Relaxation
"Relaxation" Your Daily
Allowance for Stress Relief
Stress
is the curse of living in modern times. Everyone suffers from stress.
And the stress we suffer takes a heavy toll on our bodies, emotions and
minds.
Feeling
stressed out, worn out by fatigue or just simply having a miserable
day, the best thing to do is relax.
Watching
television may be a form of relaxation for some, but is not a
recommended method by experts. When we watch TV we are bombarded with
commercials, ads, sounds and images. So how do we achieve relaxation?
If there are thousands of ways we can get stressed, one of them is not
meeting deadlines, there are also many ways we can relax.
In recent studies, experts have determined that heart disease is linked
to anger and irritability is linked to mental stress. Too much stress
brings about ischemia that can lead to or cause a heart attack.
Relaxation takes on added importance in light of this matter. Managing
your anger and attitude is significant to heart health, and relaxation
can help you manage stress.
One way of relaxation is transcendental meditation. Recent studies have
also shown that this method might reduce artery blockage, which is a
major cause for heart attack and stroke. People practice transcendental
meditation by repeating uttering soothing sounds while meditating, this
is to achieve total relaxation. The researchers found that
practitioners of transcendental meditation significantly reduced the
thickness of their arterial wall compared with those who didn't
practice transcendental meditation.
Another study on another method of relaxation, acupuncture, seems to
reduce high blood pressure by initiating several body functions for the
brain to release chemical compounds known as endorphins. Endorphin
helps to relax muscles, ease panic, decrease pain, and reduce anxiety.
Yoga
is also another method for relaxation and may also have similar effects
like acupuncture. In another study, participants were subjected to
several minutes of mental stress. Then they were subjected to various
relaxation techniques, such as listening to nature sounds or classical
music. Only those who did Yoga significantly reduced the time it took
for their blood pressures to go back to normal. Yoga is a form of
progressive relaxation.
Breathing is one of the easiest methods to relax. Breathing influences
alamost all aspects of us, it affects our mind, our moods and our body.
Simply focus on your breathing, after some time you can feel its
effects right away.
There are several breathing techniques that can help you reduce stress.
Another easy way to achieve relaxation is exercise. If you feel
irritated a simple half-hour of exercise will often settle things down.
Although exercise is a great way to lose weight, it does not show you
how to manage stress appropriately. Exercise should also be used in
conjunction with other exercise method.
One great way of relaxation is getting a massage. To gain full
relaxation, you need to totally surrender to the handling and touch of
a professional therapist.
There are several types of massages that also give different levels of
relaxation.
Another
method of relaxation is Biofeedback. The usual biofeedback-training
program includes a 10-hour sessions that is often spaced one week apart.
Hypnosis is one controversial relaxation technique. It is a good
alternative for people who think that they have no idea what it feels
like to be relaxed. It is also a good alternative for people with
stress related health problems.
Drugs are extreme alternatives to relaxation. They are sometimes not
safe and are not effective like the other relaxation methods. This
method is only used by trained medical professionals on their patients.
These relaxation techniques are just some of the ways you can achieve
relaxation. Another reason why we need to relax, aside from
lowering blood pressure in people and decreasing the chances of a
stroke or a heart attack, is because stress produces hormones that
suppress the immune system, relaxation gives the immune system time to
recover and in doing so function more efficiently.
Relaxation lowers the activities within the brains' limbic system; this
is the emotional center of our brain.
Furthermore, the brain has a periodic need for a more pronounced
activity on the right-hemisphere. Relaxation is one way of achieving
this.
Relaxation can really be of good use once a relaxation technique is
regularly built into your lifestyle. Choose a technique that you
believe you can do regularly.
"Relaxing
with a Mental PDA" Your 5 minutes daily program to Stress management
We all have this favorite expression when it comes to being
stressed out, and I wouldn't bother naming all of them since it may
also vary in different languages. But when it comes down to it, I think
that it is how we work or even relax, for that matter that triggers
stress. Ever been stressed even when you're well relaxed and bored? I
know I have.
Since Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. is unavoidable in life, it
is important to find ways to decrease and prevent stressful incidents
and decrease negative reactions to stress. Here are some of the things
that can be done by just remembering it, since life is basically a
routine to follow like brushing your teeth or eating breakfast. You can
do a few of them in a longer span of time, but as they say-- every
minute counts.
Managing
time
Time management skills can allow you
more time
with your family and friends and possibly increase your performance and
productivity. This will help reduce your stress.
To
improve your time management:
· Save time by focusing and concentrating, delegating, and
scheduling time for yourself.
· Keep a record of how you spend your time, including work,
family, and leisure time.
· Prioritize your time by rating tasks by importance and
urgency. Redirect your time to those activities that are important and
meaningful to you.
· Manage your commitments by not over- or undercommitting.
Don't commit to what is not important to you.
· Deal with procrastination by using a day planner, breaking
large projects into smaller ones, and setting short-term deadlines.
· Examine your beliefs to reduce conflict between what you
believe and what your life is like.
Build healthy coping strategies
It is important that you identify your coping strategies. One way to do
this is by recording the stressful event, your reaction, and how you
cope in a stress journal. With this information, you can work to change
unhealthy coping strategies into healthy ones-those that help you focus
on the positive and what you can change or control in your life.
