Releasing The Tension When you need to break the stress ‘strangle hold,” you can use a variety of relaxation techniques that give your body time out. You don’t have to use all the techniques on the next few pages; try them for a week and find the ones that work best for you. Practice them once or twice a day or when you feel particularly stressed.

Deep Breathing
This might be a good technique to use if you respond to stress with fast, shallow breathing. It’s a good foundation for other techniques, and you can do it anytime, anywhere.
1. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position
2. Place your hands on your stomach
3. Inhale slowly and deeply through you’re breathing into your stomach; hold your breath for a few seconds.
4. Exhale all your air slowly through your mouth while pursing your lips; this helps control how fast you release the air.
5. Repeat steps three and four several times

Stretching Exercises
Stretches are easy to learn and are one of the quickest ways to loosen “knots” in your muscles. Depending on where you “hold” your tension, try a variety of different exercises. The stretches below work on two common “hot spots” – your shoulders and back.

Shoulder Stretch
1. Extend your arms in front of you at shoulder height and interlace your fingers. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly.
2. Turn your palms outward. Lower your chin to your chest and extend your arms forward. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly.
3. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly, hold for ten to twenty seconds.

Back Bend
1. Stand and place your palms on your low back. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly.
2. Slowly lean your upper body back without over-arching your neck; hold for 5 seconds. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly.
3. Now slowly lean forward until you feel your low back muscles stretch; hold for 5 seconds. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly.