Sometimes when you’re upset, stressed or anxious you don’t have time for a yoga class or even a massage. But the truth is, you can relax and let go of stress in just a short amount of time if you put your mind to it. Here are 5 things that you can do to help you feel relaxed, renewed and refreshed in as little as 10 minutes.

Relaxed from your ears down. Turn on something relaxing, such as a nature CD where they’ve mixed in sounds of animals, ocean waves, thunder storms and what not. Relax your mind against the auditory backdrop of the natural world, and feel your muscles loosening up.

Scribble away. Write yourself a little note whenever you get particularly upset or stressed about any given thing. You don’t have to show this note to anyone – and in fact, it would probably be best if you never did show it off. Either write down or type out everything you want to get out about that situation that has happened, as well as why you feel so upset about it. Often, just writing down something helps you diffuse your emotional reaction and also cuts down the stress that it’s caused. When you are finished, you can either erase the note or throw it away.

Take a ten minute vacation. While that may sound like a candy commercial, what it really means is that you can visualize somewhere you’d love to be – instead of going through all the hassles of actually going there. You may want to visualize that you are standing on a beautiful mountain, looking out over the expanse of nature. Imagine walking down a path, and stopping to smell the pine cones. Feel and smell the fresh air, and see birds in the distance. You can also imagine that every step that you take down the path is making you more and more relaxed. If you visualize this for just 10 minutes, you’ll feel as re-energized as if you had actually been there.

Count your blessings. Actually write out a full list of everything you are grateful for. Doing that is an excellent way to put your troubles into perspective. If you think about all you love in your life, you will feel a sense of renewed joy about being here. It’s really not that bad, is it?

Look to the stars . If it’s night time, walk outside in the dark and look up at the night sky. See how many stars you can count. Or just gaze around, and see if you can find some constellations. You can actually see a lot of them with just your eyes. And if you can’t see any stars, just count street lights, and make up your own constellations.

If you want to start to get on top of your stress today, then pop over to http://www.movebeyondstress.com and claim your free stress survival kit.

From Rachel Ford – Clinical Hypnotherapist & Stress Management Consultant