Try Relaxation Exercises

Did you know that doing simple deep breathing - or what's known as deep abdominal breathing -- can help relieve the effects of stress? It can! Deep breathing brings more oxygen into your blood and muscles, thereby relieving stress and lowering your heart rate and blood pressure. You can practice deep breathing throughout the day, while standing, sitting up straight or lying down. Here's how: 

• Concentrate on your breathing. Make it slow and steady.
• Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, letting your stomach expand as much as possible. Hold for five to 10 seconds. As you do this, your chest, rib cage, and shoulders should stay steady and not move.
• Exhale slowly through either your nose or mouth. Feel your stomach dilate.
• When you've completed this cycle, you can start again.
• Continue this breathing pattern for another five to 10 minutes. Notice the feeling of calmness throughout your whole body.

Another exercise that will help your muscles to relax is as follows. Try this for another five to 10 minutes while lying down in a quite place, combining it with the deep breathing exercise above:

• Tighten and relax each muscle in your body. You can begin at your toes and work your way up to your head.
• Imagine your muscle groups relaxing and becoming heavy.
• Empty your mind of all thoughts.
• Allow yourself to relax more and more deeply.
• Become aware of the state of calmness that surrounds you.

When your time is over, you can bring yourself back to alertness by moving your fingers and toes, then your hands and feet, stretching and moving your entire body. Sometimes people fall asleep during relaxation; they usually wake up shortly afterward.

During this relaxation exercise, you can play soothing, relaxing music.

Always give yourself time to return to full alertness before you drive a car or do other activities that might cause an accident if you are not fully alert.