Relaxation is the key to everything, and the ability to relax is critical if you wish to maintain a healthy body. Hypertension and stress are like invisible wounds that rob the body of energy, allowing dis-ease to enter your body thus making you sick.

It is also imperative in any game or sport that you maintain a deeply relaxed body and mind. Without relaxation, your body will be slow, stiff, easily overcome or damaged. If the mind is not kept totally relaxed, it will not be able to act spontaneously and quickly to the ever changing present moment. In other words; relax and win.

In a world filled with anxiety, how is it that we attain a relaxed mind and body? It takes the ability to train yourself until relaxation comes to you with simple conscious effort. And believe me when I say that if you are willing to put in the work in the beginning; you will be able to relax easily, in a matter of seconds, and just about anywhere.

There are two different ways that that are most effective in order to attain relaxation. These can be used as you see fit and interchanged in accordance to taste, mood, and environmental requirements. Theses two methods are breathing and visualization.

In order to master each technique, let us begin by having you lie down in comfortable bed and close your eyes. Once you have mastered each technique, you can do it in any physical position, with your eyes open or closed depending on what you prefer at the moment.

Breathing

The first technique I like to call Baby Breathing or Sleep Breathing because  as you have probably guessed; it is the kind of breathing that babies normally use and the kind of breathing that you use when you go to sleep.

Begin by taking a nice deep breath, filling your lungs completely. As you do this, you will realize that there is a natural tension created as your chest muscles and diaphragm work to fill your lungs with air.

Now that your lungs are completely filled with air; relax completely, release the air trapped in your lungs, letting all tension and worry leave your body forever. Let that out breath complete itself naturally. Don’t decide how long the exhale will be, don’t do anything at all, just let the exhale do itself. The exhale will get slower and slower as your lungs empty out of air and the body naturally stops. Then there will be a natural desire to breath in, so follow this yearning and again take in a complete lung full of life giving oxygen.

If you fall asleep, which is quite possible, then do it next time sitting , and finally standing with your eyes open. Soon you will be able to do it anywhere.

You want to know something even better? Your body will begin to remember that feeling of great relaxation., and before you know it,  you will be able to remember that feeling so that you will be able to become instantly relaxed, anywhere, anytime.

Visualization

The second method involves the use of your active imagination. In the panorama of your mind, I want you to imagine that you are riding down a very long descending escalator. You step on to this escalator and you slowly descend down a long, dark, and cozy-warm tunnel. As you descend, you go by a beautiful number Ten and as you pass this number you hear a soothing voice say Ten. The sound of this voice saying Ten, relaxes you completely. As you keep going down the escalator, you pass a Nine and that great voice once again repeats this number…Nine. And as relaxed as you were before, you are even more relaxed now. And again you descend down this cozy tunnel…

This continues until you descend completely and reach Zero at the bottom of the escalator. You can descend on an elevator or anything else that you might want to imagine. Also you can start at 20, 30 or what ever you are most comfortable with. This technique can only be used under certain circumstances but it is quite effective and will also allow your body to experience and remember what it is like to be deeply relaxed.

Once you are a master of this technique, you can recall the feeling of great relaxation anywhere. Recall in your mind what you experienced at zero, or the bottom of the escalator. The instant that you make this recollection, your body will relax completely.