Deep relaxation is best done once or twice a day. It can help to assist your body in recovering from distress and prevent the build-up of tension, fatigue and anxiety.

Sit in a comfortable position. (Support your upper back, neck and head). A quiet place where you will not be interrupted is best.
Slowly draw in and exhale a deep breath. Check your shoulders for stiffness or a tense position. Allow them to fall naturally in a relaxed position. Take in a second deep breath and close your eyes.
Complete a body check to locate any areas of tension and tightness. Take each area and relax the muscles. Visualise the tension releasing and slipping away as warmth and relaxation flow into the area. You might imagine yourself basking in the sun and feeling the sun warm your area of tension. (If you are having difficulty evaluating whether or not you are relaxing a specific area, try increasing the tension in the muscle and hold that tightness for a count of ten, then release).
Starting with your feet, slowly work up through the body, relaxing muscle groups and areas of tightness and tension. Imagine warmth flowing into each area, muscles becoming heavy and comforting relaxation replacing tightness or tension. Once you’ve progressed throughout your body, focus on your hands. (You can focus on any area of tension you’d like to work on). Create a sentence that you can repeat to yourself emphasising warmth, heaviness and relaxation, such as, ‘My hands are warm, heavy and relaxed.’
Don’t be discouraged if at first your mind tends to wander away to other thoughts. Once you are aware that you have wandered to other thoughts, simply come back and focus again on the area you are relaxing. Try to notice how good it feels to have some quiet time to yourself and how comfortable it is to let go of any tightness or tension you may have.
Deep relaxation is most effective when practised for a length of 20 minutes. If you find that sitting still for that long is more stress-inducing than stress-reducing then start with a period of five or ten minutes and gradually build up to 20 minutes.
Always end your relaxation session with several deep breaths. Then, after slowly opening your eyes, maintain your relaxation position for a few minutes before resuming your next activity.

Mental Relaxation

The mental relaxation is a shorter method which you can use in addition to deep relaxation.

Select a comfortable sitting or reclining position.
Close your eyes and think about a place that you have been before that represents your ideal place for physical and mental relaxation. (It should be a quiet environment, perhaps the seashore, the mountains, or even your own back garden. If you can’t think of an ideal relaxation place, then create one in your mind).
Now imagine that you are actually in your ideal relaxation place. Imagine that you are seeing all the colours, hearing the sounds, smelling the aromas. Just lie back and enjoy your soothing, rejuvenating environment.
Feel the peacefulness, the calmness and imagine your whole body and mind being renewed and refreshed.
After five to ten minutes, slowly open your eyes and stretch. You have the realisation that you may instantly return to your relaxation place whenever you desire, and experience a peacefulness and calmness in body and mind.

Other Ways to Relax

To relax well you need to find ways to actively distract yourself, both physically and mentally, from the daily stresses and strains in your life. Hobbies, interests, taking proper breaks, meditation, yoga, massage, walking the dog, listening to music, socialising, fun and laughter are all good ways to help us to relax and unwind. What about doing nothing – will you give yourself permission?

Letting off steam and expressing emotions are other helpful ways to relieve tension. Unburden to a family member, friend, colleague or pet. A letter to a friend, writing down feelings in a gush and then tearing it up or having a good cry. Expressing emotion through creative endeavours such as poetry, music, painting, dancing etc can also help.

It can also help to talk things through with someone outside of the immediate situation.

The Employee Welfare Service is open, free of charge, to all County Council employees. The service can cover things connected with work or issues arising outside the workplace. Having time to review and take stock of our situation can help us find perspective and plan a way forward. Using the service creates the opportunity to do this. Contacting the Employee Welfare Service is a pro-active way to relieve pressure.