The issue is simple: You're overwhelmed every day, and the stress is reaching into every little corner of your life. Take charge of it and regain some inner peace by following these four steps toward reaching a state of complete relaxation.

The benefits of relaxation are widely documented, but they beg repeating nonetheless. Relaxation can lower stress levels throughout your body, especially in your heart and your mind, leading to better overall health, more energy and a better ability to concentrate and to cope with emotional issues.

As a species, we don't relax nearly enough. And when we do, it's often plagued with external problems. To that end, the following four-step plan is a versatile one that can be applied at home, at work or almost anywhere you might find yourself.

Keep this in mind: The ability to relax is a learned skill. It requires practice and patience.

step 1
Commit to relaxation
The first of the four steps to complete relaxation is probably the most important. Set aside 20 to 30 minutes with a single, specific purpose in mind: to relax. Once you've done it and felt the benefits, this commitment becomes easier and easier to make.

You might feel a tendency toward cutting this relaxation time short, and while this is expected early on, ask yourself: Where's the purpose in that? This exercise relates directly to your personal health and happiness -- something you should never cut short.

So, whether you're in the office, on the bus or at home, get yourself into a comfortable position. Naturally, you have more liberty at home to loosen any tight-fitting clothing and be more comfortable, but the demands in life don't always allow for this. Thus, cater your position to the locale and really let yourself go for that period of time. It doesn't take long; it just takes commitment and the desire to better yourself and your life.

step 2
Mental focus
Now that you've made a commitment for those 20 to 30 minutes and are in a relaxed position, you're going to start to wind down your mind and whittle away all the bullsh*t you've dealt with by using an object, a sound or an appropriate mental image to focus on. In short, you're going to meditate, or more specifically, engage in "concentration meditation," common to myriad forms of spiritual insight.

The point of focus should be something soothing and personal -- such as a ring, a sound or a hum (think of the pranava mantra in Hindu, "Aum," which is a sacred syllable meaning in literal terms, "yes") or a mental picture of yourself last summer on the beach in Mexico. Sustain that attention on your point of focus for at least three minutes.

Now, other things are bound to enter your mind; when you realize other thoughts are popping up, don't sweat it or get frustrated -- simply dismiss them and return to the point of focus.

step 3
Deep breathing
Having corralled any manic thoughts or feelings and having set your mind at ease, turn your attention and concentration to your breathing. Deep breathing exercises are ubiquitous in virtually every relaxation method, and for good reason: Stress causes us to take shorter and quicker breaths, reducing the flow of oxygen to the brain and body, and tightening up your entire torso. Deep breathing gives it all back to you.

Maintain a slow, measured rate by counting for five seconds as you inhale through your nose. When exhaling, do it slowly and thoroughly, again counting through five seconds. Consolidate all your attention on the in-and-out movement of your chest and abdomen. If necessary, keep one hand on your stomach just below your rib cage to feel the movement and rhythm of your breath.

Keep your focus converged on deep breathing for three to five minutes.

step 4
Muscle relaxation
The last step is the longest. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) involves tensing up a group of muscles until they're tightly contracted, then releasing them. You'll move from group to group across your body like you're mowing the lawn, holding each for 10 seconds before releasing.

If necessary, you can begin with your fists -- perhaps flexing them is more familiar to you than flexing the muscles in your face, or your toes. However, if you start with your fists, move in a sensible direction. Next, flex your arms; then your shoulders and back; then move to your neck, jaw and eyes. Then skip to your abdomen, then groin (think of the Kegel exercises here) before moving through your quads, calves and feet.

Throughout these muscle tenses and releases, be sure to maintain that deep, controlled breathing -- it's essential. By the time you reach the final muscle group (in whichever order you go), you should achieve an astounding level of relaxation. And, as mentioned in the introduction, this is a learned skill. The more you do it, the better you'll get -- and the healthier and happier you'll be.

