The summer holiday period is over and you soon go back into the fast rhythm of daily life. You are absorbed by all the activities, obligations and roles that you fulfill at home and at work. That nice holiday feeling you had seems to be slowly fading away, even though you intended to keep that feeling for so long! With these relaxation exercises you will return to that nice vibe.
Bring back the holiday feeling
How does vacation feel to you? What does the holiday feeling mean to you? A feeling of freedom, peace and pleasure, nothing is necessary and everything is allowed? Do you spend more time outdoors or in nature? Do you enjoy the long days, the sun and the warmth, cheerful music? Do you take the time to eat and drink together, to connect with each other and to create conviviality? Are you more in connection with yourself and do you do the things you feel like doing? What do you like to do when you are on vacation and what do you experience?
Visualization exercise: your ultimate holiday
Travel to your ultimate holiday destination through this visualization. Sit in a nice place where you won’t be disturbed. Get into a comfortable position, close your eyes and bring attention to your body. Feel your feet, your legs, your upper body, arms and head. Connect with your breath and on the exhale release all tension.
Now imagine that you are in a place where you would like to be. The place where you can experience your ultimate holiday feeling. Maybe you are lying on a beach somewhere in the sun, sitting on a terrace and enjoying delicious food or being in nature. What does this place look like, what do you see? Colours, shapes, structures, objects? What can you hear, sounds of nature, music, people? Is there a certain smell that you can detect? Maybe even something you can taste? How does the place feel where you are now? Is it hot or cold? Use all your senses to make your experience as intense as possible and feel your holiday feeling. You may feel a soft smile on your face. Stay in this place for as long as you want and then calmly return to the area where you are, reconnect with your body and slowly open your eyes. Take this great holiday feeling with you and travel back to this great place, your happy place, as often as you want.
Stress relaxation exercise
If you find yourself quickly being drawn into the daily grind and feeling tense, take a moment for yourself and perform this short relaxation exercise.
Sit or lie down quietly and bring attention to yourself. Breathe in deeply through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat a few times and feel your breathing calm down more and more. On the inhale, make fists of your hands, tense all muscles and on the exhale, release the tension. Inhale make fists, exhale release. Repeat several more times.
Bring attention to your shoulders, how does this area feel? Inhale and shrug your shoulders toward your ears. Hold this position for a moment and feel the tension and discomfort. Sigh out and lower the shoulders, feel the relaxation and relief. Repeat this relaxation exercise a number of times and feel how you can release more and more tension as you exhale. After repeating the exercise a few times, bring the attention back to your body and feel for another place where you feel tension. Inhaling tense the muscles in this area, feel the discomfort. Breathing out you let go of all muscle tension and you feel space and relief arise.
