Psychology and wellbeing - How To Relax Daily For Good Health and Wellbeing

Relaxing benefits the overall physical and emotional health. Relaxing can combat fatigue, lower blood pressure, reduce muscle tension, reduce pain, improve concentration and reduce emotional responses such as anger and frustration and promotes sleep.

The October issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource provides the following advices for getting the most benefit from relaxation.

Relaxation should not be last on the to-do list. The key is to make the activity a regular part of the schedule.

"Everyone has different ways of winding down. Most often, relaxing involves a change of pace from the daily grind. Some people practice relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, visualization or progressive muscle relaxation. Others like to read, write in a journal, take a walk with a friend or get a massage.

"The goal is to refocus the mind and disregard extraneous thoughts and distractions.

Maintain positive emotions: Choose to focus on positive rather than negative emotions. This can help you stay on a more even keel emotionally, and when time is available to relax, recovery is swifter.

Practice self-control: Indulgence after a stressful day may bring temporary pleasure but undercut long-term well-being. For example, overeating while trying to lose weight. Relaxation time offers a good opportunity to create a list of constructive and relaxing activities to do when stress levels climb.

Avoid ruminating: Mulling over issues that occurred earlier only increases stress. Moreover, it can lead to taking out anger on others. Instead, moving thoughts in another direction can allow irritation to fade away."

Source: Mayo Clinic

Also see:

Tips for Better Sleep

Chronic Stress May Make You Age Faster

Share your experience in our FORUM Relaxation, Stress, Sleep