', they have the effect of calming you down so that you can get back on to life's challenges.

The most basic exercise is known as the Progressive Muscle relaxation exercise. You start off by tightening and squeezing each muscle groups in your body, and then relaxing them. What you are doing is actually engaging your body to learn how a relaxed state feels like. Over the years, you might be stressed so much that you have forgotten how a it feels like to be relaxed. With practice, going into a relaxed state will become second nature.

I will not include the actual sequence of the steps, as I felt that the best way to learn this is to follow a guided audio. You could download a free guided audio for the Progressive muscle relaxation exercise here.

Another one of my favourite exercise is a combination exercise that relaxes the Mind, Breathing and Body. This works well, after you have mastered progressive muscle relaxation, as this will take you to an even deeper level of relaxation.

First, relax your mind by thinking of your favourite place of relaxation, it could be a beautiful day at a beach, a stroll beside a river stream, or watching beautiful birds flying...do what works for you.

Then, as you mind relaxes, you should shift your attention to your breathing and the muscles related such as chest and throat. Consciously release any tension from these muscles and you will find that your breathing will slow down and are able to go deeper.

Finally, you should mentally scan your body from head to toe and relax any remaining muscles that are tense.

Remember practice makes perfect, keep doing it and expect good results.