Feeling Stressed? Ways to Calm the Mind

Feeling Stressed?  The way we think and act may effect the way we experience stress.  The following are 10 ways to help calm the mind:

Take a Walk (or your dog for one) Exercise can be a great stress reliever in itself, as it helps you de-stress & releases endorphins.  Taking a walk provides the bonus of getting you out of the stressful situation and providing some perspective so you can return in a new frame of mind.  Remember to look at the clouds, flowers, listen to the birds, etc.  Be sure and get 20 minutes of sun everyday for vitamin D-3

Breathing Exercise If you are not in a position to leave, you can feel better right away by practicing breathing exercises.  Getting more oxygen into your body and releasing physical tension are two ways that breathing exercises can benefit you and you can do them anytime and anywhere, even if your demanding situation isn’t letting up.

Take a mental Break If you can steal away a few minutes of peace, visualizations and guided imagery are a wonderful way to restore peace of mind.  They’re easy to do and can relax you physically as well as mentally.  “Pull up” that wonderful vacation you took to Hawaii, and all the wonderful memories with it.

Look at the “situation” differently Sometimes we intensify our experience of stressful situations by the way we look at them.  (The mind magnifies whatever we put our attention on.)  If you can look at your situation differently, you may be able to put it into a different perspective—one that causes you less stress!  Mental and emotional stress can be caused by pessimism, or a negative attitude and other self-defeating thought processes.

Listen to music (dance or sing-along) Music has been shown to reduce stress and have a positive effect on health.

Meditation With meditation our mind becomes quiet.  You stop focusing on the stressors of your day or your life’s problems, as well as solving these problems.  You just let that voice in your head be quiet.  When you meditate, your brain enters an area of functioning that’s similar to sleep, but carriers some added benefits you can’t’ achieve as well in any other state, including the release of certain hormones that promote health.  Also, the mental focus on nothingness keeps your mind from working overtime and increasing your stress level.

I don’t want to think about that . . . Dismiss any thoughts you are thinking by saying:  I don’t want to think about that right now”  (the energy is taken away from the thought form and it goes away.)

Run cold water over hands for 2-3 minutes By running cold water over your hands for 2-3 minutes, you can greatly diminish stress that is stored in your body.

Run cold water over the bottom of feet By running cold water over the bottom of your feet, after a warm shower, will pull all the stress out of the bottom of your feet. (Just like walking on a sandy beach at the ocean, or walking bare foot on green grass.)

I have all the time in the world . . . Use this saying when you are under pressure for time.   You’ll be surprised how much slower time passes!

Improving the Immune System by: Love, Friendship, Journaling, Being in Nature, Having Pets, Yoga, Laughter, Spirituality, A positive outlook, Creative Arts.

A Clinical Hypnotherapy program is very effective to help overcome Stress for the long term.  Call 916-752-8249 today for your complimentary consultation.