Progressive Muscle Relaxation Body Scan
Sit or lie comfortably. Use a guided meditation for progressive muscle relaxation (see youtube link below) or play some relaxing music and guide yourself through this technique.
Tighten a group of muscles for 8 seconds. Then relax these muscles, trying to let go of any tension.
Progressively move through your body, either starting with your face and moving down to your toes, or starting in your toes and moving up to your face.
This process brings oxygen to the different muscle groups and releases tension.
Through this practice, you can identify which muscles hold your stress and learn to release this tension. Once you identify the areas where you hold tension, you can focus on just these areas for a shorter body scan. But try to do a full body scan when possible.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation can reduce cortisol and blood pressure while decreasing stress.