An Easy Way To Soothe Stress
Hey, listen up. It’s time to relax, chill out, and release those pent-up physical, mental and emotional tensions. When dealing with everyday stress and the probability of stress build-up, NOW is always the right time to be proactive; to beat stress before it beats you.
Think of stress as a silent enemy. It can sneak up on you at any time and get you down before you even realize what’s happening. More often than not stress is accompanied by it’s close companion: higher levels of anxiety.
So, what do you do?
You take action, that’s what. Your very first line of defence is to establish a habit of performing a regular relaxation routine. Getting into a deep state of relaxation induces calmness to soothe your body, your mind and your emotions.
And what is a state of calmness?
It’s the exact opposite of stress and anxiety. As a matter of fact, you could call it the antidote to stress and anxiety.
Start using this antidote. Take time out at least twice every day to do the relaxation routine outlined below. Regard this as your quality time; a time for you and you alone. Start thinking calm, feeling calm, and being calm.
Relaxation Routine
1. Lie down, or sit in a comfortable armchair or recliner.
2. Take a deep breath and hold it for about five seconds. Release that breath slowly, and imagine all feelings of stress and tension leaving your body as you release the air. When the air has left your lungs, hold your breath once again for about five seconds before breathing in. As you breathe in imagine your body and mind filling with calmness.
3. Repeat this cycle of breathing a number of times until your breathing falls in a nice long, slow gentle rhythm. Allow a comfortable pause at the end of each inhalation and exhalation.
4. As you maintain the relaxing rhythm of your breathing, bring your attention to the top of your head. Imagine that all the tiny muscles in your scalp are being soothed and massaged by warm invisible hands.
5. Feel the warm hands massaging around your ears and down along the back of your neck to the tops of your shoulders.
6. Now bring your attention to your forehead. Feel those invisible fingers smoothing away any wrinkles that may be in your forehead.
7. Next, focus on your eyes. Imagine the warm fingers gentle massaging all around your eyes. Feel the relaxing warmth from the fingers spreading throughout your eyes; feel your eyes relaxing and letting go of all tensions.
8. Think of the soothing hands massaging the rest of your face. Notice how your lower jaw relaxes and notice how this cosy, warm feeling of relaxation spreads into your tongue.
9. Check your breathing once again to make sure it’s rhythm is long and slow.
10. Now bring your attention to the invisible hands and imagine them massaging and loosening your shoulders and shoulder blades. Imagine what it would be like if waves of relaxation were flowing down along your arms and into your fingertips.
11. Those massaging hands now work on your back. They soothe and loosen the muscles on either side of your spine, and then stroke smoothly down along the vertebrae.
12. Imagine what it would be like to feel a state of deep relaxation seeping downwards into your legs and feet. Imagine how all the muscles in your legs and feet would go loose and limp.
13. Allow feelings of deep relaxation and calmness to immerse your body and your mind.
14. Feel yourself drifting deeper and deeper into pleasurable feelings of calmness and tranquility.
Source: http://www.articlecube.com
Michael Connolly, D.H.P., is a retired Hypnotherapist and Psychoanalyst. Through study, practice and teaching over a period of three decades, he has also accumulated a broad knowledge of parapsychology and metaphysics. Author's Website. - No More Stress. - Copyright (c) Michael Connolly 2008.
How to Get Rid of Panic and Anxiety through Self-help
In our lives, we all want peace and happiness. We hope for a happy and pleasant environment around us all the time. However, to have all this we must be living in an ultimate world. However, we all know that our world is not ideal and tensions, panicky situations and anxieties arise every now and then.
However, we should not be afraid of them and whenever these situations arise we must be armed to deal with them in the most efficient manner possible. For this, we must first be able to examine our emotions and accept them as they are. Understanding the emotions can help you to learn to control the emotions without allowing the devastating feelings and emotions take control. As the last step, we must try to transform all such negative emotions like anxiety and panic into encouraging ones.
Anxiety has often been connected with worry and both are understood as the same emotion. Nevertheless, this is not true because although both are forms of fear but anxiety is related more to time and resources constraints whereas worry is a result of an anxiety that something we plan will not work out well.
Anxiety occurs because sometimes we need to complete a tight-string project and we fall in a rush. The project is of greatest importance and because of shortage of time or any other contributing factor you will not be able to terminate it to perfection or on time.
Often worry also results from the same reasons. Nevertheless, the major difference here that we must recognize is that it may not just be a result of lack of resources but may be also due to some problem with your child or spouse or any other personal issue. Worries are a result of our personal attachments with certain beings or things.
