How to relax quickly without doing anything. 10 simple exercises

psychologist at the Pervaya Liniya resort, PhD in Psychology

How to quickly put thoughts and emotions in order? What exercises should be done?

Now stress is a constant companion of most of us. Negative emotions tend to accumulate, and very often we are knocked out of the rut even unpleasant little things. And if we, irritated by the fact that someone stepped on our foot in the subway, come to other people, we are immediately told to “calm down”. And how can you calm down if you’re already stressed out to the max. Of course, something must be done with such a volume of negativity inside.

In recent years, experts have developed many techniques aimed at reducing the effects of stress. But more widely available for this purpose have become autogenic training. They help to quickly recover and enter a resourceful state.

A few important points

• Do exercises in a comfortable place. It is desirable that it was quiet and secluded.
• The posture should be comfortable: you can start training in a sitting, lying or semi-lying position.
• You should practice regularly (several times a week, or even daily if you are motivated). But if you don’t feel like practicing, you can skip the session. We are interested in relaxation, not willpower.
• To keep track of your emotional and cognitive state, you can write down your feelings and thoughts during the practice in a diary.

First block: breathing

Breath control is one of the basic skills of self-regulation. It can change depending on our emotional state: a sleeping person’s breathing is even, an angry person’s breathing is rapid, and a crying person’s breathing is intermittent. Therefore, in order to change your emotional state, it is necessary to “breathe”. The main meaning of breathing exercises is conscious control over the rhythm, frequency and depth of breathing.

Deep breathing lying on the back

Technique

• In a supine position, place the left hand on the thoracic region, and the right hand on the abdomen.
• We perform five breathing cycles with the abdomen, so that the hand on the abdomen is raised. On two counts – inhale, on two – exhale.
• Then five breathing cycles with the chest – only the hand that lies on the rib cage rises. Two counts – inhale, two counts – exhale.

Alternate breathing cycles five inhalations-exhalations with the abdomen, five inhalations-exhalations with the chest for five minutes or until you feel that you have calmed down and rested.

Square breathing

Technique

• Visualize a square. You are in the lower left corner.
• Inhale for four counts and go upstairs (upper left corner), four counts – delay on the inhalation (move to the upper right corner), four counts – exhale (go down to the lower right corner), four counts – delay on the exhalation (return to the lower left corner).

The duration of the exercise is three minutes.

The second block: sensation control

Exercises are performed by mentally repeating 5-6 times the formulas of self-hypnosis. Before each exercise one should say to oneself: “I am calm”.

Exercise 1. Causing a feeling of heaviness in arms and legs. This will help us to relax all the muscles of the body.

Formulas for internal saying: “The right arm gradually becomes heavy”; “As if the right arm is poured with leaden weight”; “The right arm is absolutely heavy”, then “The left arm gradually becomes heavy”; “As if the left arm is poured with leaden weight”; “The left arm is absolutely heavy” and “Both arms become heavy”; “Both arms are absolutely heavy”. The same formulas for the legs. The final formula is: “Arms and legs are perfectly heavy”.

Exercise 2. Evoking the sensation of warmth in the hands and feet. This will help us feel our limbs better.

Formulas for internal recitation: “Right (left) hand gradually gets warmer, as if immersed in a bath of pleasant warm water”; “Right (left) hand is completely warm”, then “Hands are completely warm”, the same formulas for the feet. The final formula is: “Hands and feet are perfectly heavy and warm”.

Exercise 3. Regulation of the rhythm of heart contractions.

The formula for internal pronunciation: “The heart beats evenly and calmly”.

Exercise 4. Normalization and regulation of respiratory rhythm.

Formula for internal recitation: “Breathing is calm and even”; “I breathe perfectly calm”.

Exercise 5. Causing a sensation of warmth in the abdominal cavity.

The formula for internal pronunciation: “My solar plexus radiates heat”.

Exercise 6. Causing a feeling of coolness in the forehead area in order to prevent and weaken headaches of vascular genesis.

The formula for internal pronunciation: “My forehead is pleasantly cool”.

If you have done everything correctly, you will feel the sensations mentioned above in your body: heaviness, warmth, coolness. As you practice, it will become much easier and faster to achieve this.

The third block: self-infusion

Exposure to words triggers the conscious mechanisms of self-injury. The words for the exercises should be short, precise and without the particle “not”.

Exercise 1: Activation of hidden reserves (volitional, intellectual, spiritual). Mentally, in front of a mirror or just aloud to say the phrases: “I can do it”, “I will cope”, “now I will be as confident and focused as possible”, “now I will be persistent as never before”.

Exercise 2. Self-Praise. Sometimes we lack positive evaluation from the outside, and there is nothing shameful in praising yourself. It is necessary to calm down, concentrate and internally say the following phrases: “I’m good”, “I did a great job”, “handsome”, “smart girl”, etc.

Regular autogenic training will help you recover from stress and overwork, they are also used in the treatment of neuroses. These simple exercises relieve tension and help to quickly recover – systematic autotraining allows you to feel lightness and a burst of energy.