50 Stress Reducers
1. Forgive
yourself for your mistakes
2. Forgive
others their mistakes
3. Accept
what you cannot change
4. Take
breaks, empty your mind, and deep breathe
5. Focus
on just one thing
6. Act
(Don’t overanalyze)
7. Visualize/Imagine
Happiness (how does it look, feel, smell, taste, and sound)
8. Smile
(even if you are alone)
9. Accept
others as they are
10. Say
no, even if you can say yes
11. Meditate/pray/focus
on some external spot
12. Sleep
well
13. Have
a cup of coffee or tea
14. Clean
or organize something
15. Give
up perfection
16. Hang
out with folks that make you feel good.
17. Wear
fun, nice, comfy clothes
18. Dim
the lights, or turn on more lights, as needed
19. Eat
healthy and drink plenty of water
20. Use
candles for relaxation
21. Recognize
that the stress is temporary
22. Plan
ahead and arrive early
23. Spend
less
24. Stretch
before bed and after waking
25. Play
games with others or by yourself
26. Focus
on what is happening right now
27. Enjoy
nature
28. Don’t
worry about others judgments of you
29. Ask
for help and reduce stress with others
30. Turn
on music
31. Create
an award system for yourself
32. Learn
not to take things personally as things are never personal and always internal
to the other person
33. Appreciate
your connections ~ list them
34. Watch
birds, play with pets
35. Take
a shower or bath
36. Turn
off the computer and cell phone for at least one hour each week
37. Ask,
“will this matter in n time?” n equaling
a day, week, year or so
38. Think
positive before speaking
39. Stop
watching the news
40. Be
patient
41. Learn
from negative situations
42. Let
gossip die
43. Talk
with a professional counselor
44. Do a
hobby or find one
45. Breathe
46. Avoid
negative stories
47. Lighten
up your work or material load
48. Stop
complaining. What can you do?
49. Use
positive words
50. Love
Yourself
16 Tips for Moms to De-Stress
1. Journal
2. Walk
with a friend
3. Tea
time
4. Organize
5. Write
a thank you note or letter
6. Dancing
in the shower
7. Prayer
8. List
worries
9. Relax
10. Friends
11. Funny
movies, comedy channel on radio
12. Eat
some chocolate, in moderation
13. Talk
with partner/spouse
14. Look
at nature
15. Yoga
16. Light
therapy ~ Nature’s Vitamin D
A List of Positive Words
Accomplished
Admirable
Amazing
Amusing
Approachable
Articulate
Attentive
Benevolent
Blessed
Bold
Bountiful
Bright
Brilliant
Captivating
Caring
Charismatic
Charming
Cheerful
Comfortable
Compassionate
Congenial
Conscious
Constant
Courageous
Courteous
Dedicated
Delightful
Deserving
Determined
Disciplined
Earnest
Ecstatic
Effective
Eloquent
Empathetic
Energetic
Engaging
Entertaining
Enthusiastic
Equitable
Expressive
Extraordinary
Fascinating
Fearless
Flexible
Fortunate
Friendly
Generous
Genuine
Gifted
Glorious
Gracious
Gutsy
Helpful
Honorable
Immaculate
Immense
Impeccable
Incomparable
Incredible
Ingenious
Inspiring
Intelligent
Intuitive
Inventive
Jazzed
Kindhearted
Loyal
Magnanimous
Majestic
Marvelous
Motivating
Optimistic
Original
Passionate
Peaceful
Perceptive
Persistent
Pleasing
Poetic
Powerful
Quick minded
Remarkable
Resourceful
Respectful
Rousing
Selfless
Sensational
Sincere
Spirited
Stable
Steadfast
Steady
Stunning
Stupendous
Trustful
Understanding
Unique
Venturous
Virtuous
Types
of Journal Writing
1. 2-pages,
or n-pages, journaling
a. Write
2 or n pages daily on subject of your choosing
2. “What
do I mean by …?”
a. Search
root causes, patterns, universal experiences to connect to that which is beyond
you (God, source, etc.)
b. Pay
attention to awareness and journal about mindfulness, transformative images,
thoughts, feelings, symbols of your own
c. Awe
inspired mystical writing ~ what inspires a sense of awe in you?
3. Inventions
Journaling
a. Follow
your interests, observations, desires, paying attentions to what your mind
brings to your awareness
b. Try
out ideas without pressure to produce or succeed
c. Creative,
inventive, fun, playing with ideas
4. Autobiography
journaling
a. Revisit
past events, validate who you are and where you came from
b. Answer
the questions, Who am I, and Why am I here?
