5 tried and tested strategies to deal with stress

Here are five tried and tested ways to beat stress, calm your nerves and just relax.

Taj Spa at Taj Exotica, Goa (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1) Make an appointment at your favorite spa for a relaxing head massage and wash, followed by a manicure and pedicure. There’s nothing as relaxing as just sitting back and giving yourself over to the magical fingers of your therapist as she massages the knots out of your shoulders. Bliss! Follow it up with a manicure and pedicure – apart from making you look like a million bucks, it will leave you feeling totally lucid. I promise.

2) Don’t have time for a leisurely spa treatment? Never mind. This next strategy takes just 5 minutes. Put on some soothing music (optional) and deep breathe. In and out. Watch your breath. Focus on it. If you start thinking of something else, gently bring your mind back to your breath. It will leave you feeling re-energized and filled with energy.

Central Park Bridges (view from Bridlepath looking southwest), Gothic Arch, Spanning bridlepath south of tennis courts at nort, New York City, New York County, NY (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

3) If action’s more to your liking, plug in your iPod and go for a walk – preferably in nature. There’s something calming about all that greenery.

4) If you find yourself unable to step out of the house try listening to some instrumental music. Classic overtures are excellent at taking us out of the humdrum of our daily lives and transporting us to a different state of being.

5) If all else fails, turn to the telly, more specifically, comedy. What’s your favorite funny movie of all time? Pop it into the DVD player and watch it. Mine is The Birdcage, by th way. No matter what my mood when i start watching that movie, 20 minutes in I’m laughing so hard my tummy hurts!

Now it’s your turn. What are your favorite stress busting strategies?

Spiritual Sunday #23: Breathing – a guided meditation

This is the final part of a three-part relaxation and stress management system. Click for Part 1 – Simple relaxation and Part 2 – A quiet mind.

Use this guided meditation to achieve profound relaxation and stress relief. This breathing technique calms and balances the autonomic nervous system, which is your fight or flight response, and will boost your immune system and suppress cortisol, the hormone responsible for rapid aging.

For a complete relaxation practice, use Simple relaxation to relax the muscles of the body and the somatic nervous system; followed by Quiet Mind to restore balance to the mind and central nervous system; and finally, use Sympathetic Breathing to restore profound relaxation to the heart and autonomic nervous system. Together, these three practices form a profound relaxation system that is essential for any stress management or stress relief practice.

(Click to read older Spiritual Sunday posts)

Spiritual Sunday #21: Simple relaxation – a guided meditation

The simple relaxation guided meditation is part of a three-part relaxation and stress management system. It uses visualization techniques and a subtle rhythm to guide your mind to the relaxing alpha state, helping you experience deep relaxation of the body and mind.

Look out for A quiet mind – the next part of this three-part system – next Sunday.

(Click to read older Spiritual Sunday posts)