7 Time-Tested Relaxation Techniques

Life can be so demanding at times. Work schedules, traffic jams, peer and family conflict can create discord and disharmony quickly, turning a productive day into a tension filled nightmare. The following is adapted from Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking and is sure to relax and revive your peaceful center:


1) Sit relaxed in a chair. Completely yield  yourself to the chair. Starting with your toes and proceeding to the top of your head, conceive of every portion of the body as relaxing. Affirm relaxation by saying, "My toes are relaxed - my fingers - my facial muscles".

2) Think of your mind as the surface of a lake in a storm, tossed by waves in a tumult. But now the waves subside, and the surface of the lake is placid and unruffled.

3) Spend two or three minutes thinking of the most beautiful and peaceful scenes you have ever beheld - a mountain at sunset, a deep valley filled with the hush of early morning, a woods at noon day, moonlight upon rippling waters. In memory relive the scenes.

4) Breathe deeply. Inhale the sights, scents, and sounds of your peaceful scenes. Imagine how you would feel if you were there right now. Feel the warmth of the sun, the coolness of the breeze. Hear the sounds of birds singing, rippling waters, and so on.

5) Repeat slowly, quietly, bringing out the melody in each a series of words which express quietness and peace. Say: a) tranquility, b) serenity, c) quietness - forming the words, feeling the shape of them as you softly speak. Think of other such words and repeat them.


6) Make a mental list of times in your life when you have been conscious of God's watchful care and recall how, when you were worried and anxious, everything worked together for good because He took care of you. Then recite this line from an old hymn: 'So long thy power hath kept me, sure it STILL will lead me on'.

7) Repeat the following, which has an amazing power to relax and quiet the mind: 'He will keep me in perfect peace, when my mind is stayed on Him' (Isaiah 26:3) Repeat this several times during the day, whenever you have a fraction of a moment. Repeat it aloud if possible, so that by the end of the day you will have said it many times. Conceive of these words as active, vital substances permeating your mind, sending into every area of your thinking a healing balm.


Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Text FitNClean to 90210 to receive your personal daily dose of 'Vitamins for the Mind'. Standard SMS rates apply. Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