5. Memoir
journaling
a. Celebration
of your life
b. Lessons
learned
Benefits of Meditation
·
Awaken spiritual awareness in you if you want
·
Mental organization of thoughts leads to
calmness
·
Strengthens immune system through the
physical exercises and slowing the body’s rhythms
·
Slows aging with long term practice because
of the slowing of heart rate and blood pressure
·
Reduces stress by calming, deep breathing,
and lowering blood pressure and heart rate
·
Engages body’s natural restorative healing
·
Clarity is increased, which dispels delusions
and illusions
·
Appreciation for living can be enhanced
·
Creativity can be stimulated
What is a meditation practice?
·
Regular time of your choosing
·
Sit comfortably
·
Choose to keep eyes open or closed and do
that
·
Decide on what you meditation will be like
today
o
Empty mind
o
Word or thought focus
o
Visualization or imagination
o
A specific spot in the environment to look
at, candle flame, etc.
·
Process that continues throughout the session
o
Breathe deep into your abdomen expanding it
like a balloon
o
Exhale pushing out slowly for as long a count
as you had breathed in
·
Focus on today’s meditation
o
When distractions occur and you notice you
aren’t meditating, gently let go of the distraction and bring your focus back
to the meditation
o
If useful, keep paper handy to jot down the
distractions to deal with them after the meditation session.
·
As you continue to meditate on a regular
basis, the distractions will reduce and your mind will settle into the
meditation easier.
·
Regular meditation on a daily/weekly basis is
what is called your practice
Techniques and Routines for Satisfying Results
1. Relaxation
Technique
a. Set
timer for 20 minutes, if desired.
b. Sit
and mentally listen to an agreeable word or word-phrase
i. Beginner
~ say the word over and over ill you are able to internalize hearing just the
sound of the word, until you are still and rest till time to end session
ii. Common
words/word-phrases (mantras) ~ light, love, peace, joy, I am light, I am love,
I am peace
iii. Mantras
are used only to focus the attention of the mind and not to change the thoughts
of the meditation practitioner. An
affirmation is when you are trying to change your thoughts by repeating a
word-phrase. A mantra is using a word-phrase
for the sound and focusing ability of the mind.
2. Devotional
Technique
a. As
the Relaxation Technique, but with a devotional intent. Mantra is “God” or other word that connects
to how you connect to God. Mantra can be
preceded by “Om” such that mantra becomes “Om God.” More on “Om” in part 4.
3. Sanskrit
Mantras
a. The
first syllable floats into awareness on inhale and the second syllable on the
exhale. Feel the sounds emerge from the
boundless field of pure consciousness until you go still.
b. Hong sau
(pronounced “hong-saw”) means wild gander, and no mater how far the wild gander
flies away from home, at some point it remembers and comes back home always at
the proper season.
c. So ham (pronounced so-hum)
means “Pure Consciousness – am I.” and is a way of identifying with the
universe or ultimate reality.
4. Om
Mantra
a. Om
is the primordial energy-force from which all things come into expression. As noted in the New Testament, John 1:1 and
3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was[is] God. All things were made by it,
and without it was not anything that was made.”
5. Inner
Light Technique
a. Look
within, feel that your awareness is not contained within your skull, that you
exist in boundless space. Do this when
very calm, breathing slowly, thoughts minimal.
Observe and wait.
i. If
you perceive light, merge with it, gently contemplate it’s origin and what’s
behind it.
ii. This
can just be stimulation of the optic nerves, so it isn’t necessarily
supernatural.
iii. Transcend
the light to experience pure being.
Factors that affect meditation
·
Environment: noise, heat, coldness, etc.
·
Lack of knowledge of process: techniques
vary, bat all valid techniques can improve your concentration and nurture
awakened spiritual consciousness, if you desire.
·
Physical discomfort: sitting upright,
comfortably, yields an alert but relaxed posture
·
Emotional distress: practice can lead to
being able to meditate despite emotional circumstances – do not use meditation
time to self analyze – sometimes you have to pause meditation to regulate
emotions.
·
Resistance to change: acquire a more complete
understanding of the process leads to less resistance to change.
·
Preoccupation with Mental transformations –
meditate when rested and alert
Helpful Places for More Information
An Easy Guide to Meditation by
Roy Eugene Davis
Wikipedia.com
No comments:
Post a Comment