Relaxation techniques are practices that bring on the body's "relaxation response": slower breathing, lower blood pressure and a reduced heart rate, the opposite of the stress response, as the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) puts it. The best known are slow breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, the body scan, guided imagery and autogenic training. Which one works best for you is mostly a matter of trying: some people relax through the body, others through pictures or words.
Below you'll find the eight methods side by side, how to choose, what fits stress, anxious moments, sleep and anger, a 3-minute sampler to try right now, and what the research actually says.
The 8 relaxation techniques at a glance
| Technique | What you do | Time to try it | Good when | Our guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slow breathing | Breathe slowly, with the out-breath a little longer than the in-breath | 1 to 5 minutes | You need something quick and invisible | Breathing techniques |
| Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) | Tense one muscle group for a few seconds, then let go and notice the difference | 5 to 20 minutes | You can't tell where you're tense, or your mind won't settle | Progressive muscle relaxation |
| Body scan | Move your attention slowly through the body and notice what's there | 5 to 30 minutes | You're tired, lying down or winding down for bed | Body scan meditation |
| Guided imagery (visualization) | Picture a calm place in detail, with all your senses | 5 to 15 minutes | You think in pictures and like a story to follow | Visualization meditation |
| Autogenic training | Repeat short phrases about heaviness and warmth in the body | 10 to 20 minutes, learned over weeks | You like structure and can concentrate | Section below |
| Yoga nidra (NSDR) | Lie down and follow a set sequence: intention, body, breath, images | 10 to 30 minutes | You want deep rest without effort | Yoga nidra and NSDR |
| Grounding | Bring your attention to your senses and your surroundings | 1 to 3 minutes | You feel swept away and want to come back to the present | Grounding techniques |
| Mindfulness meditation | Rest your attention on the breath or body and come back when it wanders | 5 to 20 minutes | You want to train calm over time, not just in the moment | Types of meditation |
The times are our suggestions for a first try, not rules. Two more methods, biofeedback and hypnosis, usually need expert guidance at the start, according to gesund.bund.de, the German Federal Ministry of Health's portal, so we leave them out here.
How to choose a relaxation technique
gesund.bund.de describes three kinds of people, roughly: some relax well with purely mental methods where you don't move and turn your attention inward, such as autogenic training and most forms of meditation. Others find a light physical component helpful, like the active tensing and releasing in progressive muscle relaxation. And some relax best with more active practices such as yoga, tai chi or qigong.
A quick way to find your starting point:
| If this sounds like you | Start with |
|---|---|
| "My head won't stop, sitting still makes it worse." | Progressive muscle relaxation, then slow breathing |
| "I'm exhausted and just want to lie down." | Body scan or yoga nidra |
| "I have one minute and people around me." | Slow breathing or grounding |
| "I'm a visual person, I daydream easily." | Guided imagery |
| "I like clear steps I can repeat every day." | Progressive muscle relaxation or autogenic training |
| "I want calm in general, not only when it's bad." | A short daily meditation |
Try one technique for a week before you judge it. gesund.bund.de notes that the effects usually don't appear fully at the start and that the relaxation response comes faster and more completely the more you practice.
A 3-minute relaxation sampler (script)
We wrote this sampler so you can feel three techniques back to back and notice which one your body likes. Sit or lie down. Each part takes about a minute.
Breath. Breathe in through your nose for a count of four. Breathe out slowly for a count of six. Do that five times. Then let the breath go back to its own rhythm.
Muscles. Make two fists and pull your shoulders up toward your ears. Hold for about five seconds, firmly but without pain. Now let go all at once. Feel the hands open and the shoulders drop. Stay with that feeling for a few breaths.
Picture. Close your eyes and picture one calm place you know: a bench, a beach, a window seat. Notice one thing you see, one thing you hear and one thing you feel on your skin. Stay there for a few breaths.
Now ask yourself: which of the three made the biggest difference? That's your starting point.
Relaxation techniques for stress
Stress often shows up in the body before you notice it in your mind. gesund.bund.de names neck and back tension, headaches, sleep problems and irritability among the warning signs of too much stress, and notes that stress often goes along with muscle tension in the neck, shoulders or jaw that goes unnoticed in everyday life.
For stress during the day, the body-based methods are the easiest to fit in: a few slow breaths with a longer out-breath, or one round of tensing and releasing your shoulders and hands. Our guide on how to release tension in your body has a 5-minute routine and a 1-minute desk version. For a longer reset after work, a body scan or a visualization works well.
Relaxation techniques for anxious moments
The NHS says some people find mindfulness and meditation, including breathing exercises and relaxation, help to calm anxiety and reduce tension by focusing awareness on the present moment. In an anxious moment, choose something short and concrete: slow breathing, grounding through your senses, or pressing your feet into the floor. Our guide on how to calm down goes into this.
Two cautions. First, NCCIH notes that a few people feel more anxious during relaxation, not less. If closing your eyes or turning inward makes it worse, keep your eyes open and use your senses instead. Second, relaxation is not a replacement for help: the NHS says that if anxiety is affecting your daily life, you should contact NHS 111 or talk to a GP.
