Relaxation activities

You can relax by focusing on your breathing and counting back from 20 to 1.

This exercise will take:  5 minutes.

This is how you do it:

• Sit or lie down comfortably in a quiet place.
• Breath slowly.
• With each breath, take at least 3 seconds to breathe in and 6 seconds to breath out.
• Focus on your breathing and your lower stomach when you breathe until you feel calm and peaceful inside your heart and mind.
• Say the word ‘relax’ whenever you breathe out.
• Tell yourself that you will start counting down from 20 to 1.
• Tell yourself that you will double your level of relaxation for each and every count, and will be totally relaxed when you reach 1.
• Start counting down from 20 to 1 slowly. Say the word ‘relax’ whenever you count (that is, take a deep breath, say ‘20’, breathe out slowly and say ‘relax’, take a deep breath, count ‘19’, breathe out slowly and say ‘relax’, and so on).
• Now repeat this exercise but with your eyes closed.