On Blogher’s Life Well Lived series, the current question is:  What are your favorite relaxation techniques? And what benefits do you see from practicing them?

Many years ago I was a single mom, working very hard at a job I loved, and trying to juggle mom duties, the real job, the finances and find a few minutes for myself.   It was during this time that I learned the importance of finding techniques that helped me relax . . quickly!

For each of us, there are different techniques that help us to relax so what works for me may not work for  you but my advice is to figure out some techniques that help you relax — things you can do quickly and get instant results.

My best advice as far as relaxing is to figure out the things that cause you to be uptight and try to avoid those things.  But there will always be times when we need to relax.

Here are some of the things I do that help me relax:

• Listen to Soothing Music – Years ago I made a CD of songs I love . . songs I love to sing along with.  They’re songs that are happy and love type songs because that’s what I like.  They’re songs like “When a Man Loves a Woman” and “It’s Your Love” by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw”.  I can always put that CD on and either turn it up full blast and sing or turn it down low, close my eyes and sit back and enjoy the music.
• Take a Walk Outside – Thinking about the seasons and seeing plants growing, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter, always invigorates me and makes me smile and feel like I’m walking on air.
• Knitting – I love to knit so I keep a “no brainer” type project . . something that doesn’t require a lot of counting or charts to follow but something I can pick up where I left off and sit for a while and knit and let my brain relax while my hands are busy.

Do you have any special techniques that help you to relax that you would like to share?

Please visit the main blog at Blogher to read Dr. Aymee’s post on Relaxing and more in the Life Well Lived series.  Be sure to check out the Life Well Lived Sweepstakes and get yourself entered!