Since childhood, all these feelings are absorbed by our mind. We see the way people react to certain situations and emulate them. While some people behave in appositive manner to situations other don’t. Whichever affects us more determines how we behave to those situations.
To throw away all these anxieties and worries one must follow a proper system and diet. In helping you to reduce anxiety and panic situations, the below mentioned points will go a long way.
1. Regular exercises like an early morning walk, jog, or aerobics.
2. Try yoga. It helps in getting better your blood flow and reduces hyperventilation.
3. Whenever a panic situation arises, try to concentrate with deep breathing.
4. Try meditation as a solution searching method.
5. Follow a healthy low fat and high vitamin diet.
Following the aforementioned routine and steps will help you in freeing yourself from negative thoughts and emotions and creating a positive atmosphere around you. Try these positive countermeasures to anxiety whenever it strikes.
1. We must accept that whatever is happening to us has no purpose to harm us. We must give whatever we do, our best shot but it is useless to worry about the results. Once you have given it, your best shot there is no reason why you should fail, so why panic.
2. We must have self-belief in ourselves. We must tell ourselves that nothing is impossible unto us and that we can face all the problems of life without giving up on them.
3. We should never think low about ourselves. Like everyone else, we are all humans and have equal rights to life. We should never worry about what others think about us because at the end of the day you are your best judge.
4. You must be reminiscent yourself at all times that life is meant for being lived every moment and not for worrying every moment what the next will bring about.
Source: http://www.articlecube.com
Nishanth Reddy is an author and publisher of popular Self Help Blog. For more information on anxiety, panic and how to get rid of anxiety & panic situations visit:Anxiety and Panic
Stress Management Must-Do's: 7 Ways to Go From Distress to De-stress
In our continually changing environment, our bodies and minds are suffering from wear and tear. We call it STRESS. Sometimes it’s family problems, money problems, or problems at work. However, we all have to deal with it from day to day. Having stress in your life is not the issue these days, how you cope with it is more important. Living a healthy lifestyle is one way to reduce the stress levels. When you’re living healthy, you just automatically cope with stress better. Developing ways to deal with your stress makes you more resilient, more energetic, with concentration that is more effective.
The first step to determining how you handle stress is knowing what causes it. Many find keeping a stress journal very helpful for understanding not only the causes, but also for giving you insight as to how you react. Use it to record each event in your life, how you’re feeling, exactly what causes you to feel stressed and out of control, or in other words, the patterns of stress in your life.
Once you’ve determined the cause or causes of stress in your life, you can then go about finding ways to de-stress, or decompress, bringing harmony back into your life.
1) Relaxation techniques, such as music are very effective in calming your harried mind. Music helps by calming you down, giving your mind a chance to relax if only for a few minutes. Find a quiet place, where you can be alone, pop in a CD of soft sounds, such as ocean waves or falling rain. Experiment until you determine which sound makes you feel relaxed and calm. Turn on the CD, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Focus on the sound, push everything else from your mind. Let your muscles relax, one at a time. Let yourself just get lost in the sound.
2) Breathing techniques are very helpful and can be used almost anywhere, even at work. Once again, find a quiet place to sit down. Close your eyes and take a deep breath, then let it out. Take the next breath slowly, counting to five, hold that breath to the count of four, then release it very slowly. This works particularly well if you feel a bit panicky. When in panic mode, the body tends to breathe very fast and shallow, intensifying the feeling of fight-or-flight. Doing this breathing technique for fifteen or twenty minutes will be very calming.
3) Sleep is so important, especially during extremely stressful times, but stress often makes getting to sleep very difficult. The thoughts keep swirling around in your mind, keeping you awake. Let your body get used to a routine by keeping the same bedtime each night, even on weekends. In addition, several hours before bedtime, give your brain a chance to wind down. Avoid any mentally demanding work and agitation. Cutting back on alcohol and caffeine will help you fall asleep more easily. Instead of watching television, find a nice relaxing, book. Before you know it, your body will relax, your eyes will close, and you’ll drift off for a great night’s sleep.
4) Exercise is another great way to de-stress your body and your mind. It improves blood flow to the brain, bringing it more oxygen. Believe it or not, long hours of sitting and thinking cause the neurons of your brain to build up toxic waste products. If you’ve ever experienced that foggy feeling, that feeling that your brain has turned to mush, this is why. Exercise releases chemicals called endorphins, into your blood stream. These endorphins are what give you that happy feeling, a feeling of well-being. When the pressure is on, it’s the more physically fit people who are able to fight off illness. You’ll stay healthier and suffer less from burnout. Please remember to talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program. In addition, keep in mind that exercise should be fun. If it stops being fun, you’ll stop exercising.
