Three stress relief techniques
There is good stress, and there is bad stress. Good stress is
the type that propels a person to excel, to reach new heights or
to complete a big project on time.
And there is bad stress. Stress that comes from conflict or
worries. Stress that keeps a person from sleeping and happiness.
Stress that calls for relief. Here are three stress-relief tips
you can follow.
Meditation for stress relief.
Can there be a more obvious stress relief strategy than to bring
your entire physical being to a calm? Meditation techniques
often involve visualization of something calm, like a blank
screen or clouds. Or it can mean clearing your mind entirely.
If stress is caused by how we allow our minds to captured by
worries and fears, then replacing those worries and fears with
calmer images is the obvious way to reduce stress.
You can sign up for a m
editation tips and tools course at my website.
Exercise to reduce stress.
If relaxing to a state where even your blood vessels are almost
still is the ultimate in stress relief, surely exercise, which
gets even your blood pumping at breakneck speed, must be the
ultimate stress demon.
Not so. Exercise is a big stress reliever. In fact, the bigger
the muscles you exercise, the more less stress you will bear.
That's because exercise releases physical tension in the muscles.
Here's another tip: exercise in water to reduce stress even
more. Why? Because you are more buoyant on water; gravity takes
a much gentler toll on your body, so the tension created in your
muscles just by holding you up gets released. For the ultimate
stress release, exercise in water. Or meditate in water. Or
laugh in water.
Laughter reduces stress, too.
Yes, laughter also relieves stress. The muscles we use to laugh
are those tense ones in our faces. When we loosen them, we
release tension from our faces. We also allow more blood to flow
to the pleasure centers of the brain (which might be why someone
with a 'good sense of humor' is considered more attractive).
I think I will close with this excerpt from my newsletter, A Daily Dose of Happiness, which shows the value of a
little creative humor:
"Little Lady was guarding the space between the trees, as I
tried to kick her little ball past her.
"Then an idea struck me. Off to the side lay a large, purple fit
ball that the kids like to be bounced on. A rushed over, rolled
it into the clearing and kicked it toward Little Lady. 'Giant
Blueberry Soccer!' I shouted. She laughed.
"For the next ten or fifteen minutes, we rolled and licked and
laughed and shouted, "Giant Blueberry Soccer!"
"What a great family moment, stress relief, joy-injector, fun
and more. My formula was simple, and you can do it too. Look
around and find something that just would not belong, like a
too-big ball. Then imagine what it might be, like a blueberry.
Then thrust it into your situation with all the gusto you can
apply.
"Have fun."