3 Easy, Effective, Body-Based Stress-Reduction Techniques

If you're feeling anxious or overwhelmed, these three easy, body-based relaxation techniques can help you find your calm again. Progressive muscle relaxation, belly breathing, and compassionate touch can help release mental and muscular tension in just a few minutes, and their physical, tactile focus can make them more accessible, including to brand-new meditators!

If you're looking for more and better tools to help you tame stress and anxiety, here are three of my favorite techniques. One thing I love about these in particular is that they're all body-based, meaning we're drawing our awareness to a specific physical movement and/or sensation, which makes the practice much more accessible for most people.

Because of this very concrete focus outside our over-busy minds, those new to meditation in particular may find it easier to stay present.

Another aspect of these practices that's great is that they don't have to take a long time; each of the guided practices below is just 5-10 minutes. And once you're familiar with them, you can practice any of these techniques on your own in whatever small slot of time you have available, even just 1-3 minutes.

Of course, the more consistently we practice, the more benefits we'll see. So daily for 10 minutes is what I typically recommend to my students.

But ANY amount of conscious relaxation is helpful in shifting us out of our biological and mental stress state and back toward stasis!

1. Progressive Muscle Relaxation

   
   

   Consider this a body scan PLUS active muscular contraction and release. By consciously tensing then relaxing each area of the body sequentially (it doesn't have to be in exactly this order, either!), we help our muscles remember what it feels like to be more relaxed. And because physical tension contributes to nervous system agitation, relaxing the physical body can help shift us the other direction, back toward our "rest and digest" state.

2. Belly Breathing

   
   

   Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh refers to belly breathing as a way to "bring our mind down to our trunk, our abdomen, where it is calm and stable. We should not stay high up in the branches, where we are blown about."

   
   

   One of the things I most love about this practice is that it's SO portable. You could literally do this anywhere and no one has to know you're doing it. When I do belly breathing, I really focus on picturing and feeling the energy in my body (usually in my head and panicky in my chest), and feel it grounding down and re-rooting as I bring my breath down to my belly.

3. Compassionate Touch (Tactile Meditation)

   In this meditation, we explore the power of placing our own hands gently over our eyes, on our heart, and on the tops of our legs both as a meditation anchor, AND a symbol and embodiment of compassion toward self.

   This works on several levels: Firstly, the human body is SO WIRED to receive human touch and positively benefit from it. And our current society is very touch-limited, -averse and -starved. When I offer hands-on Reiki in yoga classes, I often hear from students that it's the only touch they've received in several days and how comforting it feels. And we can offer this same compassionate gesture to self. Secondly, Kristen Neff and the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion have loads of research on the power of self-compassion. By practicing more kindness toward self, we're more likely to have higher resilience, stronger immunity, better relationships, and the list goes on and on. This particular meditation is also Reiki-infused. I won't get into all the details of Reiki here (learn more about this energy healing practice here!), but know that I've woven in this positive energy and intention into this practice to add additional benefits and relaxation.

DID YOU TRY ONE OR MORE OF THESE? Which is your favorite? Please let me know via the form below or DM me on Instagram! I love hearing from you!