Stress Management
When was the last time you sat down and checked out the quality of your life? Are you living in joy with a clear purpose? If your life feels hectic, fast paced, and overwhelming at times, welcome to stress management club!! Effective stress management skills are simply the most important aspects of your personal wellness program. Though exercise, a proper diet and nutrition, and periods of rest and meditation are essential, there are many other aspects of stress management to consider.
Stress is often thought of as a person being under pressure. If we take a closer look we find that stress really results from the conflict between our perceptions of situations and how we react or respond. Medical studies conclude that the need for effective stress management skills is a complicated dilemma resulting from our modern over-stimulated lifestyles. You might be surprised to know that stress is the reason for nearly two-thirds of all doctor visits.
A Stress Test: How stressed are you?
The pictures below are used to test the level of stress a person can handle.
One teacher said, "I felt like they were all moving...but slowly. Kind of like, they were breathing."
The slower the pictures move, the better your ability of handling stress.
Alleged criminals that were tested see them spinning around madly; however, senior citizens and kids see them standing still.
FYI ... None of the images are animated - they are perfectly static!!
Stress can generally be thought of in two categories:
Acute
- Where we experience heavy demands while time may be short
Chronic
- Which accumulates over time from a constant exposure to challenging situations.
The biggest factor in effective stress management skills is how our bodies actually deal with stress. Most people do not realize that unhealthy stress accumulates subtly and slowly, without even consciously knowing it! It is widely known that stress is related to many physical, psychological and emotional symptoms like:
- High blood pressure or hypertension
- Heart disease
- Digestion problems and ulcers
- Diabetes and obesity
- Anxiety disorders and depression
And these are just a few of the damaging effects of stress when it goes unmanaged.
Are you experiencing any of these symptoms?
Its easy to get caught up in lifestyles where we don't realize the impact of accumulative stress on our mental, emotional and physical well being until it has done tremendous and often irreversible damage. In our fast-paced world, we are all constantly exposed to a wide variety of stress inducing situations daily including:
- Environmental toxins
- Workplace pressures
- Family dynamics
- Financial management decisions & expectations
- Health concerns
Objections, doubt and fear are voiced over and over again by so many people:
...But my stress is different
...Just as soon as my kids are older I'll be able to face my own stress
...When I close that next deal, I'll take a break
...But I exercise and take care of myself
...As soon as I make my sales goals I'll take it easy
...As soon as the market turns around my stress will go away
...I'll just slam a few drinks at the end of the week, that's my stress relief
Many accomplished, prosperous and intuitive people confide that their lives may appear ideal on the outside, but inside they feel like a tightly wound ball of stress and anxiety. Many sense a deep insecurity about their accomplishments and are often driven by a restless desire that results in more inner turbulence.
Are you feeling this way??
In defining the quality of our lives it is crucial to balance our employment commitments with our recreational, spiritual, creative and relaxation endeavors. In today's demanding world, detrimental effects of stress are common. When we are balanced and in resonance with our higher purpose, we experience our joy. Ask your self the following questions:
- How are you managing the stress and pressures of your lifestyle?
- Have you been noticing the effects of stress and searching for some assistance in effective stress management skills?
Allow us to support you to use the power and strength of intention to improve your health, wealth, goals and dreams.
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Three Keys To Stress Management Skills include:
People react to stress in very different ways; notice when you are experiencing signs of stress like:
- Physical (sweating, tight muscles, short breathing, queasy stomach, headaches)
- Mental (worrying or anxiety, lack of focus, depression)
- Behavioral (raising your voice, crying, drinking or eating too much,)
- Identify the Stress Sources
Sources of stress are called “stressors.” Each person has unique stressors, just as every situation is unique. Many stressors are easily seen and yet some are elusive. Some typical ones include major life changes, feeling overwhelmed, and feeling helpless and experiencing “burnout”. Do your best to discover the cause of the stress in your life, making it easier to respond to and relax by using effective stress management skills.
This is an area where your power of choice comes into play. Each moment we can make a choice to shift our awareness to a solution by practicing effective stress management skills such as ones mentioned below. Have realistic expectations, be flexible and plan ahead as much as possible. Know your priorities.
