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Simple Tips to Release Stress Fast
We all experience stress, it’s a part of life; however,
unaddressed stress can play havoc on your
body. When you’re feeling tense and overwhelmed with life in general or
while at work, doing exercises to release stress quickly will not only improve your peace of mind but will also improve your health and wellness in the long run.
A simple, yet powerful, exercise can help reduce anxious
feelings quickly and easily. It’s called mirror work. Mirror work is the most effective method for
learning to love yourself and to see the world as a safe and loving place, according
to Louise Hay, an American self-help author and founder of Hay House.
How to Do Mirror Work
How to Do Mirror Work
Mirror work is done by looking in a mirror and vocally speaking
positive affirmations to yourself with affectionate conviction. You can use it
to release worry or to improve your self-confidence. Over time, doing mirror
work often will reprogram your subconscious mind to believe wholeheartedly that
the affirmations you tell yourself are, in fact, true.
When practiced frequently, the practice aids in increasing
self-love and feelings of empowerment and creating inner peace and joy. Optimistic
affirmations plant powerful seeds of thought in the subconscious to aid in
supporting your evolving self-worth. You will be able to create a blissful way
of life when nurtured by positive self-talk.
If at first, it doesn’t come naturally to talk to yourself while
doing mirror work, imagine you’re complementing your best friend or loved one.
Soon you will become comfortable speaking lovingly to yourself.
To relieve stress in the moment, you can use any mirror to do
mirror work: in a bathroom, in your car’s rear-view mirror, or using a compact
mirror. You can calm your mind by saying encouraging affirmations aloud to
yourself, such as, “It’s okay; this too shall pass.” “I love you just the way
you are.” “I choose to let go and to feel peaceful.” “I am excellent at what I
do!” “I’ve got this! I am amazing!” “Everything always works out perfectly.” “I
am an asset to this company.” “I love and believe in you!” “I am awesome!”
Doing mirror work daily for three weeks will help you form new life
transforming behaviors that will enable you to live a joyful life. Make it a practice
of saying “I love you!” each morning while you brush your hair, and while
you’re putting on makeup (or shaving), tell yourself “I seriously rock!” “Look
how beautiful (handsome) I look!” “I achieve anything I set my mind to!”
Starting your day with mirror work is an excellent way to set the tone for your
day.
Another excellent tool to release stress quickly is Emotional
Freedom Technique, commonly referred to as EFT or Tapping Therapy. EFT is a psychological acupressure process
founded by Gary Craig. EFT Tapping Therapy is based on the premise “The cause of all negative emotions and
beliefs is a disturbance in the body’s energy system.”
EFT uses your own energy to
clear the emotional connection with a memory and the body by tapping on a few meridian points with your fingertips. The
meridian points are located:
1.
At the top of your
head,
2.
on the inner
eyebrows,
3.
on the side of eyes,
4.
under the eyes (on
your cheekbones),
5.
under the nose,
under the bottom lip,
6.
on the center of the
collarbone,
7.
under each arm
(approximately three inches down),
8.
inside wrist,
9.
and on the fleshy
side of your hands.
You can tap on either side of
your body during tapping session—or on both sides simultaneously. While tapping
simply feel what is bothering you and give it a number between 0-10 for a reference
in how much you’ve cleared—10 being extremely uncomfortable and 0 being at
peace. The goal is to get down to a 0.
Tapping can be done anywhere you
feel comfortable doing it. To begin a tapping session, give your feelings a
number, then say (aloud) supporting statements (examples below) to shift and
release the unwanted feelings as you tap.
Begin by tapping on the side of
your hand while stating a setup statement such as “Even though I feel this way,
I deeply love and accept myself.” “Even though I feel ___________, I love,
value and accept myself.” Then begin tapping on the top of your head and
working down the meridian points as you say supporting[JM1] statements to let go of how you feel. The statement “I
choose to let go now.” “I forgive myself and anyone who upset me.” “I am free
to let go, and I choose to now.” “I am deserving of love, peace and happiness.”
“I am filled with divine love and light.” End with a final tapping round while
saying positive affirmations that affirm your wanted feelings and emotions.
Then take a cleansing breath and sense the new positive energy radiate through
your body as peace and calm is felt within.
Tapping brings cleansing energy
to the meridian points as your mind directs the energy to that which is
unbalanced in the body (by thought) to clear the “static” energy—the emotional
blocks of your body’s bioenergy system. This restores your mind and body’s
natural balance, which aids in releasing stress, worry, fears and disharmony in
the body.
EFT can be performed
anywhere. You can tap in the comfort of your own home or when you’re out and
about, at school, in a bathroom, or at work. You actually don’t even need to “tap”
per say—you can rub the meridian points or visualize tapping on the points in
your mind if you are in public and feel stressed or anxious. EFT is a means of deep
emotional and physical healing.