5) Try and spend time with your loved ones. Relaxing with family and friends is a great stress reliever. Finding fun activities will make you feel happy, relaxed, and more able to handle the day-to-day stress. They say laughter is the best medicine, so laugh and enjoy life whenever you can. Take regular vacations. Not only will you enjoy the break from work and home duties, but just the act of planning and looking forward to the vacation will improve your state of mind. Sometimes, anticipation is half the fun.
6) Find a hobby or a sport that you enjoy. If your work is very competitive, try and find something that will allow you to relax and enjoy yourself. Reading, gardening, sewing, etc. allows your mind to focus on something besides the worries. Moreover, working with your hands and being creative is very freeing.
7) Try a little positive thinking. Use your imagination to conjure up positive images and thoughts of your desired outcome. It’s a fact that optimists enjoy increased health and long life, have less stress, and are able to move forward and succeed where others might quit. We all have to expect some failures, some sorrow and frustration, but we don’t have to let them rule our lives. Find some like-minded friends who will remind you of your successes now and then. Focus on realistic goals and remember that failure isn’t fatal. And don’t be so hard on yourself. Tomorrow is another day.
About the Author: Michael Lee is the author of How to be a Red Hot Persuasion Wizard... in 20 days or less, an ebook that reveals mind-altering persuasion techniques on how to tremendously enhance your relationships, create unlimited wealth, and get anything you want...just like magic. Get a sample chapter and highly-stimulating "Get What You Want" advice at: http://www.20daypersuasion.com. He is the Co-Founder of http://www.self-improvement-millionaires.com and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant.
Source: http://www.easyarticles.com
Stress Management Hypnosis
The demands of everyday life cause much stress. The work responsibilities alone would make anyone look older than they really are. When you are stressed, your body reacts in a negatice way. You may feel abnormally tired, have headaches and even lose weight. To help you manage your stress better, here are some helpful tips.
Find Some Alone Time
You should make sure that you find time to recover from stress by spending some quality time with yourself. You can go to a spa and enjoy a relaxing massage.
If you do not wish to go out and face the horrible traffic, you can stay at home and read a book or listen to music. Sometimes, something as simple as a bubble bath could relieve much of the stresses of the day. Inform of your family and friends of your alone time so that there will be no distractions from relaxing.
Exercise
Physical activities can help you remove stress in your life. It is believed that endorphins or the “happy hormone” is triggered by exercising. When you exercise, even for 15 minutes a day, you effectively relax your muscles, which become tight when you are feeling stressed out. An added bonus is you would also look great after continuous exercising, making you feel extra confident.
Sleep
A person who lacks sleep will be unable to fight off stress. In fact, you will be more susceptible to stress if you are constantly losing sleep. An adult person must sleep 6-8 hours a day to fight off stress. If you fail to complete your sleep, your immune system would probably break down causing you to be sick. You would not want to be stressed out and sick at the same time.
Counseling
If you think that you need more expert help, you can seek out psychotherapy. Some stress is caused by reasons such as work pressures or family issues. Most people become stressed with their finances as well. Your psychiatrist will help you manage stress by finding out the exact reasons for your stress.
Hypnotherapy
Relatively new, hypnotherapy is increasingly becoming a popular way to manage and control psychological troubles like stress. A qualified person would hypnotize you and make suggestions to your subconscious. This treatment is considerably cheaper compared to psychotherapy. A typical hypnotherapy session would probably last for three hours and depending on your response, you would need about one to five sessions before you can see positive results.
By: Mark Goodworthy
Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
What is your Stress Management strategy? With Stress Management Hypnosis you can even do it while you sleep.
Stress Relief - Ten Easy Ways
Sometimes we don't just need stress relief, but fast and easy relief. A complicated relaxation technique or elaborate meditative practice would be just one more thing to be anxious about. Here are ten much simpler solutions. Try them out, and keep in mind which ones work best for you, so you can use them regularly.
1. Deep breathing. Try six or seven deep breaths through your nose, with your eyes closed. Pay attention only to your breathing while doing this. This is "mini-meditation," and possibly one the most effective of these stress relief techniques.
2. Interrupt you normal routines. Talk to the crazy lady in the park, or eat your lunch outside. Doing anything that breaks you out of your habitual patterns can often relieve stress.
3. Give someone a hug. Of course, giving a hug means getting one, and as long as it's from somebody you don't mind hugging, this can immediately reduce your level of stress.
4. Watch your mind. Notice mental irritants lurking just below the surface and resolve them. Make the call that's on your mind, put things on a list so you can drop them, and generally let go of non-essential thoughts. Practice this mindfulness exercise, and it may become one of your favorite stress relief techniques.
