Tense the muscles for a five-count, then allow them to go limp and release all the tension. After relaxing your feet, move up to your calves, tense and release. To your thighs, tense and release, and so on. When you've completely covered your entire body, your muscles should feel warm and relaxed. No, not a trip to the Betty Ford clinic-just an imaginary visualization of a peaceful place.
Mental imagery can be a great way of creating peaceful feelings.
Start by imagining a peaceful, serene setting. Perhaps this will be someplace you've gone before where you felt totally calm and relaxed. Or maybe it can be a fantasy place with all the ingredients to help you relax and unwind. Imagining each of these sensations in detail actually helps to create the same peaceful feelings in your body that you'd experience if you were actually at the beach. By themselves, deep breathing, muscle relaxation, and mental imagery can be very powerful.