Time to meditate! Setting aside time each day to focus on relaxing is a great way to help combat stress, which inevitably helps improve your attitude, your immune system, and more.

Below, find 31 relaxation prompts to help you make May mellow. As you relax, try to breathe deeply enough so that your belly fills and deflates like a balloon with each full breath. Deep breaths are important to help alleviate the effects of stressful times like these.

 

1. Body Check – Get comfortable and close your eyes. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to breathe deeply enough so that your belly fills and deflates like a balloon with each full breath. Now, consider how your body is feeling. Start at the top of your head and work your way down to the bottom of your feet. Pay attention to how each body part is feeling and concentrate on relaxing each body part as you consider it.
2. Deep Breathing—Get comfortable and close your eyes. Breathe in through your nose to the count of five. Hold your breath gently to the count of five. Then, exhale through your mouth to the count of seven. Repeat. Try to prolong the length of your counts as you deepen your relaxation. You may also begin with a lower count, such as 3-3-5.
3. Thankfulness—Get comfortable, taking several deep breaths. Close your eyes and begin saying the people, places and things you are grateful for today, this week, this month, this year.
4. Lovingkindness—Get comfortable and take several, deep breaths. Continue to breathe in through your nose and out of your mouth. Now think or say out loud statements of love and blessing to send out to your loved ones, people in need, your country, even your enemies, etc. Compassion and love are the key to this meditation practice.
5. Mindfulness—Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, bring your mind to the present moment only. Concentrate on any tension you may feel in your body. Think about what you smell, the feel of the air around your body, the sounds in your ears. If you find your mind wandering to a time or place other than the current moment, don’t judge, just return your mind to the present.
6. Fingers and Toes—Get comfortable in a laid-down position with your feet shoulder’s width apart and your hands facing up and loose at your sides. Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth several times. Now, take a deep breath, imagining the air moving through your chest and down into your belly. As you exhale, imagine the breath coming out through your fingertips. After several minutes of this, shift your focus so that the breath is coming in through the nose to the belly and then exhaling out through your toe tips. Since you have been lying down, take your time getting back up and be careful getting off the ground.
7. Mantra—Get comfortable and close your eyes. Choose an “I am” statement, your mantra for the day. It can be as simple as “I am calm.” As you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, deep breaths that make your belly fill up like a balloon and deflate again on the exhale, repeat the “I am” statement to yourself, over and over.
8. Reflect—Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply, re-play your day, your week, or an event that has troubled you recently. Reflect on exactly what happened, what’s bothering you about the event, what made you happy, what made you grow, and what you can do differently or in addition to your previous actions or attitudes. Finish with some thoughts of thankfulness about your reflection or the day to end on a positive note.
9. Look Outward—Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, begin to consider people you know who need help. Then, reflect on what you can do to help those in need. Even one small act of kindness determined and acted upon can make a big difference for someone else and for you, too.
10. Emotions—Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, scan your emotional state. What are you feeling right now? What caused your current emotions? What was your emotional high for the day? Your low? What people, places or things make you feel the best and why?
11. Forgiveness— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, consider a person that you need to forgive. Let yourself fully feel all the emotions associated with that person or the event that needs forgiveness. Then, visualize yourself releasing each of those emotions, letting go.
12. Goals— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, visualize one or more of your current goals. See yourself taking the steps to achieve your goal. Remind yourself why you value your goal. Visualize how you will reward yourself for your completed goal.
13. Happiness— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, visualize the people, places or things that make you happy. What do you most like to do? See yourself at your happiest. What do you look like? How does happiness feel in your body?
14. Music—Pick some calming music or spa sounds, then get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, let the sounds fill you and surround you. Try to keep your mind focused on the sound of the music, its rhythm, instruments, composition, etc. Then, think about how the music is making you feel in your mind and body.
15. Core Values— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, think about the basic values that you hold dear. What principles upheld make you feel best about yourself? Why are your values important to you?
16. Object—Pick an object, like a flower or your favorite knick-knack. Get comfortable and place the object within your line of vision. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, consider the object from all different angles and with all your senses. What makes the object pretty or strong? How does it feel, smell, etc.? What value does the object have in your life?
17. White Light— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, imagine the air around you as a white light that is traveling from the top of your head as you breathe and moving through your chest and through the rest of your body. Feel the heat of the white light as it moves through your body. You can hold your hands palm up just above your legs. Imagine the light hitting your palms, feel the weight of the light as you gently raise your palms up and down in the air as you breathe.
18. Build— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, visualize a peaceful garden. Build a mental picture of your garden as you meander down its paths, appreciating the flowers there, the animals and birds you see, etc. Is that a babbling brook you hear?
19. In and Out— Get comfortable and close your eyes. Breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon. When you breathe in, imagine breathing in positive emotions, like courage and faith. As you breathe out, picture breathing out negative emotions, like fear and jealousy. Say these emotions to yourself or out loud as your breathe in and out.
20. Seeking— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, ask yourself, “What do I want?” Continue asking yourself this question without expecting an immediate answer. After several minutes, you may begin to have answers arise.
21. Space— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, imagine the way the space around us moves in and out. To help you visualize this expansion and extraction, raise your hands to chest level, with palms facing each other. As you breathe in and out, slowly move your hands in toward and away from each other. Concentrate on your palms and the changes in the way they feel as they come closer together without touching and then move farther apart.
22. 5-4-3-2-1— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, think of the room and moment you are in. Think of five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste in your immediate environment.
23. Blackboard— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, visualize a large, blank blackboard. Start with the number 100 (or 1,000). “Write” the number on the board, visualizing it with your mind. Then, erase the number until no chalk remains. Now, subtract 7 from the beginning number and write that number on the blackboard. Repeat until you reach 0 or feel calm.
24. Favorite Place— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, take a mental walking tour of your favorite place. Where do you enter? What do you do as you move through the space? What do you see, hear, smell, touch? What are your favorite things to do in your favorite place?
25. Worst-Case— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, think about your biggest fear. Now, imagine what your life would look like if that fear came to fruition. When you have finished cataloguing the negative repercussions of your fear, allow yourself to feel the gratefulness for what you have.
26. Water— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, imagine your favorite water spot, whether that be the beach or a meadow by a babbling brook. Listen to the sound of the water. Hear the sounds of the animals and birds and insects in your favorite water environment. What do you smell? How does it feel lying down beside the water?
27. Blank Screen— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, visualize a large, blank pure-white screen in front of you. Keep the screen completely blank as you continue to breathe. If you have a thought, erase it from the screen and go back to the pristine, clean field before you.
28. Forest Walk— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, imagine yourself walking through the forest. Think about the sounds of leaves crunching under your feet, the chirping of the squirrels in the branches over your head. How does the sun feel against your skin as it comes through the canopy of the leaves? What do you smell?
29. A Real Ideal— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, think about what you expect of yourself. Do you have realistic goals and expectations, or are you trying to accomplish things you wouldn’t expect from anybody else in similar circumstances to you? Is your ideal self an achievable self? Give yourself permission to be realistic about your dreams and goals.
30. Parade— Get comfortable and close your eyes. As you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, watch your thoughts as if you are watching a parade pass by. Do not make any judgments about your thoughts, merely acknowledge them as you watch them pass by you in the parade.
31. Laughter— Get comfortable and close your eyes. Breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, filling and deflating your belly like a balloon, for several deep breaths. Then, begin to laugh, a deep, belly laugh, out loud. Even one minute of good, belly laughter can be equal to a hundred sit ups! It brightens your day, too.

Every day offers new challenges and stressors, but we can help ourselves by making time for quiet and relaxation. Use these tips for a mellow May or every day.

In health,
Ramona

BetsyHealth Note: This article is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease. Consult your healthcare provider about any medical concerns.