1. A form of activity that provides a change and relief from effort, work, or tension, and that gives pleasure.
2. The process of becoming or of making something less firm, rigid, or tight.

The physiological reactions that are desired and produced by sitting calmly and alone in a quiet place with the eyes closed and the arms and hands relaxed, paying careful attention to breathing and to repeating a short word or phrase at each breathing cycle: Some relaxation meditations are done for fifteen to thirty minutes each session, twice a day, by those who are striving for physical and mental control.

This approach to quiet relaxation meditation has been used by some physicians to produce therapeutic alterations in stress control, as indicated by a reduction in blood pressure in hypertensive patients.

A suture that may be loosened to relieve excessive tension.