Using any relaxation tips you may have picked up over the years is a great way to deal with the stresses in your daily life.

Sometimes, when you’re feeling stressed out, having someone tell you to relax or “chill out” is more annoying than anything else. But it’s advice you should take to heart, especially if you are having a bad day - or week.

Here are 7 tips that will help you relax when you’re feeling stressed.

1. Take a Warm Bath : Soaking in a tub full of warm water can work wonders when you’re feeling stressed. The warm water relaxes you physically, loosening tight, stiff muscles. And, as a result, you relax mentally as well.
2. Read a Good Book : One of the best ways to deal with a stressful situation, especially if the stress is caused by something you have no control over, is to not think about it. And one of the easiest ways to get your mind off things that are bothering you is to read a good book.
   You can read the latest best seller that you’ve been looking forward to. Or, if you don’t think you will be able to concentrate on anything new, choose an old favorite that you’re already familiar with.
3. Listen to Some Music : It’s a proven fact that soothing music can be relaxing. The type of music you choose is entirely up to you. Buy a CD or cassette featuring soft, modern ballads, gentle classics, smooth jazz, or New Age music. When you feel stressed, pop the music into the player and let the music carry you away.
4. Take a Deep Breath : Something as simple as taking a couple of deep breaths can work wonders. So, the next time you feel stressed, take a few slow, deep breaths. And, if you can, add a full body stretch. Stretching and yawning are also relaxing.
5. Try Aromatherapy : Certain scents have been found to have a calming, relaxing effect on the human body. One of those scents is lavender.
   You can buy lavender candles at a health food store or online, and place them around your home or office. Whenever you’re feeling stressed, burning a lavender candle can help you relax.
   Just make sure your lavender candles are made with essential oils.
6. Try Visualization : The things you visualize or imagine can actually have an effect on your mood.
   The next time you are feeling stressed, take a moment to close your eyes and imagine that you are somewhere more relaxing, like on a beach. Imagine that you can feel the cool breeze against your skin, and hear the ocean waves.
   If you’re stressed about a situation, like giving a speech in front of a large crowd, close your eyes and visualize yourself giving the speech, and everything going perfectly.
   Visualization can help you feel calmer, and better able to deal with whatever has you feeling stressed in the first place.
7. Spend Time Outdoors : Sunlight and fresh air have remarkable abilities to heal our spirit. Often something just as simple as taking a short walk around the block can help reset our priorities. Even yard work can be relaxing if approached from the right frame of mind.

Since time immemorial, yoga therapy has been in practice in India for curing innumerable diseases and human ailments. This time tested form of therapy that has been ignored in the recent past, has now however being appreciated fully. DVDs and other audio-visual mediums have also come out in this regard.

Some forms of yoga, like the Pranayama (specialized breathing exercise) has even received recognition from medical professionals in the US. Clinical evidence reveals that breathing through alternate nostrils, as practiced in yoga, is responsible for a positive balance in the two hemispheres of the brain and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Based on various breathing techniques, yoga therapy alters the frame of mind towards positive thinking and restores mental energy lost by negative thinking. Yogis (Ascetics) are said to regard psychotherapy as the modern form of yoga therapy.

Yoga Therapy and its Effects on the Mind

Yogic exercises no doubt keep the body in good form, but its effect on the mind is far reaching as well. Much before the modern mind forming drugs were introduced, Yogis were able to take control over mind practicing through yoga.

Yoga and Food

“Food should be taken in as much of their natural state as possible”, advise the Yogis. They also felt that it is better not to process the food that is to be consumed. A diet consisting of such food, it has been established, makes possible three functions of the process of digestion:

Absorption > Assimilation > Elimination

A recent study of the American Cancer Society found that more than one third of all the cancer fatalities were caused by bad or faulty nutrition. Yoga therapy and yogic food could perhaps have saved those precious lives.

A simple Yoga Therapy through Breathing

Here is something you can try out easily

Stand erect and keep the arms in a normal resting position. Rotate the shoulders first clockwise then counterclockwise – five times each.

Bend your head right side, trying to reach the shoulder joint and then to the left side – five times each side.

Now bend the head forward and backward alternatively – five times each way.

Keep the neck erect and while bending forward, press the chin against the neck.

Now close the eyes and let the mind relax. Make it as much light and weariless as possible. Breath normally, remaining conscious to the inhalation and exhalation, feeling the movements of your breathing.

With eyes closed, all earthly sounds banished, a sense of calm will overcome you.

Take the next step now. Imagine that the incoming air is slowly coming upward from the stomach level to lungs level. Similarly, while exhaling, do the same except that now the air is coming from the top to the bottom. Repeat ten times and you will be a new person, alive with the joy of life.

Practicing relaxation techniques can help calm our days when they get too stressful. It’s easy to miss out on enjoying a day in our life if our minds are filled with worrisome thoughts and our bodies are tense with stress. A day lived is not coming back and we should not lose it in this way.

For starters, eliminate some things. Avoid running around frantically trying to do too many things. Slow down and move with an easy manner.

If you cannot avoid problems and busy days, get in the habit of pausing to breathe slowly and deeply. Try to continue with easy breathing as you continue on with your tasks.

When tightening up, say at your desk, relax all your muscles. Let them go limp and loose like a soft towel. Don’t try, just let it all go. Consciously let the muscles relax every time you feel them tighten, which might be all day long to start with. It is almost impossible to feel stressed if your muscles are relaxed.

If you can get a short break create a detailed peaceful retreat in your imagination and go there to calm your feelings. Picture it in vivid detail. Perhaps a comfortable room with soft music, a quiet place in the woods, a placid lake, a beautiful garden with flowers, trees, birds. Perhaps such a place already exists. While you are there, let go of everything except where you are.

Create a personal selection of calming words like serene, tranquil, peaceful and repeat them to yourself as you move through your day.

After work perhaps you can have a relaxing pastime such as walking or listening to music.

“There is however, a true music of nature - the song of the birds, the whisper of leaves, the ripple of waters upon a sandy shore, the wail of wind or sea.” - John Lubbock (1834-1913)