Relaxing
It’s important to take time out for yourself and relax, it helps to relieve stress and promote your mental health. In the same way we all need sleep, it’s important we actively engage in activities which help us unwind. It can be listening to music, cooking, reading – even watching TV or having a long bath. In short it’s anything which makes us feel good after a hard day.
Try the following to help you relax:
- Find a quiet place and wear comfortable clothes. Lay or sit down and concentrate on your breathing. Breathe in deeply through your nose and then slowly out through your mouth. Repeat this ten times.
- Sit, stand or lay down and really tense up your leg muscles and count to 5 then let them go limp. Do this again but tense up your arm muscles, then your stomach and chest muscles, face muscles and finally all your muscles. Let all your muscles relax and let your body feel heavy for a couple of minutes.
- Find a quiet comfortable place and visualise yourself somewhere relaxing like on the beach, in the woods, in front of a fire. Fix on a positive word or thought and repeat this to yourself for 5 minutes. This is a basic form of meditation and can help to calm down your mind.
- Physical activity is also good for relieving tension, aim to do at least 30 minutes five days a week.
