Relaxation Tips to Try on Your Travels Significant Auto Insurance

July 1st, 2011 by Mary Coungeau

Relaxation Tips to Try on Your Travels

If youre one of the brave souls who are traveling over the Independence Day holiday weekend, your safety is our main concern. We want each of you to arrive at your destination and back home, safe and sound, and hopefully without incident.

But even when traveling goes off without a hitch, it can also still be very stressful. So, wed like to offer all of our readers a few easy and simple relaxation techniques to use. Theyll help keep nerves in check, and provide a bit of stress release, ensuring youre at your peak when youre on the road.

If you already practice yoga, tai chi or other such mind-body methods of relaxation, youre well equipped now. But for those of us who dont practice them, there are some intensive methods that can bring calmness and relaxation from the stresses of travel. As an aside, you should perform each of these techniques when youre stopped for a break, rather than attempting them while youre driving.

The Mayo Clinic specifies three different relaxation methods for you to try:

Autogenic relaxation – Autogenic isnt a word youll hear tossed around much. It means something that comes from within you. This technique utilizes visual images and awareness of your body to reduce stress.

To perform autogenic relaxation, youll start by closing your eyes, imagining and picturing a peaceful place either from your real life experiences or from fantasy. Once you have such a place visualized, you will then focus on controlling your breathing, preferably as relaxed as you can. Then you employ attempts at relaxing your body, such as each arm and leg one by one.

Progressive muscle relaxation – Similar to autogenic, but without the visualization within the mind, this technique is a mix of slowly tensing and relaxing various muscle groups throughout your body. As you do this, you should become highly aware of the various physical sensations you feel and experience. You simply tense your muscles for five to ten seconds, then relax them for 30 seconds. We suggest you start with your toes and working all the way up to your neck.

Visualization – In this process, you start by forming mental images that will take you on a visual journey to a calming or peaceful place or situation. You should utilize as many of your senses as you can, such as sight, sound, smell and touch. For example, if you’re picturing yourself laying on a beach, you’ll want to include the smell of the water and beach, the sound of the waves and even the warmth of the sun on your skin.

While each of these techniques require significant practice to become effective meaning youll have more success with them if you start well before your trip one of them may be perfect for you, so dont fret if the first few times dont produce the results youre looking for. And there are other, even more simple techniques you can utilize as well, that dont require nearly the effort, either. While they may not offer the effectiveness of the more intensive practices, they are still worth a try. These include:

Aromatherapy – This relaxation technique uses the sense of smell as the primary method of relaxation. Chamomile, lavender and vanilla are three scents that can induce a calming sensation.

Deep breathing – Simply closing your eyes for a couple of minutes while you concentrate on taking long, deep breaths can work wonders for relieving stress.

Exercise – For some, there is nothing as calming as working off excess energy. While your travels may limit your opportunities for exercise, a quick 10-minute walk may be enough get you relaxed. You can also do something as simple as stretching your entire body to work out the stress.

Relaxing music – There is real evidence that just listening to relaxing music can reduce stress levels and blood pressure. Suggested pieces include classical and new age music. Using music in addition to another technique, such as deep breathing, may provide more benefits than simply listening to music alone. Since music preferences and likes are subjective, you’ll need to experiment to find pieces that will work for you.

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