Relax With a Visualization

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Quick Win

Try guided imagery. Close your eyes, take some deep breaths and imagine yourself in a calming place to help to ease stress.

Try this today

• Find a quiet place, free from distraction. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes, taking deep, slow breaths, letting your belly expand on each inhale.
• Imagine a scene that is pleasant or peaceful to you: your favorite beach or lake, a wooded grove or a close friend’s house. Take several minutes to “explore” your surroundings. In your mind’s eye, what do you see, smell and hear? How do you feel?
• Keep breathing deeply for several minutes as you return to the present. Then open your eyes.

Why

Guided imagery, in which you visualize a relaxing place or experience, may help reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. A study reported in 2018 in Frontiers in Psychology, including 48 men and women ages 19 to 71, found that guided imagery was effective at lowering anxiety, in particular when participants visualized a nature-based scene. Breathing slowly and deeply may also ease stress, according to a review of 12 studies published in Scientific Reports in 2023.