Guest guest Posted June 1, 2006 Report Share Posted June 1, 2006 A Stress Tip In Katherine Gordy Levine's book "Parents Are People Too: An Emotional Fitness Program for Parents," she talks about doing a body scan a few times a day so you make yourself aware of the physical changes your body goes through on the way to feeling stressed. You imagine a scanner taking a look at your body from head to toe. For example, sitting here now I have a slight ache in my temples, my mouth is dry and the middle of my back is vaguely uncomfortable. Been at the keyboard for too long and the water jug ran out an hour or so back. Easily remedied. If I was to do the scan when I was starting to feel stressed it would be something like this: my breathing would be faster, my heartbeat would be a bit quicker and stronger, there would be a tight feeling across my shoulders and my jaw would be a little tighter. Try it a few times a day and soon you will be able to recognise those changes that occur in your body as the stress starts to build. Pick up on the early signs and use some breathing or similar techniques to avoid the fire-breathing monster appearing. When it comes to breathing practice, we have the basic ten minute trainer for re-learning diaphragmatic breathing in the library, and this is worth it’s weight in gold if you are stressed, a worrier, your energy levels are low, or even going through a spell of feeling depressed. Once you have done this practice for a variable period, you’ll discover how the benefits spill out throughout your day and evenings too. Oxygen is a multi-purpose drug that can relax you better than any medication, and energise you better than any medication. But let’s assume that you have done sufficient practice to be able to recognise when your breathing rate has speeded up, or you have tripped back into upper chest breathing. Now you can correct it by simply slowing and deepening your breathing wherever you are, standing, sitting or lying. Now you are competent, why leave it at that? You can add other modules to breathing that will enhance it, and allow you to use your normal breathing for a huge range of other purposes. One simple example is using breathing to relax down, by blocking off monkey mind chatter – the conscious mind traffic – by slotting in a very simple seesaw mantra. As you breathe in think "re" to yourself but stretch it like elastic to fill the span of the inhalation and as you breathe out stretch "-lax" in the same manner. It becomes a specific instruction to subconscious as well as a means of blocking out the racing and distracting thoughts that keep restressing you just at the moment you want to unwind. Or you can become ultra playful and add in sounds and pictures and just about anything else that works for you. Here are a few simple ideas: If traffic problems cause you to be stressed, then try this: Breathe in calm Breathe out tension Troubled by information overload: Breathe in order Breathe out chaos Not feeling well? Breathe in healing Breathe out disease Simply construct an image or sound or feeling that matches your need and test it out. If it doesn’t work immediately, don’t give up but try adjusting your construct to see what happens. I know that if I get the sort of tension, I’m experiencing now from sitting too long at a screen, I can deal with it in under three minutes by using colour and temperature, and breathing cool ice blue into my skull, and dirty warmed murky blue out. Find a purpose and experiment. You can’t do any harm so let yourself stretch your spirit of adventure and exploration. Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words.Keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior.Keep your behavior positive, because your behavior becomes your habits.Keep your habits positive, because your habits become your values.Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny. - Mahatma Gandhi Check Out My Groups: Everything Natural http://health./ Everything Magick EverythingMagick/ -- Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.0/352 - Release 5/30/2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.