Physical Ways to Relieve Stress
People who are overly stressed often display their worries in their
body carriage. Those who are weighed down with stress commonly have a poor posture or struggle
with aches and pains in their body. They often slouch when sitting or concave
their body inwards with rounded shoulders as they go about their business under
the weight of the burdens they carry.
Acute stress can cause your body to tighten and become sore or
tender where you are most prone to storing stress in your body. It can also
cause disease and even premature death over the long run if you do not learn to
become resilient to stress.
How you think, as well as your perception of stressful
situations, have physical responses in your body. When you’re happy and
confident you will naturally stand a bit taller, breath deeper, and walk faster.
But when you’re constantly stressed, your immune system is suppressed, which
can cause illness and disease, contribute to weight gain, and impact your
emotional state, causing you to feel lethargic and depressed.
To help release stress, and to
increase your resilience to it, you can implement physical steps to calm your
mind and central nervous system. Studies show that meditation is an excellent way to rewire your
brain for happiness, peace and success.
Contrary to what people may
think, meditation doesn’t have to take long. Setting aside just a few minutes a
day can help relieve stress and anxiety. Research shows that a few minutes of
meditation per day can improve your state of mind by altering the brain’s
neural pathways, making you more resilient to stress.
Meditation can be accomplished in a few minutes with these simple
steps:
·
Sit up straight in a
chair, close your eyes, and place one hand on your heart (chakra) and the other hand on your stomach (solar plexus
chakra).
·
Focus on your breathing
for a few moments. Then think positively about releasing what is bothering you
by repeating a positive
mantra that uplifts you such as, “I am at
peace.” “I release all tension in my body with love.” “Everything always works
out for my highest good.” “All is well.” “I choose to think thoughts that serve
me.” “I love and believe in myself fully.” Be present. Let any wondering
thoughts drift by like clouds.
·
When you feel more
relaxed and peaceful, end by taking three replenishing breaths and saying aloud
three times, “Thank you! I love being me!”
·
Open your eyes and drink
a glass of purified water.
Another wonderful tool to release stress is deep breathing exercises.
Dr. Weil has a simple breathing exercise that works incredibly well; it is called
The 4-7-8 Relaxing Breath
Exercise. It’s easy to do and
doesn’t take much time. Dr. Weil recommends doing it four consecutive times two
times a day — in the morning upon rising and again upon retiring at night. You
can work up to doing eight rounds of it after a month.
The 4-7-8 breathing exercise is done by placing your tongue up
against the back of the front of your teeth (keeping it there during the
duration of the exercise), breathing in through your nose for the count of 4,
holding your breath for the count of 7, and exhaling through your mouth for the
count of 8 while making a “whoosh” sound as you exhale. That will complete one
round of The Relaxing Breath Exercise. Repeat it three more times.
Another helpful tip to release stress from your body is to
mindfully set an intention to “let go” of any tension from your body as you do
a muscle tautness freeing exercise. This exercise aids in bringing your
awareness to how your body handles stressful situations, or even disturbing
thoughts that make you feel anxious.
Muscle tension can lead to chronic pain, muscle spasms, and
stiffness. To release tension, take a moment
to scan your body and notice where you feel tension or pain. Knowing where you
store stress will enable you to release the negative emotions. Common areas that
store stress are the jaw, neck, shoulders, back and stomach/gut.
When you find where you store stress, set your attention on it
and clinch the area tightly for a few seconds. Imagine all the stress going to
that area to be released. As you release, take a deep cleansing breath and
exhale while visualizing the negative emotions and tension leaving your body.
Then visualize golden, healing white light filling your body and arura. Give
thanks lovingly to your body for letting go. This will help to release the
tension in your body and to feel more relaxed and at ease.
Mental Techniques for Handling Stress
You may have heard the phrase, “energy flows to where attention
goes.” Your mind is extremely influential in how you feel. Just thinking
fearful thoughts can create undue stress in your body. Fortunately, your mind
can also shift negative energy quickly. You can be prepared to better handle
stress when it happens by regularly incorporating mental exercises in your life.
Such exercises are essential to becoming the master of your mind, rather than
letting it run-a-muck without supervision—creating a monkey mind.
Conditioning your mind to steer clear of having knee-jerk
reactions to stressful situations and to release stress can add years to your life
and greatly improve your well-being. What is perceived as a distressing event
to one person may not be stressful at all to another. It is how we condition our
minds that set us up for a healthy mental state—or not.
Incorporating psychological techniques can help you create a
more balanced and happier attitude that wards off stress. According to American Psychological Association, there are
five exercises you can do to help reduce stress:
Take a break from the stressor. It may seem difficult to get away from a big work
project, a crying baby or a growing credit card bill. But when you give
yourself permission to step away from the stressor, you let yourself have time
to do something else, which can help you have a new perspective or practice
techniques to feel less overwhelmed. It’s important to not avoid your stress
(those bills have to be paid sometime), but even just 20 minutes to take care
of yourself is helpful.
