Test Stress

How to Fight Stress?

Stress Relieving Techniques

Regular elicitation of the relaxation response has been scientifically proven to be an effective treatment for a wide range of stress-related disorders. In fact, to the extent that any disease is caused or made worse by stress, the relaxation response can help. Other techniques for evoking the relaxation response are:

• Mindfulness Meditation
• Progressive Muscle Relaxation
• Deep Breathing
• Imagery
• Self-Massage

If practiced regularly, it can have lasting effects.

The Relaxation Response to Fight Stress

What is the Relaxation Response

The relaxation response is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress. When eliciting the relaxation response:

• Your metabolism decreases
• Your heart beats slower and your muscles relax
• Your breathing becomes slower
• Your blood pressure decreases
• You return to a calmer state of being.

If practiced regularly, it can have lasting effects.

Eliciting the Relaxation Response

Elicitation of the relaxation response is actually quite easy. There are two essential steps:

1. Repetition of a word, sound, phrase, prayer, or muscular activity, like “peace,” “The Lord is my Shepard,” “Hail Mary full of grace,” or “Shalom”.
2. Passive disregard of everyday thoughts that inevitably come to mind and the return to your repetition.

Regular elicitation of the relaxation response has been scientifically proven to be an effective treatment for a wide range of stress-related disorders. In fact, to the extent that any disease is caused or made worse by stress, the relaxation response can help.

Mindfulness to Fight Stress

Mindfulness

Meditation that cultivates mindfulness can be particularly effective at reducing stress, anxiety, depression, and other negative emotions. Mindfulness is the quality of being fully engaged in the present moment, without over-thinking or analyzing the experience. Rather than worrying about the future or dwelling on the past, mindfulness meditation switches the focus on what is happening right now.

Mindfulness meditation is not equal to zoning out. It takes effort to maintain your concentration and to bring it back to the present moment when your mind wanders or you start to drift off. But with regular practice, mindfulness strengthens the areas of the brain associated with joy and relaxation. Mindfulness provides a potentially powerful antidote to the common causes of daily stress such as time pressure, distraction, agitation, and interpersonal conflicts.

How to do a Mindfulness Exercise

The following mindfulness meditation techniques can also be helpful for stress relief.

• Find a comfortable place to sit. It can be on a chair or on the floor, but do not slump or slouch. Keep your posture straight but relaxed, making sure you are not rigid or stiff.
• Focus on your breathing.
• Concentrate your attention completely on your breathing.
• Treat each thought as a guest.
• Stay in the moment as long as you can.

Relax in a Hurry: Fast Tips to Fight Stress

Mini-relaxation exercises help reduce stress

Mini-relaxation exercises help reduce anxiety and tension immediately. You can do them with your eyes open or closed. You can do them anywhere, anytime, and no one will know that you are doing them.

Some good times to “do a mini” are when you are:

• Stuck in traffic
• Put on hold during a phone call
• In your doctor’s waiting room
• Someone says something that upsets you
• Waiting for a phone call
• Sitting in a dentist’s chair
• Feeling overwhelmed by what you need to accomplish in the near future
• Standing in line
• In pain

“Mini’s” are most beneficial for people who elicit the relaxation response on a regular basis. However, they can make anyone feel refreshed, calmer, and better able to concentrate.

The basic method for doing a “Mini” is quite simple:

Put your hand just below your navel. Take a deep breath, bringing the air in through your nose and through your mouth. You should feel your stomach rising about an inch as you breathe in, and falling about an inch as you breathe out. This is diaphragmatic breathing. If this is difficult for you, lie on your back or on your stomach, where you will be more aware of your breathing pattern. Remember to relax your stomach muscles.

Deep Breathing to Fight Stress

What is deep breathing?

Deep breathing is a relaxation technique that can be self-taught. Deep breathing releases tension from the body and clears the mind, improving both physical and mental wellness. We tend to breathe shallowly or even hold our breath when we are feeling anxious. Sometimes we are not even aware of it. Shallow breathing limits your oxygen intake and adds further stress to your body. Breathing exercises can help to reduce this stress.

How to practice deep breathing

The key to deep breathing is to breathe deeply from the abdomen, getting as much air as possible into your lungs. When you take deep breaths from the abdomen, rather than shallow breaths from your upper chest, you inhale more oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and anxious you feel. This kind of breathing is called diaphragmatic breathing. It means to breathe from the depths of your belly, rather than from your chest and nose.

Guided Imagery to Fight Stress

Simple relaxation technique

Guided imagery is a convenient and simple relaxation technique that can help you quickly and easily manage stress and reduce tension in your body. It is virtually as easy as indulging in a vivid daydream and, with practice, this technique can help you to ease the tension and stress that you feel. When used as a relaxation technique, guided imagery involves imagining a scene in which you feel at peace, free to let go of all tension and anxiety. Choose whatever setting is most calming to you, whether a tropical beach, a favorite childhood spot, a therapist’s chair, or a quiet place in the woods.

Here’s how to get started with guided imagery:

• Get into a comfortable position.
• Once you get to a relaxed state, begin to envision yourself in the midst of the most relaxing environment you can imagine.
• As you imagine your scene, try to involve all of your senses.
• Stay here for as long as you like. Enjoy your surroundings and let yourself be far from what stresses you.

Self Massage to Fight Stress

Benefits of a self massage

Getting a massage provides deep relaxation, and as the muscles in your body relax, so does your overstressed mind. There are many simple self-massage techniques you can use to relax and release stress.

Self-Massage techniques:

Scalp Soother – Place your thumbs behind your ears while spreading your fingers on top of your head. Move your scalp back and forth slightly by making circles with your fingertips for 15-20 seconds.

Easy on the Eyes – Close your eyes and place your ring fingers directly under your eyebrows, near the bridge of your nose. Slowly increase the pressure for 5-10 seconds, then gently release. Repeat 2-3 times.

Sinus Pressure Relief – Place your fingertips at the bridge of your nose. Slowly slide your fingers down your nose and across the top of your cheekbones to the outside of your eyes. Repeat 3-4 times.

Shoulder Tension Relief – Reach one arm across the front of your body to your opposite shoulder. Using a circular motion, press firmly on the muscle above your shoulder blade. Repeat on the other side.

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