Adventures in Relieving Stress
Whether we are at work, traveling, or at home, we've all had bad
days. Those stressful times can be difficult, but important, to
shake. Your mental, emotional, and physical health depends on
you to find ways to relax and regain equilibrium. I'm going to
be sharing some practices that you can do to help throw off that
stress and reclaim your Happy Self in no time!
First, let me explain a little bit to you about Stress
Chemicals. Stress and other forms of negativity affect your
sympathetic nervous system and endocrine and hormonal systems.
Stress sends nerve impulses to the adrenal glands, which in turn
puts a number of different chemicals into your blood stream.
They affect the pituitary gland, which causes yet even more
chemicals to be released. These chemicals include
corticosteroids, such as adrenaline and noradrenaline, other
hormones, and neurotransmitters. All the chemical reactions can
turn into a vicious cycle making it harder to clear yourself
from them and the damage they cause.
The good news is there are a broad variety of tools you can use
to relax your mind and body to relieve the stress chemicals
before they cause too much harm. Let's go on an adventure and
try a variety of activities to find what works best for you!
My favorite thing to do to help me get back to my Happy Self is
to take long hot baths. Bathing works to clear the stress
chemicals from our topical bodies, relaxes our muscles, and it
feels wonderful! Epsom salts, Bath Salts, or Sugar Scrubs are
perfect agents to use. I also use aromatherapy products such as
candles or incense. Soothing music is a beautiful touch as well.
Another important thing to do is to Move Your Body! Yoga,
Pilates, or any stretching exercise will help release the stuck
stress chemicals from your muscles and spine. Any sort of
stretching will do, touch your toes and reach up high into the
air, as high as you can reach and then bend back down to touch
your toes again. Even one minute of stretching is beneficial.
Try to take several mini stretch breaks throughout your day.
Take a walk, dance, jump up and down, do whatever you can think
of to just move, even if only for a couple minutes a day out of
your hectic schedule. You'll be amazed at how this increases
your energy and gives you more stamina against stress.
Good breathing practices are critical. Of course, you HAVE to
breathe. Good breathing takes some practice and will give you
the most benefit of how the oxygen circulates through your
bloodstream. Use good breathing to replace stress chemicals with
clean energy. This helps your body tremendously and helps your
mind react with more stability. The simplest method I've found
is to breathe in slowly and steadily. Try it! Take three nice
deep breaths, through your heart. Now, focus on your diaphragm
filling up like a balloon each time you inhale and deflating
softly with each exhale. Allow this process to be very natural
and steady. This is the perfect practice that you can do
anytime, anywhere. I encourage you to practice this one as often
as you can think of it. I find rush hour is a particularly good
time for me to work on breathing techniques!
Visualization techniques are another great practice to focus on
from time to time. Don't worry if you can't actually SEE what
you are trying to visualize. Every person sees things
differently. What's important is your intention. For example,
think of your favorite desert; really think about it, the way it
tastes, the texture, and the colors. How are you doing at
imagining that? That imagining is exactly what visualization is.
You are all ready an expert! Let's put that expertise into
motion with some visualization exercises. Find a relaxing area,
sit or lie down, any position works wonderfully for this. When
your comfortable, imagine a ball of bright white or very bright
blue light as a little spark that starts in the area of your
sacral chakra (Your tummy area), allow it to grow into a flame.
Allow that flame to grow within you and outside of you. Let the
flame fill your whole space and imagine it "burning" out all
negative blocks or murky feeling areas. Now, imagine the flame
blowing out of you and disappearing into the distance, taking
all the negativity with it. Now breathe! You can also do simple
visualizations of your favorite Happy Places. The beach, a
beautiful sunset, or a loved one always works well for me.
Whatever your very own special Happy Places are, spend some time
and go there in your heart and mind and notice how refreshed you
feel after your "journey".
One last I'll leave you with for now is to begin a journal. Use
it to record where your stresses come from, what you did to
relieve yourself from it and how that turned out for you. You'll
be able to use your journal to fine-tune the methods that work
best for you. While you are doing this, remember to mix it up a
bit. Try practicing visualization or breathing techniques as you
soak in a nice hot bath, or when you are stretching. Mix all the
techniques up to find your own variety of stress relief tools.
Then, when those yucky, stressful days hit, you'll be well
prepared to handle them with ease!