I learned something very powerful this week…thought I would pass it along to you.
I went for my regular visit to my naturopath (a person I came to believe deeply in several years ago when he was able to rescue me at the age of 28 from some major health issues when the doctors stared on in stunned confusion).
I had been having some digestive issues, bloating – nothing overly exciting so I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, there was something not just quite right.
He quickly tapped into a high level of stress that I hadn’t even noticed had been creeping up on me – no one single major event, just lots of little ones as we all speed along on the treadmill of life. A situation with my oldest son that morning had brought home various frustrations I had experienced back in my early school and secondary school years.
I typically practice the 4 stress relief techniques we outline over at "4 Tips For Effective Stress Relief" but this last week has been hectic and I am guilty of ignoring some of the most important techniques that keep me in optimal health each week – I’m sure you can relate.
Then…after fixing me up, he taught me this technique, a technique that anyone can use anytime something gets to you – even just a little.
- Sit down with your legs extended and cross your feet, so your outside ankle is touching the inside ankle of your other foot.
- Sitting up straight, cross your right wrist over your left so you make a V shape with your hands. Now, bend both hands down until your fingers on each hand touch – let your fingers mesh between each other and clasp your hands together.
- Now pivot your interlocked hands toward your body and bring both arms closer to your chest until your still-interlocked hands touch your chest just under your chin.
- Next, focus your mind on exactly what it was that frustrated you, aggrevated you, caused fear or sadness and lock your mind into exactly that feeling.
- Keep this up for 3-4 minutes, your mind should eventually go blank.
What you have done is let your mind deal with the frustration fully instead of what we normally do which is supress the feeling and move on quickly while our mind and body are left in an "open" state not having dealt with the full impact and feeling of the stressor.
Over time, a large number of these open issues create a toxic state in our bodies and manifest themselves as emotional and eventually, health issues.
I have to say I felt incredibly rejuvinated, energized and empowered since I knew I had learned a new technique putting me in more control over my reaction to stressful situations.
How about you — do you have a specifically powerful stress reduction technique?
Jeff
Comments on Technique For Instantly Letting Go Of Stress…
I do feel calmer! Thank you!!
Is there a picture of this pose? I seriously can’t wrap my brain around it.
I just hold my breath…
Or stretch and try to breathe…
It takes about 3 minutes.
Normally, I listen to music with a headphone, so I can’t hear anything else.
Hi Ericson, breathing exercises can definitely get rid of stress, what was interesting about this experience (and I have had many others since) was the focus on what was causing the stress instead of trying to avoid or escape it.
Basically the twist here is that you focus as intently as you can on EXACTLY what it is that is causing you the stress using the technique above for 3-5 minutes when eventually you will feel calmer AND benefit from longer term because you have dealt with the underlying cause of the stress.
If you meditate or activate deep breathing to escape the stressful situation, that is great for temporary relief, but can supress the underlying cause which means it may come back even stronger in the future.
Jeff
am gonna try it, i hope it wrks