問題很簡單：你每天都感到不知所措，壓抑充斥在你生活的任何一個小角落。通過以下4個步驟克服這些壓抑并且索回一些心里空間，達到完全放松的狀態。

放松的益處已被廣泛的證明，盡管如此，仍然需要反復實踐。放松可以將壓力驅逐出你的體外，尤其是你的心理壓力和思想壓力，徹底恢復健康，充滿活力并且能夠集中精力去處理一些情感事務。

例如，我們沒有足夠放松。當我們放松時，總是被一些客觀的事情所打斷。解決這個問題，以下4個步驟行之有效，無論你是在家里，還是工作中，甚至是任何一個地方。

要這樣想：放松的能力是一種學習技巧。它需要實踐和耐心。

第一步

做放松的承諾

徹底放松4步驟的第一步是最重要的。獨處20-30分鐘，大腦里要有一個明確的目的：放松。一旦你這樣做了并且感到有效的時候，這種強迫性的承諾就會越來越容易做到。

正當這中方法正像預期的那樣生效時你可能會感到這種放松時間會有越來越短的趨勢，自問，這樣做的目的在哪？這中練習直接關系到你的健康和身心愉悅-----你不應該縮短這個練習時間。

因此，無論你是在辦公室，在公交車上還是在家里，讓自己處在一個舒適的位置。自然，在家里你可以相對自由地換掉緊身的衣褲，會更加舒適一點，但是生活要求有時候并不允許這樣。因此，要找到合適的時間和場所。不會花費很長的時間，它僅僅需要你做一下承諾來改善一下你的身體和生活。

第二步

精力集中

現在你已經為20-30分鐘的放松時間做了承諾并且已經處于放松位置，現在要精神放松下來，把所有的你用過的物品，聽到的聲音或者看到的畫面都縮小成一個焦點。簡言之，就是你在冥想沉思，或者更明確地說：陷入高度沉思狀態，就像招了魂一樣。

這個注意力集中點可以是抽象的和具體的，像一枚戒指，一聲嗡響或者是腦海里你去年在墨西哥海灘上的一個畫面。你注意的焦點要持續至少3分鐘.

第三步

深呼吸

把所有狂熱的想法和感覺都收起來，讓思想放松，把注意力和焦點轉移到你的呼吸上來。深呼吸運動普遍存在于任何一個放松方法，最好的理由是：壓力和緊張導致我們的呼吸越來越短促，降低了氧在血液體內的流動，緊繃了你的整個軀體。深呼吸改變了你的這種狀況。

通過數5秒鐘的時間過程來吸氣保持一種慢速的有節奏的呼吸速度。呼氣時，也要通過5秒鐘慢慢的徹底的把氣呼出體外。把你所有的注意力都集中到胸和腹部的這個呼吸動作上來。如果需要，你可一將一只手放在你的胸廓以下感受整個呼吸運動的節奏。

讓你的注意力集中到深呼吸運動中3-5分鐘的時間。

第四步

肌肉放松

最后一個步驟是時間最長的。連續的肌肉放松包括拉緊一組肌肉是他們處于收縮狀態，然后放松。你要讓你的身體肌肉一組一組的進行，就像你在收割草坪，每10分鐘放松一次。

如果必要，你可以先伸縮你的拳頭，可能與你的臉部肌肉或者鼻子相比，你更熟悉拳頭的關節。但是，如果你從拳頭開始，你要有一個明確的順序來運動，接著，伸縮你的胳膊，然后是你的肩部和背部，接著要轉動你的脖子，頜骨和眼睛，然后越過腹部，運動你的腹股溝，小腿和雙腳。

做這些肌肉組織的拉緊和收縮的時候，要保持和控制深呼吸---這是基本的。當你完成最后肌肉組放松的時候（無論你以何種順序），你的放松水平已經達到了令人驚愕的程度。就像前面介紹時說的那樣：這是一種學習技巧。做得越多，你的放松狀態也就越好---你就會身體越健康，心情越愉悅。