5. Take a hot shower. This relaxes your muscles, and any break from more stressful activities can help too. Some find that an alternating hot and cold shower is even more relaxing, but be careful with this one if you have a weak heart..
6. Put on some relaxing music. Have your favorite relaxation CDs in the car, in your office, or wherever you'll need them most.
7. Laugh at something. Experience shows that this helps you relax, right? Find the person who knows all the best jokes, or look for something funny in front of you.
8. Take a walk. Walking is one of the best stress relief techniques if you have at least ten minutes. It is even better if you can find a pretty place to walk.
9. Get out of the room for a while. Sometimes the things in the room or related to the room are triggering your stressful thoughts. Try getting out for a little while.
10. Have a cup of chamomile tea. Chamomile seems to have a calming effect on the nerves, although any hot tea without caffeine may help relieve stress.
Of course, it might be nice if you can change yourself, so you're naturally more relaxed all of the time. That may be possible, but what the thought of the work involved just creates more anxiety? Then you might have to take it slow. Why not start with one or two of the fast and easy stress relief techniques above?
About the Author: Steve Gillman writes on many topics including brainpower, weight loss, meditation, habits of mind, creative problem solving, generating luck and anything related to self improvement. Learn more and get FREE e-courses at http://www.SelfImprovementNow.com
Source: http://www.easyarticles.com
7 Steps to Achieving Healthy Self-Esteem
The happiest people are those who do not judge others, live in kindness and love themselves. Do you ever see someone who is perpetually happy and wish you could be like them? You CAN achieve a healthy self-esteem…it takes time and effort. Following are seven steps to help you on your way to becoming a happier, healthier YOU.
1. IDENTIFY
One is not required to live by “I have to” or “I must” – everything we do is a result of a decision…a choice. Choices made in our younger years and choices made this morning when we woke up. Everything is a choice: to obey or disobey; to study or not study; to eat right or not eat right. When making these choices, we control everything about our lives including our future and our level of self-awareness. When you see a wise, confident, beautiful person – it’s not luck, it’s choice. Once you realize and accept this, only then can you begin to become who it is you want to be. All of us are given gifts…special gifts and talents. Through self-discovery, we are able to identify these gifts. If we pay attention to who we are and what makes us happy, we will make the right choices to set our own future.
2. EVALUATE
Who are you? Look at yourself and be honest. Write on a piece of paper the things you like (Pros) and don’t like (Cons) about you. If you are (and you should be) your own best friend, you should be able to take a look at the Cons and develop a plan to begin moving those negatives over to the positive side. Likewise, you should take a look at your Pros and develop a plan to make sure those positive attributes remain on the positive side and continue to grow on the inside AND the outside of you. As you work out a plan, try to find people with like personalities who share your same goals. These are the very people that will make great friends and help you stay on your set path.
3. CONFIRM
Talk to yourself! Still using your list of Pros, begin reinforcing the positive attributes of your personality. I AM…. “I am successful”, “I am pretty”, “I am fun!”... every positive thought should be repeated often – YOU are WHAT you THINK!!!
4. FORGIVE
Forgive yourself for screw ups! They happen to all of us! We are as imperfect as our bodies!! Give yourself a break – forgive and move on. You can’t change the past – but you can live in the present and affect the future!
5. REST
Treat yourself right. Be a friend, a good listener, a giver, not a taker – we feel the best about ourselves when we make someone else smile.
6. BE THANKFUL
Gratitude will get you everywhere. Give thanks to your creator. Be humble in all you have. Pray for those with cold hearts or sad lives. Really know what you have; all of the gifts, talents, and things you possess. Here today, gone tomorrow…if you live your life with gratitude and love, peace will always be in your presence.
7. ACCEPTANCE
Do not accept your fate dictated by others. Accept only the fate you give yourself. Through acts of kindness and focused determination, you can achieve all that is good in this life. When you believe in kindness and in yourself – you can achieve anything. At that point self-esteem is abundant and so is your life.
Know yourself. Like yourself. Live your life like everyone is only in their underwear!
Source: www.easyarticles.com
About the Author: Sandy Heinz is the co-founder and CEO of Good 2ba Girl. She lives in Virginia with her husband and three children. Sandy grew up in a large family (6 sisters, 1 brother) and learned to develop and nurture relationships at a very young age. She left Corporate America in 2002 to embark on a new career of providing insight, educating and helping people build strong relationships. Questions or comments can be directed to Sandy at sandy@good2bagirl.net or visit Gigi’s Community for more tips and information on relationships.