Lifestyle
Some behaviors and lifestyle choices affect your stress level. They may
not cause stress directly, but they can interfere with the ways your
body seeks relief from stress. Try to:
· Balance personal, work, and family needs and obligations.
· Have a sense of purpose in life.
· Get enough sleep, since your body recovers from the
stresses of the day while you are sleeping.
· Eat a balanced diet for a nutritional defense against
stress.
· Get moderate exercise throughout the week.
· Limit your consumption of alcohol.
· Don't smoke.
Social
support
Social support is a major factor in how we experience stress. Social
support is the positive support you receive from family, friends, and
the community. It is the knowledge that you are cared for, loved,
esteemed, and valued. More and more research indicates a strong
relationship between social support and better mental and physical
health.
Changing
thinking
When an event triggers negative thoughts, you may experience fear,
insecurity, anxiety, depression, rage, guilt, and a sense of
worthlessness or powerlessness. These emotions trigger the body's
stress, just as an actual threat does. Dealing with your negative
thoughts and how you see things can help reduce stress.
· Thought-stopping helps you stop a negative thought to help
eliminate stress.
· Disproving irrational thoughts helps you to avoid
exaggerating
the negative thought, anticipating the worst, and interpreting an event
incorrectly.
· Problem solving helps you identify all aspects of a
stressful event and find ways to deal with it.
· Changing your communication style helps you communicate in
a
way that makes your views known without making others feel put down,
hostile, or intimidated. This reduces the stress that comes from poor
communication. Use the assertiveness ladder to improve your
communication style.
Even writers like me can get stressed even though we're just using our
hands to do the talking, but having to sit for 7 or 8 hours is already
stressful enough and have our own way to relieve stress. Whether you're
the mail guy, the CEO, or probably the average working parent, stress
is one unwanted visitor you would love to boot out of your homes,
especially your life.
"Have One Week, Will
Relax" Your 7 days program to Stress management
They say there's more than one way to
skin a
cat. The same goes when you start tearing your hair out with all the
frustration, grief, anxiety, and yes, stress. It's a state of mental
conditioning that is like taking that bitter pill down your throat,
causing you to lose your sense of self, and worse your sanity. Just
thinking about it can drive anyone off the edge.
And they say that the proactive ones are already living off the edge.
As one stressed-out person to another, I know how it feels, and believe
me there are many variants when it comes to stress. Coping with life,
and carrying the problems that may or may not belong to you can scratch
away the little joy and happiness that you can carry once you head out
that door. You can't blame them for being like that; they have their
own reasons, so much like we have our reasons to allow stress to weigh
us down. They say that stress is all in the mind, well, what's bugging
you anyway?
There are several ways to manage stress,
and
eventually remove it out of your life one of these days. So I'll try to
divide it into a seven-day course for you and I promise it's not going
to be too taxing on the body, as well as on the mind.
1.
Acknowledge stress is good
Make stress your friend! Based on the body's natural "fight or flight"
response, that burst of energy will enhance your performance at the
right moment. I've yet to see a top sportsman totally relaxed before a
big competition. Use stress wisely to push yourself that little bit
harder when it counts most.
2.
Avoid stress sneezers
Stressed people sneeze stress germs indiscriminately and before you
know it, you are infected too!
Protect yourself by recognizing stress in others and limiting your
contact with them. Or if you've got the inclination, play stress doctor
and teach them how to better manage themselves.
3. Learn from the best
When people around are losing their head, who keeps calm? What are they
doing differently? What is their attitude? What language do they use?
Are they trained and experienced?
Figure it out from afar or sit them down for a chat. Learn from the
best stress managers and copy what they do.
4.
Practice socially acceptable heavy breathing
This is something I've learned from a gym instructor: You can trick
your body into relaxing by using heavy breathing. Breathe in slowly for
a count of 7 then breathe out for a count of 11. Repeat the 7-11
breathing until your heart rate slows down, your sweaty palms dry off
and things start to feel more normal.
5. Give
stressy thoughts the red light
It is possible to tangle yourself up in a stress knot all by yourself.
"If this happens, then that might happen and then we're all up the
creek!" Most of these things never happen, so why waste all that energy
worrying needlessly?
Give stress thought-trains the red light and stop them in their tracks.
Okay so it might go wrong - how likely is that, and what can you do to
prevent it?
6. Know your trigger points and hot spots
Presentations, interviews, meetings, giving difficult feedback, tight
deadlines…. My heart rate is cranking up just writing these
down!
Make your own list of stress trigger points or hot spots. Be specific.
Is it only presentations to a certain audience that get you worked up?
Does one project cause more stress than another? Did you drink too much
coffee?
Knowing what causes you stress is powerful information, as you can take
action to make it less stressful. Do you need to learn some new skills?
Do you need extra resources? Do you need to switch to decaf?
7. Burn
the candle at one end
Lack of sleep, poor diet and no exercise wreaks havoc on our body and
mind. Kind of obvious, but worth mentioning as it's often ignored as a
stress management technique. Listen to your mother and don't burn the
candle at both ends!
So having stress can be a total drag, but that should not hinder us to
find the inner peace of mind that we have wanted for a long time. In
any case, one could always go to the Bahamas and bask under the summer
sun.
************************************************************************************************************************
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