Relaxation techniques for sleep
Progressive muscle relaxation, a body scan and calm imagery are the classics for bedtime, and many people find them pleasant. The research is more modest than most sleep content suggests. NCCIH says relaxation techniques on their own "don't seem to be especially promising for sleep," although they can be one part of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). The German health portal gesundheitsinformation.de says relaxation exercises can be worth a try for sleep problems, but that current research can't tell which methods work best.
So use them as a way to wind down, not as a test you can fail. For tonight, see our sleep meditation guide, the guided visualization for sleep or, if your head is the problem, racing thoughts at night.
Relaxation techniques for anger
When you're angry, the body is ready for action, so sitting still and "relaxing" often feels impossible. Start with something physical: breathe out slowly several times, open your hands, drop your shoulders, or walk for a few minutes. Our guide on how to calm down has quick steps for moments like this.
Autogenic training in brief
We don't have a separate guide for autogenic training yet, so here are the basics. You silently repeat short phrases about sensations in the body. gesund.bund.de lists six standard exercises (the phrases are our translations from the German):
- Heaviness: "My right arm is heavy."
- Warmth: "My right arm is warm."
- Heart: "My heart beats calmly and evenly."
- Breath: "My breathing is completely calm."
- Solar plexus: "My solar plexus is flowing warm."
- Forehead: "My forehead is pleasantly cool."
According to gesund.bund.de, autogenic training needs some concentration and is considered harder to learn than other methods, because the phrases don't always match what you feel at first. First results can show after about 2 to 3 weeks of practice. It also advises against autogenic training in certain situations, for example with obsessive-compulsive disorder or acute psychosis. If you'd like something similar but simpler, the heaviness and warmth part of our deep relaxation practice borrows from it.
A list to keep
If you were looking for a relaxation techniques PDF: copy this list into your notes app or print the page.
Slow breathing: in for 4, out for 6, five times.
Progressive muscle relaxation: tense a muscle group for about 5 seconds, let go, notice for about 30 seconds.
Body scan: move your attention from your feet to your head, noticing without changing anything.
Guided imagery: picture a calm place, one sight, one sound, one feeling on your skin.
Autogenic training: repeat "my right arm is heavy" and "my right arm is warm" slowly and often.
Yoga nidra: lie down, set a short intention, follow a voice through the body, the breath and images.
Grounding: name 5 things you can see, 4 you can feel, 3 you can hear.
Meditation: rest on the breath, notice when you drift, come back.
What the research says
- How common: NCCIH reports that 6.4 percent of US adults used guided imagery and/or progressive muscle relaxation in 2022, up from 3.8 percent in 2002 (National Health Interview Survey).
- Stress and relaxation: gesund.bund.de says all methods it describes are in principle considered effective for bringing on relaxation, and calls progressive muscle relaxation the method with the most reliable evidence of effect.
- Sleep: relaxation techniques alone are not especially promising for sleep, according to NCCIH. A 2015 review it cites found autogenic training or guided imagery shortened the time to fall asleep, but no more than a placebo.
- Quality of the evidence: across NCCIH's fact sheet, the same caveat keeps returning: many studies are small or of low quality. That doesn't mean relaxation doesn't help, only that the effects are easy to overstate.
Each technique has a session in the app
AI Meditation: Sleep & Calm has a guided session for most of the techniques on this page, so you can try them without memorizing anything:
- Breath: Breath Awareness uses your natural breath as an anchor, and Letting Go of Stress works with a longer out-breath.
- Progressive muscle relaxation: Dream Journey with Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) tenses and releases muscle groups, then continues with a calm scene by the sea. Mini-Reset: Arriving and Relaxing has a short PMR exercise for beginners.
- Body scan: Body Scan for Deep Relaxation travels from head to feet.
- Guided imagery: Forest Walk: Into the Calm of Nature, At the Sea: Relax and Find Fresh Strength and Journey on the Quiet Sea, among others.
- Yoga nidra: Back to Sleep with the Yoga Nidra Method is for waking up in the night.
- Grounding: Grounded in the Now: Presence Through Body and Breath.
- For hard moments: Acute Stress SOS and Anger SOS: Calming Down Without Suppressing the Anger.
There's no autogenic training session yet. You can set how long a session lasts within its range, and the voices are AI voices. See how the app works, try it for free, no account needed.
Your health
This app is a wellness app and does not replace medical advice. If stress, worry or sleep problems last for weeks or affect your day, talk to a doctor. NCCIH's page on relaxation techniques summarizes the research and the safety notes.
Sources
All pages accessed on September 25, 2026.
- NCCIH: Relaxation Techniques: What You Need To Know. Definition of the relaxation response, types of techniques, usage 2002 and 2022, sleep research, side effects.
- gesund.bund.de (German Federal Ministry of Health): Entspannungsmethoden: Welche Techniken gegen Stress helfen können (in German, updated March 27, 2026). Choosing a method, practice effects, PMR evidence, autogenic training formulas and cautions, stress warning signs.
- gesundheitsinformation.de (IQWiG): Was tun bei Schlafproblemen? (in German, updated July 3, 2024). Relaxation techniques for sleep problems.
- NHS Every Mind Matters: Anxiety. Relaxation for anxiety, when to get help.
