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WELLNESS TIPS FOR STRESS REDUCTION* Take short relaxation breaks to let go of tension: This is easy when you remember to use your breath as your guide. Whenever you notice you are getting stressed or anxious just ... stop and pause for a moment ... take in a deep breath ... and slowly exhale, releasing any tension you may be carrying. Use spare moments throughout the day to breathe away tension or to recall pleasant images and memories that will help soothe you. You can also practice relaxation guided imagery to calm your mind and body. By reducing your overall anxiety level in these ways you will be better able to deal with stressful information and world events. Engage in a mind-body practice to relieve stress. We all know that exercise is healthy. In addition, there are many practices and techniques that specifically enhance the mind-body connection and help relieve stress. These include such activities as tai chi, yoga, walking meditation, ecstatic dance, walking a labyrinth ... as well as focused sports performance and playing a musical instrument or singing a song. The most effective techniques will get you in touch with a “felt sense” of your aliveness in your body. Performing these and other mind-body activities in a natural setting gives an added soothing and balancing benefit. Take time to care for yourself to restore balance in your life. Providing good self-care is not selfish. It makes sense that if you are totally stressed out, you won't have much left over to give to yourself or to others. So, it's important to nurture yourself and take the time to do something you love to do ... something just for your ... at least once a day. Go for a leisurely walk, get a massage, listen to some favorite music, take a long hot bath, get a manicure or pedicure, take a nap, read a book, visit or call a friend, or do any other healthy activity that gives you energy and makes you feel good. These activities may be done alone or with someone you love and they will increase the balance in your life, thus helping you to better deal with anxiety and stress. Explore the healing power of mindfulness to reduce anxiety. Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to whatever you are experiencing in the moment. The method is to simply notice the ever-changing flow of your mental, emotional, and physical experiences as you go about your daily life. Although deceptively simple, the practice of mindfulness is crucial tool for discovering and sustaining balance in your life. By helping you learn to recognize the subtle “whispers” of tension, worry, or stress before they can turn into “screams,” the practice of mindfulness offers many health benefits, including the ability to reduce your stress and calm your anxiety. Express gratitude as a powerful antidote to fear. When you give thanks, it is difficult to also feel fear at the same time. A heartfelt sense of appreciation that connects you with what is good and right in your life will help restore harmony and balance in both your mind and your body. When you catch yourself in a negative, complaining mood, stop and remember to be thankful for the many blessings already present in your life. Almost everyone has had moments of joy and well-being, so focus on those memories and give them at least as much space in your life as you give the problems and the unhappy memories. One of the consistent findings about people who live to be 100 is that they are positive, optimistic thinkers, so reduce your stress and increase your longevity by accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative attitudes that tend to creep into our daily lives. * these wellness suggestions are not original but have been collected from a variety of sources Recognize when you tell yourself “stories that don't need to happen” The stress of war and terrorism can easily lead the mind to imagine all sorts of unpleasant outcomes, which in turn lead to more worry and anxiety. To interrupt this unproductive mental feedback loop, simply recognize and then release such thoughts by saying to yourself. “This is a story that doesn't need to happen.” The trick is not to suppress negative thoughts or deny them, but to simply honor them and then let them go. And when a desirable story arises in your inner dialogue, recognize it and then release it by saying to yourself, “Yes, this is a healing story.” We want our children to hear stories with positive outcomes and lessons, so why not train our own minds to avoid catastrophising by creating options for success and peaceful solutions. Often the only control that we have for situations is the way we choose to think about them. So exercise control by refusing to imagine the worst case scenario. Develop a sense of compassion to increase your resilience. If you can open and expand your heart ... even just a little ... to the true humanness of others, it can transform your attitude toward yourself as well. Cultivating a sense of compassion will expand your horizons and connect you to a larger concept of yourself. While it is good to be hardy and resist disease and misfortune, it is also impossible to avoid difficult and bad things happening in your life. The true test of wellness is whether you can recover from the set-backs ... this ability is called resilience. Having compassion for yourself and others in the face of failure, error, disease, or disability helps to develop your resilience. Practicing compassion for yourself and others will increase your resilience and ease your stress and anxiety. This allows you to have a greater range of choices in how you respond to any situation. Choose relaxing activities before bedtime to get better sleep. Our curious minds naturally want to know the latest news and how it might affect us. It's a basic survival instinct. But it's also important to get a good night's rest, and watching TV news at night before bedtime can be detrimental to the quality of your sleep. A better survival strategy is to catch up on the news during the day, and in the evening focus on relaxing or mentally uplifting activities. Instead of watching TV news at night, try listening to music, reading a book, or watching a non-violent movie. You are likely to sleep better, have more pleasant dreams, and awaken more refreshed ... and thus be better able to c ope with daily stress. Look beyond the immediate to find the deeper meaning. This tip is really about finding your faith and trusting it. Call upon any higher powers that have significance for you, and ask for guidance to be able to see the deeper meaning of events in your own life and in the world at large. Imagine looking down at the Earth from outer space and being able to sense the unseen forces constantly at work for the greatest good of all creation. Applying a “big picture” perspective to your thoughts and actions helps you gain a sense of inner peace. Activate your Mental Powers to envision global peace. Your thoughts have power over your own body. Consider also that your thoughts may have a positive effect on other things as well. The healing power of prayer and meditation is widely acknowledged in all cultures, and is gaining greater acceptance in medical and scientific circles. We all want peace. Use your mental powers to radiate your own love out into the world to envision global peace. Control Chronic Pain Acute pain serves as warning signals that something is wrong and should not be ignored. But chronic, on-going pain may be intensified by the muscular tension created in our bodies as we try to defend against it. Try progressive relaxation as a method to reduce chronic pain. It is impossible for tension and relaxation to coexist in the muscles of our bodies. So relax the muscles, reduce the tension, relieve the pain. An added benefit, is that relaxation releases natural tranquilizers called endorphins, which increase feelings of well-being and reduce anxiety. So relax and enjoy your life more. What have you got to lose, except that nagging chronic pain? LIFECYCLE CONSULTANTS Royda Crose, Ph.D. |
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