As the mother of toddler who, as of a month ago, no longer takes naps, I realized something very important at the dawning of this new year: relaxation is imperative.

I know what you might be thinking: "You're a stay-at-home mom. You have plenty of downtime."

Really? If you call downtime my daughter climbing on my back while I eat dinner, or popping into my bedroom to play princesses with me first thing upon waking, then, yes, I have plenty.

To be fair, she is very good about "Quiet Time" in her room, the hour I have to myself that used to be the time she napped. She will play quietly until she gets bored, or hears daddy playing his Xbox in the living room. Then she will come running out with an impish grin that says "Are you going to chase me back in, or let me come out now?"

So relaxation is my priority. I've had to let go of some things that seemed very important to me. I've had to make time to relax. In fact, the only reason I have time to write this now is because I've "gasp" set my daughter up with a movie to watch on my phone so I can have some downtime.

So my relaxation comes in 3 styles. And if I, with my two, almost two-and-a-half-year-old can do it, so can you.

1. 30 minutes Progressive Muscle Relaxation. There are several ways to do it, all searchable online. I do it while I watch my daughter take a bath. And because parenting has made my sleep less deep over time, PMR has helped to correct that. You could also do it right before going to sleep, especially if you have trouble relaxing enough to fall asleep.

2. 5 minutes, 5 times a day of breathing in and thinking "Breathe In" and breathing out and thinking "Relax." Again, I do this while I watch my daughter play at the park or pull ornaments off our Christmas tree.

3. Anytime you need to relax or diffuse strong emotion. Focus on circular breathing. I got it from a yoga book. You can put a book on your diaphragm while lying down or not. Try to breathe evenly and slowly--breathe in and just as you've reached the top of your breath, right after, very slowly start to breathe out. When you're at the end of your breath, immediately, slowly start to breathe in again. The goal is to make a circle of your breath so it's unbroken, even, easy.

This is one of my three, main, personal priorities of the day. Relaxation has eased my anger from last year immensely and helped me be a more easy-going, fun mom. If I can do it, you can too.