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Relaxation Techniques to Reduce Stress We face stressful situations throughout our lives, but no matter what the cause, stress floods your body with hormones. Our hearts pound, our breathing increases and we are unable to cope with life’s challenges. Here are some relaxation techniques that can help you evoke the relaxation response and reduce stress. Breath Focus: In this powerful technique, you take long, slow, deep breaths (also known as abdominal or belly breathing). As you breathe, you gently disengage your mind from distracting thoughts and sensations. This technique may not be appropriate for those with health problems that make breathing difficult, such as respiratory ailments or heart failure. Body Scan: This technique blends breath focus with progressive muscle relaxation. After a few minutes of deep breathing, you focus on one part of the body, or group of muscles at a time and mentally releasing any physical tension you feel there. A body scan can help boost your awareness of the mind-body connection. If you have had a recent surgery that affects your body image or other difficulties with body image, this technique may be less helpful for you. Guided Imagery: With this technique, you imagine soothing scenes, places, or experiences in your mind to help you relax and focus. You can find free apps and online recordings of calming scenes; just make sure to choose imagery you find soothing and that has personal significance. Guided imagery may help you reinforce a positive vision of yourself. However, it be difficult for those who have intrusive thoughts or find it hard to conjure up mental images. Mindfulness Meditation: This technique involves sitting comfortably, focusing on your breathing, and bringing your mind's attention to the present moment, without drifting into concerns about the past or the future. This form of meditation has enjoyed increasing popularity in recent years. Research suggests it may be helpful for people with anxiety, depression, and pain. Prayer. Here, you silently repeat a short prayer or phrase from a prayer while practicing breath focus. You can choose bible verses that focuses on stress reduction and anxiety and repeat those throughout the breathing. It is recommended to practice more than one to see which one works best for you. Try to practice for at least 20 minutes a day, although even just a few minutes can help. The longer and the more often you practice these relaxation techniques, the greater the benefits, and the more you can reduce stress. Reference Relaxation techniques to reduce stress retrieve from https://www.health.harvard.edu/ mind-and-mood/six-relaxation-techniques-to-reduce-stress Ronda Herbert, PhD April 2020