Stress Management

5 Powerful and Easy Ways to Escape Stress in Minutes:

Stress is a fact of life, but being stressed out is not. We don't always have control over what happens to us in our daily lives, but that doesn't mean we have to react to challenging situations by becoming burnt out, feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from ourselves and life. 

How do you deal with stress? Do you pig out on chocolate ice cream hoping the sweet coldness will numb your stress or do you reach for potato chips, attempting to release your stress with each crunch? Perhaps after dinner you indulge in too many beers or refill your wine glass a bit too often? All of these classic stress responses can gradually lead to unhealthy and destructive habits that eventually end up feeding your stress rather than helping you to reduce it.

In today’s world we are overwhelmed with emails, phone calls, text messages, we are continually bombarded with negative news that can feel like an avalanche of anxiety and stress. The more stressed our lives become the more vulnerable and prone we are to accidents and a host of chronic or even life-threatening illnesses that can accelerate with a stress filled mind. Here are a few simple ways you can reduce the build-up of daily stress in your life and I've listed 5 techniques that you can do on a daily basis. Practicing a few of these techniques can help you to minimize the daily impact of stress in your life. Simply pick and choose the techniques that feel right for you from the list below.

5 Ways to Reduce Stress in Minutes

1. Sooth Your Eyes: When your eyes are stressed, dry or irritated, your entire body tenses and feels greater fatigue. Keeping an eye lubricant made of natural saline, with no chemical additives can quickly refresh your eyes and help you feel great in minutes. Put 2-3 drops into each eye, Rub your hands together vigorously until they feel warm and tingling. Cup them over your closed eyes for a minute while you breathe deeply. The warmth and darkness are comforting. Then relax your hands at your sides and keep your eyes closed for a few more minutes. You will soon feel very refresed and your eyes will be rejuvenated. If you are eyes are really stressed and tense, while they are closed look up and stretch your eyes for a 30 seconds, then look down, then to the right and finally to your left. This can stretch your eye muscles allowing them to relax once you are done with this 2 minute exercise. 

2 - Music List: Create a playlist in your iTunes account of all of your favorite songs that you really love. Keep your ipod with you and listen to the music when you are out of sync. Sing the words, really get into the music.

3. Tap into your Creative Mind. Most stress originates when your left analytical brain is too overwhelmed and overworked. Make time to explore a new project that will engage your creativity; paint, draw, doodle, rearrange furniture, gardening are just a few examples. Be sure to select a project that you enjoy. Doing a creative project will help you balance the right and left hemispheres of your brain and bring greater harmony and peace into your mind.

4. Unfinished Feelings in Finished Relationships: Do a mental inventory of people from your past that you still harbor unresolved feelings or that there was no closure made. Then close your eyes and imagine them standing in front of you. Tell them everything you wish you could have told them to their face, express your hurt, disappointment and frustration about the negative impact they have had in your life. Vent, in your mind yell and scream, if you are that angry. Your subconscious mind can not distinguish the difference between something you imagine from the actual experience of doing this. This simple technique can help you to release the repressed feelings inside of you that are causing emotional-mental stress. Then you can move toward forgiving them. Many people try to forgive before expressing their hurt feelings and that isn't as effective.

5. Find a New Perspective. When we spend time being stressed out, little things become exaggerated and blown out of proportion. So write down what is really bothering you. Then rate each item on your list from 1-10. 1 being annoying and 10 being unbearably painful. Most items will be between 3-6 on your list. Think about how it could be a lot worse and take in a deep breath and tell yourself, this is temporary, I am strong and soon this too shall pass. Then take some steps toward resolving these problems.

These 5 tips are an excerpt from the CD, Escape from Stress in Minutes. The CD includes 15 Tips, Tools and Techniques along with a powerful guided imagery exercise that will help you to release the build up of stress in your mind and body. Author: Michaiel Patrick Bovenes