Exercise. The research keeps growing — exercise benefits your mind
just as well as your body. We keep hearing about the long-term benefits of a
regular exercise routine. Even a 20-minute walk, run, swim or dance session in
the midst of a stressful time can have an immediate effect that can last for
several hours.
Smile and laugh. Our brains are interconnected with our emotions and
facial expressions. People who are stressed often hold a lot of the stress in
their face. So laughing or smiling can do wonders for relieving some of the
tension and improving the situation.
Get social support. Call a friend, send an email. Sharing your concerns or
feelings with another person does help relieve stress. But it’s important that
the person with whom you talk is someone you trust and someone you feel can
understand and validate you. If your family is a stressor, for example, it may
not be helpful to share your work woes with them.
Meditate. Meditation and mindful prayer help the mind and body to
relax and focus. Mindfulness can help people see new perspectives and develop
self-compassion and forgiveness. When practicing a form of mindfulness, people
can release emotions that may have been causing the body physical stress. Much
like exercise, research has shown that even meditating briefly can reap
immediate benefits.
Mindfulness, Meditation & Gratitude
Feeling scatterbrained and overwhelmed brings more unwanted
stress. Being mindful of your thoughts and feelings can help to eliminate
stress and increase mindfulness and an upbeat attitude. Mindfulness brings
about inner peace, gratitude, inner-awareness and contentment, which help individuals
to remain calm and levelheaded when nerve-wracking moments arise.
Mindfulness comes from living in the present moment, which is
accomplished by bringing your attention to your thoughts, feelings and
emotions. You can increase your inner awareness by doing less, eating slowly, spacing
activities, meditating, not worrying about the future or dwelling on the past.
People who cultivate a positive attitude of gratitude are more loving,
forgiving and appreciative—all of which support eliminating stress. These
people appreciate the good times and seem to not give much energy to negative
events. They see opportunities in challenging situations and make the most out
of them.
Being grateful has a long list of benefits that can enrich your
life. It enables you to: make new friendships, enrich your health and wellness,
become happier and healthier, strengthen empathy and compassion, reduces anger
and frustration, and increase your self-esteem and mental strength.
When you are positive and grateful, you are able to handle
difficult situations better than those who are not. Those who are positive look
for the good in others, are able to see the silver-lining in trying times, and
are able to bounce back quicker when things don’t work out as hoped.
You can cultivate a
positive attitude by practicing being hopeful, thankful, and cheerful day in
and day out. Just like lifting weights can sculpt your muscles, your mind can
be transformed as well. Studies show that cultivating an optimist mindset can help
maintain a positive mood. Research has found that a positive mental state
improves overall health, wards off disease and strengthens the brain. Negative
emotions do just the opposite—they cause fear, stress and anxiety and illness.
Having a positive
mindset enhances happiness, purpose and fulfillment. Those who are grateful and
positive have closer relationships with their loved ones, are happier at work,
and are generally healthier. Being positive also aids in better sleep and the
ability to maintain a healthy weight better than those who are negative.
No worries if you are
not particularly happy or positive. Gratitude and optimism can be cultivated.
When you become optimistic and cheerful, you will attract positive people,
circumstances and events into your life. You will begin to see your world as
“half full” as your optimistic attitude takes root in your mind.
A surefire way to cultivate a positive attitude of gratitude is to keep a gratitude
journal. Keeping a journal not only gladdens
your heart as you write down what you’re grateful for, but it also imprints in
the subconscious mind to notice and seek out positive situations and people,
which increases your awareness to what pleases you.
Keeping a journal filled with
what you are grateful for is easy to do and doesn’t take much time. All you
need is a journal or notebook and a couple of minutes a day. It’s best to
designate a time each day so that you’ll be more likely to follow through with
your journal keeping. As Dutch philosopher Rabbi Baruch Spinoza suggested in
the seventeenth century, simply ask yourself the following questions each day
for a month:
1. Who or what inspired me today?
2. What brought me happiness today?
3. What brought me comfort and deep peace today?
Answering these questions and/or
recording your thankfulness each day for a month will generate a new habit of
having gratitude that will help you find more meaning and joy in your life, as
well as profound inner peace and tranquility.
Challenge yourself to write down
new things you’re grateful for from the previous days. In so doing, you will
find a deeper appreciation for the simple abundance around you that will
enhance your life wonderfully. Remember, what you give your attention to will
expand in your life. So the more you cultivate a positive attitude of gratitude,
the more you will have to be grateful for.
You will be able to handle
whatever comes your way by incorporating these proven life-changing, stress
reduction exercises and techniques in your life. These tools will give you the
ability to clear negative energy and be carefree, happy, and peaceful anytime
you choose!
Carol Whitaker xo
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