Chill out and relax

Kicking back, chillin', hangin' or whatever you want to call it, taking time out to relax is important in our everyday lives. Dealing with study, part-time jobs, finding a job, moving out of home, exams and even a social life all impact and put pressure on your mental health. Everyday teenage concerns take up time and energy, and can stress you out.

So why relax?

Taking time out from your everyday routine to focus on yourself and nothing else can help you deal with stress, cope with changes, assist with problem solving and leave you feeling more calm and in control of your life. Being able to relax is an essential ingredient in maintaining positive mental health.

"Chill Out"

Sometimes we become extremely stressed before we recognise that we need to do something to calm down and give our mind and body a much-needed break. When you are really upset, angry or stressed it is a good idea to calm down before dealing with problems and difficult situations.

Some ways of relaxing

There are many forms of relaxation and you don’t have to rely on just one method. Physical relaxation helps you to release or relieve physical tension. Going for a jog, bike ride or a skate can be a great help to some people, but others may prefer to play an instrument, dance or simply have a rest.

While more physical forms of relaxation are helpful, you need to relax mentally as well. Mental relaxation can help you to get in touch with how you feel, to work out what you want or to simply just help clear your mind when you feel overloaded, confused or negative. Ways to clear or "quieten" your mind can range from sitting still and concentrating on your breathing to techniques that may require learning and practice such as meditation or yoga.

Try these out

Whether you are really stressed out or not you might want to try these...

• Find a quiet place, wear comfortable clothes and sit or lay down. Concentrate on your breathing. Take a deep breath in through your nose and then breathe out through your mouth... slowly. Repeat this ten times.
  
• Sit, stand or lay down and really tense up your leg muscles and count to 5 then let them go limp. Do this again but tense up your arm muscles, then your stomach and chest muscles, face muscles and finally all your muscles. Let all your muscles relax and let your body feel heavy for a couple of minutes. This is great for releasing physical tension.
  
• Find a comfortable, quiet place and concentrate on a positive and calming image, thought or word. You might like to try words like calm, water, peace or forest – it's up to you. You can close your eyes or keep them open. Breathe in and out as you concentrate on your word or thought and repeat this for 5 minutes. This is a basic form of meditation and can help quieten your mind.
  
• You could try releasing tension by walking, running or cycling and doing it for at least 30 minutes. The beach, park, local oval or bike track are some places you could do this.

Tips for relaxing

Whatever methods you prefer, it's important to have the right conditions for relaxing. For example, it's no good going for a bike ride to unwind if you are going to do it in peak hour traffic or to try meditation with heaps of people and noise around you.

So, it is important to:

• Find a way to relax which you are comfortable with
  
• Be aware of your surroundings, but don't get distracted
  
• Stick it out and try to relax regularly
  

Just remember that some ways of relaxing aren't for everyone but RELAXATION is needed by everyone. Try not to wait till you're stressed out to get into relaxation. Find ways that suit you and your lifestyle. If you want to find or learn more ways of relaxing you could try searching for info on the Internet, asking a school counsellor or looking in the newspaper for courses in techniques like meditation, Tai Chi or yoga. As long as you manage to find time everyday to do something you enjoy which also helps you relax, you will get the most out of life. Relax... Chill out...

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