Revealed: Simple, Yet Effective Stress Relief Techniques That Will Earn You That Inner Peace Most People Lack In Their Lives. Dare To Be Different!
As we get more and more stressed in our lives, it becomes desirable to know the stress relief techniques that have been proven to work. Let’s face it, life is stressful.
We’ve got economic problems to deal with, debts to pay, relationships to manage, deadlines to meet especially at the work place, deals to seal, sales targets to meet, kids problems to manage, due contracts to renew etc.
Is it any surprise, it all appears to be boiling over and a lot of us seem to drop the ball sometimes. Calm down okay, otherwise you may end up saying things or making decisions you may later regret.
The stress is our reaction to the environment or situation we find ourselves. Before undertaking stress relief techniques, it is always a good idea to understand and identify the cause of the stress.
Taking a step back and analyzing the cause of the stress is always a good starting point. If it is possible to eliminate the cause of the stress, then by all means do so. Make the necessary changes if you can.
Then try some or all of all of these simple stress relief techniques to restore some order in your life.
Stress Relief Techniques # 1
Mindful Meditation
This has been proven to work especially when done in a mindful way. Mindful meditation refers to a style of meditation that focuses on the ‘moment’. You do not over-analyze the situation.
You put your worries about the future and events of the past completely out of the picture and concentrate on the very present.
You zone your body into different segments and focus on each segment starting from your feet. The emphasis here is not on body relaxation but rather to focus on each body segment e.g feet, legs, hips, tummy, chest etc and identify the sensation of each part of the body and how it actually feels without assigning any “pleasant” or “unwanted” labels to the sensation.
Don’t forget to include your deep breathing exercises during your meditation as this potentiates the benefits of this stress busting method.
Meditating the mindful way alters the brain activity reinforcing the areas of the brain that deal with happiness and relaxation whilst dis-arming areas concerned with stress and negative thoughts.
Michael Atma is a relaxation guru. He has developed an easy to follow step-by-step stress relief technique that calms body and mind and has had very good results with it. His technique has my endorsement. Check it out here.
Stress Relief Techniques # 2
Yoga
The practice of yoga has become part of modern society and one of the benefits of yoga is that it is a good stress reliever. As you would have seen on TV, yoga involves a lot of different physical body movements utilising the body joints as a fulcrum from which different body poses are made.
It also involves extremely beneficial deep breathing movements to facilitate the flow of blood through the body as well as energy flow.
Power yoga is not ideal for stress relief. Power yoga is geared more towards fitness.
Here is a good yoga resource that not only teaches you how to do yoga exrecises,but will also teach you to become a yoga instructor if you prefer.
Yoga practices that favour stress relief should be the ones that incorporate slow, gentle movements and stretching exercises and terminate in some kind of comfortable pose.
A word of warning though. Some yoga postures are not universally suitable for everyone. Injuries can result and it makes sense not to push yourself to do a pose in face of unwelcome pain or discomfort.
Register with a yoga class to get professional input, learn the moves under supervision before you practice on your own if you wish to go solo later.
Stress Relief Techniques # 3
Tai Chi
You will need to enlist the services of a professional for this technique. Attend a tai chi class and learn the moves before self-instructing so as to avoid any injuries and to obtain maximum benefits from it.
Tai chi is based on the principle of the Qi. The Qi is a bio-energy that is spread throughout the body using channels called meridians. If the Qi is not evenly distributed in the body, then disorders like stress results.
Therefore the tai chi exercises are focused on correcting abnormal flow of the Qi. Tai chi routines involves several joint movements which stretch muscles, tendons and ligaments associated with those joints thereby improving mobility, posture and balance.
Although the tai chi movements appear to be slow to the observer, there are strong elements of concentration, relaxation, vibrant energy flow through out the body which ultimately leads to improvement in general health as well as mental health.
The mental or psychological benefits result from the unique mind and body interplay which have been confirmed by clinical studies.
Search your local directory for tai chi class tutor in your neighbourhood to start reaping these benefits if you are interested.
Stress Relief Techniques # 4
Massages
Massages are becoming more and more popular for stress relief. Massages have been proven to relieve muscle tension as the process provides deep muscle relaxation which inevitably helps the mind to unwind thereby relieving stress.
One study carried out on smokers who were in the process of quitting the smoking habit confirmed massage therapy to help relieve anxiety and withdrawal symptoms which puts into context the power and health benefits of massages.
Deep muscle massage certainly improves blood circulation, relaxes muscles, improves range of motion for body joints, and usually leads to increased release of endorphins which elevates mood and helps us de-stress.
It is always advisable to enlist the services of a professional massage therapist or physical therapist to get maximum results.
Having said that, there are some simple self-massage stress relief techniques you can try as first line like the scalp massage, sinus pressure massage and the shoulder massage which relieves tension in those areas.
Search locally for a professional as you would need a couple of sessions saving you travel time and cost and please enquire about Swedish or Shiatsu massage during your search as these provide better results.
Stress Relief Techniques # 5
Audio Method
This technique is one that I will truly recommend because of its simplicity and profound effectiveness.
Different audio methods are available on the internet. Some are good, some are not very good and others are quite effective.
These audio methods help you tune your mind into a relaxation mode using different frequencies depending on the type of stressful situation you find yourself in.
You have to experience it to know what I am talking about.
CLICK HERE TO EXPERIENCE THIS AUDIO METHOD
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