No matter how calm you try to stay, life is going to throw some stressful times at you. One day you might realise you totally forgot about a work presentation due in an hour while the other you might get a call from your child’s school about some issues your child is having. But whenever something like that happens and you start to tense up, there are things you can do to stop the stress in its tracks. Everyone is different, so try a few of these to see what works best for you:
And Breathe
The key here is using all of your lungs, not just the top part. When you take a relaxed diaphragmatic breath that expands into the lower part of your lungs, you get good oxygen exchange, your heart doesn’t have to work so hard, and your blood pressure and heart rate go down. Try it by taking a slow deep breath, expanding your chest and belly, while counting to four. Then, as you exhale, count back down to one. Do that three or four times and you will feel the benefits.
Open Up YouTube
Need a little more guidance? If you have a YouTube account follow a guided meditation breathing session. This can help you feel better in as little as two minutes.
Click this link to experience a 5-minute meditation on and learn how to breathe for relaxation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RxXiFgkxGc
Put on your Happy Face
Smiling can be a quick, impact strategy because several of the muscles in the face are connected to the vagus nerve, which facilitates relaxation. Can’t get yourself to actually grin in the moment? Try to imagine doing it. Even just thinking about smiling on the inside can gently stimulate those muscles to help you relax and may even cue a real smile.
Get your brain to help
If you’re in panic mode, I recommend something I call stop, breathe, reflect, choose, Here’s how it works: First, visualise an actual stop sign. Then take a few slow, deep breaths. Next, reflect by asking yourself what’s really going on and causing you to panic. Lastly, ask what you can do right now, in the moment, to help yourself feel better, like calling a friend or taking a walk. Your mind automatically goes to the worst case scenario, but that doesn’t do a lot of good. This process can help stop you from panicking.
Move!
With acute stress, you can’t always just think it away and tell yourself to calm down. When stressed, your body acts as if there’s a physically dangerous situation, hence the fight-or-flight response. Doing something physical can make it a lot easier to calm down. Run around the block or do some high impact exercise like star jumps, or find some other burst of activity that will metabolise the stress response. The result: A calmer you.
I hope that has been helpful and if you have any feed back please get in touch. I am currently working with a several clients that have stress related issues, with some really good results. Hypnotherapy is a great way of taking control of stress. please book a Free Consultation on my contact page.