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Relaxation Techniques
Survival Tips for Stepparents
Schizophrenia

One of the best strategies for dealing with stress is learning how to relax. The following exercise is just one of many techniques used by health professionals to help people relax.

1. Select a comfortable place to lie down. Remove your shoes, loosen your belt or tight clothing. Stretch out your back, arms resting by your sides, feet slightly apart, eyes gently closed.
2. Think to yourself, "I am now going to relax completely. When I awaken, I will feel fully refreshed."
3. Sink back. Allow yourself to become calm and quiet. Close your eyes. Be aware of your bodies weight. It feels so heavy.
4. Inhale slowly and naturally. Let your mind go blank. As you exhale, sink deeper into your support.
5. Inhale again through your nose. Hold. Now exhale as if you were blowing the air out through a straw. Blow out some more. Empty your lungs.
6. Inhale deeply. Hold. Again, exhale as if you were blowing the air out through a straw. Relax.
7. Now breath comfortably and gently. Notice how your body feels so heavy.
8. You are now going to gradually go through your body, from head to toe, and let go of tension.
9. So begin by thinking about your scalp. Think about releasing tension. Feel your scalp relax.
10. Then think of your forehead. Feel the muscles in your forehead. Feel these muscles relaxed and comfortable. Sometimes when these particular muscles are tense, you may experience a headache - so these are muscles you need to teach to relax.
11. Now think of your eyes, of your eyelids, of the little muscles around your eyes. Think of them all relaxed. As you proceed you will go deeper into a relaxed state.
12. Think of your mouth. Let your lips relax. Relax your tongue.Relax your jaw. Let it hang loose so that your teeth do not touch. Relax your cheeks, your chin and your ears.
13. Feel your whole face relaxed. Feel your whole head relaxed.
14. Think of your throat, your neck - the muscles along the sides, in the front, around the back, all totally relaxed and heavy.
15. Take a deep breath through your nose. As you exhale through your mouth, feel your shoulders relaxed and comfortable.
16. Feel that relaxation flow into your upper arms, then into your lower arms, down into your hands. Feel the tension draining away, flowing away, like water dropping from your finger tips. Feel your arms heavy and warm, all the way into your bones. You go deeper and deeper into a relaxed state.
17. Take another deep breath through you nose. Exhale through your mouth and feel your lungs relaxed and empty. Feel your chest relax.