I am a seasoned expert in the above techniques and I would love to share my education, experience and knowledge. I am both a "survivor" of two major mental health crises and a trained health professional in meditation, mindfulness and stress reduction.
As well as sharing my knowledge, I am always interested in learning new things!
So let's keep the dialogue in this area alive ;-)
Here are a few things you can do RIGHT NOW to help you relax:
1, Backwards counting from 50 with your breath: Start at 50 INHALE; EXHALE at 49; INHALE at 48; EXHALE at 47 and so on. If you forget what number you were at or reach 0 and are still not relaxed - simply restart at 50. I use this to help me drift off into sleep quite often.
2. TAKE 5: INHALE for 5 seconds (say the word 'steamboat' silently in your head for each full second if you don't have a watch) THEN - EXHALE for 5 seconds. Repeat 5xs through. When you get good at this you can try holding the breath for 5 seconds in between - BUT please be seated or laying down for this as holding the breath may cause dizziness.