“Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges. So relax.” Our bodies cannot think for themselves; they only respond to what our brains tell them. If you tell yourself you are in a stressful situation, your body will become tense. If you tell yourself you are in a peaceful situation, your body will become relaxed. Visualizing a peaceful situation in your mind, even if it is not really happening, can help you release stress. Here are some ways to relax your body, use visualization and conquer stress. DEEP BREATHING: When people are anxious, their breath tends to be shallow and rapid. Making a conscious attempt to breathe more deeply can help you relieve anxiety by slowing down our heart rates, relaxing our muscles, and bringing more oxygen deep into our bodies and brains, nourishing our cells more completely and helping us think more clearly. When we are deep breathing, we are physically less tense and can better remind ourselves to use positive and rational thinking skills. In order to deep breathe, take a long breathe in through your nose for a count of 3 seconds like you’re filling a balloon inside you and exhale that air out through your mouth emptying the balloon from the bottom first then through your lungs and chest. Repeat a few times. VISUALIZATION: Our bodies cannot think for themselves, they only respond to what our brains tell them. If you tell yourself you are in an anxious situation, your body will become tense. If you tell yourself you are in a peaceful situation, your body will become relaxed. Visualizing a peaceful situation in your mind, even if it’s not really happening, can help you relieve stress. If you practice visualization on a regular basis as prevention, your everyday stress level will be lowered. You can practice this at home taking your time or at school, taking a minute or two while in class. This can include Thematic Imagery, as practiced in group, or visualizing yourself somewhere calming like an exotic location or a favorite vacation. You can also visualize yourself flying, floating, or relaxing on a beach or in a field. PROGRESSIVE RELAXATION: When you feel stress, your muscles are likely to be tense. Consciously releasing your muscle tension will help you relieve stress. You can use progressive relaxation for stress prevention by practicing it on a regular basis or use it on a day where your stress level is higher than usual. This relaxation exercise is best done at home than at school because it can take up to 20 minutes to complete. However, you can perform a brief version if necessary and take a few minutes to focus on certain parts of your body instead of each body part. For a progressive relaxation script, click here. EXERCISE: Participating in almost any kind of physical exercise can help lower your anxiety level. Exercising at the time you feel stress can release tension right at that moment. Not only does exercise improve your overall mood, but it changes your body chemistry physically. Exercising boosts your endorphins which are your brain’s feel good neurotransmitters and it can act as a kind of meditation. As you begin to regularly exercise your body through movement and physical activity, you may find that this focus on a single task, and the resulting energy and optimism, can help you remain calm and clear in everything that you do. Copy and paste link below into a search engine to take a quiz to determine how you can relax the best. Type your results in the comment section below and tell us if you think it is accurate or not. http://www.nerdtests.com/mq/uttake.php?id=43458 |
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"Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine" AuthorMrs. Knight is a licensed counselor and school counselor. Archives
October 2017
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