Surviving the Tests: Relaxation Techniques

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Learning how to breathe can really help. You can relax your mind and your body by doing this simple exercise.

Place your hand just above your belly button. You will notice that as you breathe in, your diaphragm pushes outward and as you exhale it moves back inward.
Now for relaxation breathing we need to reverse this. As you inhale try to pull your stomach inward and as you exhale push it outward. Keep practicing this with your hand above your stomach until it becomes clear.
Inhale slowly through your nose for a 5 second count, hold that breath for 5 seconds and then slowly let it out through your lips for 5 seconds. Try to make a slight hissing sound as the air passes out of your lips.
Imagine your lungs are like pear shaped balloons. Picture them filling up with air slowly from the bottom to the top.
Continue to breathe like this until you feel your mind and body relax.
Setting aside a few minutes a day to practice relaxation breathing can help prevent stress from sneaking up on you.

Tensing, holding and then relaxing your muscles can help you release the tension that gets stored in your body.

Here is another simple exercise to try.

Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down.
Close your eyes.
Tense your facial muscles (squeeze your forehead, clench your jaw, purse your lips) hold for 5 seconds and then release.
Move on to your neck and shoulder muscles tensing, holding for 5 seconds and then releasing.
Slowly continue to work down your body, tensing, holding and then relaxing the muscles in your arms, back, stomach, hips, legs and feet.
Once you have mastered relaxation breathing combine it with these muscle exercises.

book The material on this page appears in the book, High School’s Not Forever.

Coming soon: An activity page to go with these tips.