5 Minutes To Stress Relief

I am happy to address my readers once again with a very important subject of day-to-day problems: Stress.

Stress is a force that strains and deforms. People, events and circumstances take over you, and create stress. It is a physical expression of emotional insult. Emotions like Fear, Guilt, Shame, Anger, Worry, Guilt and Doubt lead to stress. 

That practically covers every normal, routine emotion. Then, how can we deal with stress?

I accidentally came across a very interesting book, '5 Minutes to Stress Relief'. The author Lauren E Miller has neatly captured the sources, symptoms and solution to Stress. Let me summarize the book, in the form of three remedies for stress: Psychological, physical and spiritual. 

Psychological Remedy For Stress Relief

• Judgement: Do not be judgmental. Give yourself permission to feel any and every emotion without any definition or judgement. Life is meant to be experienced and not necessarily defined.
• Whyology: This is an interesting new word. It is an obsession to know "why" things happen as they do, resulting in emotional paralysis. When you release your need to know why a miraculous change starts to happen.
• Result: Release the need to get certain outcomes and responses. Drop all expectations and time constraints - just get out. You need to know certain outcomes and responses - from the world around you - will imprison you. If you need this or that in your life in order to be happy or feel good about yourself, you are sure to be vulnerable to stress.
• Critic: Release your inner critic, it stifles creativity. Be very careful of what you think, because your body is listening!
• Do not take things personally. This leads to inner peace and the freedom to live and let live. Not everything a human being does or say has something to do with you personally. They are their words and perception about you, so do not give power to what they say. 
• Choice: Remember you can choose what is right and what is wrong for you. Choose only positive feedback, encouragement and affirmation.
• Observer, Witness, Watcher: Any time you receive news that threatens your sense of safety, practice being a watcher of yourself and the event in the midst of it all. Remember that you are not the victim unless you choose that state of being. Do not forget your God-given state of being on the top. Choose to be a curious observer of life events and people's response unfolding before you.
• Acceptance and Awareness: Much of your worry and anxiety is a direct result of not accepting and loving yourself just as you are. If you decide to be willing to love and accept yourself completely in spite of all the trauma, hardship and pain you have experienced, the positive inner environment is created for healing to take place.

If you feel these psychological and intelligence recommendations as philosophical, there are other easier and more interesting ways you can follow.

Physical Remedy For Stress Relief

These points are simple and self-explanatory; I shall not add an unwanted explanation.

• Breathing: Conscious breathing. Breathe out all the way and then relax. You will naturally breathe in. Breathe all the way out 100% and then breathe in. Imagine releasing the tension while breathing out and bringing clarity of thoughts while breathing in.
• Daily Walk: Walk as much as you can, daily.
• Anchor: An anchor is a person or thing that brings stability and security. Create your own positive anchor. Use imagination or real-life experience as an anchor to elicit as many sensory modalities as possible.
• Finger Release: Squeeze each finger with the opposite hand from the base of each finger out. Imagine pulling out your body's tension. While practising the finger release, you can even speak: "I am releasing all effortlessly and easily".
• Hand Grip, Hourly Movement: Remember, nothing thrives when stagnant. So get up and move throughout your day. Take one to five minutes of movement every hour. 
• Have Fun: Rediscover and nurture your sense of humour. Humour may have a direct effect on our overall health. So be playful and have fun.
• Morning Jump Start: Commit 5 to 15 minutes of movement on getting up. Do sit-up’s, pushups and squats.
• Jumping in Place: Lightly jump up and down from one to five minutes. The result will be clarity of thought and focus.
• Spontaneous Musical Dance: Bring more music into your life. It will spark creativity, energy and sense of humour.
• Thymus Tap: Tapping on the sternum bone (centre of the chest).
• Knee Lifts and Stretching.

I hope you are in agreement with me, that these steps are quite easy and possible to achieve. That is the aim of this book-review, sharing a simple way for stress relief. Do try one or more of these, and the positive result is certain.

Spiritual Method For Stress Relief

If psychological and physical techniques of stress relief do not work well enough for you, there is another way and that is prayer. Practice responding to your worries with a conscious prayer to God.

Even though I am worried, I choose God over this fear.
You have created the heavens and the earth and You live within and through me. Therefore, I thank You that all things are possible for me. This includes my ability to return to inner peace in the midst of any perceived threat in my life.

I would highly recommend trying at least one of these methods, and you are certain to find a way out of stress. Honour your own uniqueness and practice living life from a curious and fascinated perspective.

---

5 Minutes To Stress Relief Book Title: 5 Minutes To Stress Relief Author: Lauren E Miller Book reviewed by: Dr Bharat Desai, Bilimora on 12-Dec-2014   Pages: 192 pages ISBN-10: 1601632568 ISBN-13: 978-1601632562

More articles on Stress