Counseling & Psychological Services

Relaxation Exercises

Relaxation exercises are easy to learn and implement and can be remarkably effective in addressing stress, test anxiety, all kinds of phobias and other similar concerns.

Exercise 1 (mp3 audio file)

This exercise will direct you to systematically relax your major muscle groups by briefly flexing your muscles and then slowly releasing the tension.

The recording is about nine minutes long. (a transcript of Exercise 1 is available)

Exercise 2 (mp3 audio file)

In this exercise, you will progressively release tension from your major muscle groups and then will be guided in using deep breathing, affirming statements and the visualization of a “safe place” to achieve a relaxed state.

The recording is about 15 minutes long. (a transcript of Exercise 2 is available)

Exercise #3 (mp3 audio file)

Relaxation exercise in Spanish. (a transcript of Exercise 3 is available)

You can listen to any exercise directly from this Web site, or you can download the exercises onto your computer. The recordings of these exercises are not copyrighted. They can be used, copied or recorded to a CD freely.

Reference: Information from Website of William and Hobart Smith Colleges, July 08, 2008.