In order to assist you in creating a calmer, more balanced lifestyle that uses effective methods of stress management, we provide training and resources to enhance awareness and practice of this vital health concern.
If you have a tight time schedule, you can learn to utilize time sensitive stress management skills and techniques.
Our intention is to enhance deep relaxation, provide simple and effective hands on techniques, and to enhance awareness of vibrational healing techniques for personal transformation. You can create a deeper realization of your own healing and personal wellness through effective stress management methods using color, sound, and movement.
We utilize a series of effective vibrational healing methods for stress management:
- Vibrational Healing techniques using specific instruments like singing bowls, tuning forks, gongs, and tuned string harps called “monochords”
info on Tama-Do >>
- GEMS of Excellence™ Energy Healing techniques using a digital, numeric, geometric language that directly changes the information stored in our memory fields.
More info on Gems of Excellence >>
- Drumming and rhythm awareness exercises
- Expressive therapeutic movement
- Vocal over-toning and harmonics
- Breath-work and meditation techniques
- Color processes
Taking 5 to 10 minutes to practice relaxation techniques each day will greatly assist in feeling refreshed and focused. The law of attraction states, “what we focus on expands”. The amount of time spent is not as important as creating the daily habit of focusing and visualizing what we want.
Here are ten time effective, beneficial stress management skill tips that are easy to do during a busy day, regardless of your environment:
- Set a Clear Intention for calmness: The first step in any stress management, wellness or healing practice is calming your mind and setting a clear and firm intention for the positive energy to flow.
- Conscious Breathing: Focusing your awareness on your breathing brings more oxygen into the body and calms your mind. It also supports you in being in the present moment.
- Meditation: There are many meditation techniques for calming and centering the mind. Many are simple and can be effectively practiced in nearly any setting for a few moments at a time.
- Creative Visualization: Using the imagination to visualize colors, sounds, or a calm, relaxing natural setting or environment is a very effective technique for managing stress.
- Vocal Toning: Vocal sounds or tones effectively move a lot of energy and release a lot of stress and tension from the body. The vibrations are also very beneficial for strengthening the voice.
- Positive Affirmations: What we focus on expands, so take a few moments in gratitude each day to focus your thoughts on something positive, or on something you really want for yourself.
- Progressive Relaxation: The practice of focusing on tensing and releasing your muscles in groups from your feet on up to your head is a powerful and simple stress management technique.
- Move and stretch your body: Gentle stretching and movement enhances oxygen flow, promotes flexibility, releases stress and tension, and can be done in most any setting. If you are short on time or space, take a short walk.
- Play Music: Music is an excellent medium to create harmony and balance of thoughts and feelings. If you don’t play an instrument, play your favorite uplifting tunes to enhance your sense of inspiration, joy, and personal wellness.
- Journal Writing: Stream of consciousness writing allows your mind to flow with the energy of the moment. Journaling is very effective as a means of personal reflection, stress release, goal planning, and time management.
Write at least 5 successes each day!
These stress management tips are an introduction to a wider arena of effective stress management skills. Much research has been completed on healing the mind, body and emotions using the combination of color, sound, and movement. This unique blending of modalities provides a powerful synergistic system for effective methods of stress management and relaxation and rejuvenation.
Here is a short visualization meditation as an effective stress management skill:
Find a quiet undisturbed place…turn off your pager or cell phone:
- Allow your body to deeply relax in your chair. Take off your shoes. Take a few deep connected breaths. Play some soft music. Smile.
- Focus your mind on a single place, thought, or event that brings you a deep sense of peace. Do your best to hold that thought for 5 minutes.
- Choose a setting that appeals to you, like a beach for example, and allow your mind to create details of your senses. Imagine feeling the sun on your face, hear the waves of the ocean, feel your feet in the sand.
- If your mind wanders, relax, and gently refocus. Imagine any wandering thoughts drifting down a stream and fading away.
- When completed, slowly stand up take another deep breath and stretch your arms above your head. Exhale, drop your arms, and make a sound to release any lingering stress.
Soundformation provides personal and group sessions, workshops, events, ceremonies and seminars for Los Angeles area stress management, as well as for San Diego area stress management.
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