| What
are the 2 Minute Stress Busters?
These are simple exercises, some of which were part-developed
by our team, and have been successfully employed by
many of our clients. They report being able to relax
themselves very quickly with practise at home and at
work. Ideally you would want do the exercise at least
3 times a day, the more often the better. You may want
to experiment with all of them and see which one suits
you best.
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Exercise 1 -
Visual Breathing Technique
Exceptionally powerful-well
worth learning!
Believe it or not, changing the way you breathe
can change the way you feel, because when our
physiology is relaxed, our minds naturally respond.
When we are stressed we tend to breathe shallower
and from the chest, rather than from the stomach.
Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your
lower stomach now.
As you breathe, which hand is moving the most?
Ideally you want to move more towards breathing
with the stomach rather than the upper chest,
as this allows 30% more oxygen into your lungs
and relaxes your physiology. Practise breathing
with your stomach muscles expanding and contracting
so that the hand on your stomach moves far more
than the hand on your chest. |
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Now for the actual technique which is the most
powerful in our experience!
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During the day find a place where you will
be undisturbed if possible for a few minutes.
You can also do this exercise at your desk at
work with your eyes open or closed as long as
you feel comfortable doing so. Its is also useful
to do whilst travelling. Close your eyes and take
in a few slow deep breaths using the stomach.
THEN:
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- Breathe in using the stomach to the count of 5
- Hold the breath for the count of 5
- Breathe out to the count of 5
- Hold for the count of 2
- Breathe in to the count of 5 and so on..
Don't gasp for air but allow the oxygen to
gently and slowly come in and go out. Once you have
practised doing the breathing by itself, you can then
put it together with the following:
As you breathe in, imagine that the air you are
breathing in is clean and bright and is going in through
your nose, penetrating all parts of your body, and cleaning
out any tension in your muscles or stresses in your
mind (some people imagine breathing in a bright white
light)
NOTE: As you breathe
out, imagine these tensions from the body and
stresses of the day travelling up to your nose
and being literally breathed out of your nose.
Visualise those negative feelings as whatever
seems appropriate to you (some people see them
as little black lines disappearing off into the
distance). As you do this, imagine yourself feeling
more comfortable and your muscles more relaxed
after having breathed out all those old tensions
Ideally you may want to do this for 5 minutes
rather than 2 minutes, and the more you practise
the more your mind and body will master the new
"skill" of de-stressing quickly and
effortlessly. |
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Remember:
if you are at work, you may feel that you can't
take the time out to do the exercise. However, spending
as little as 2 minutes every couple of hours to do the
exercise is not much time, and the benefits of being
able to work more effectively far out-way the time put
in.
This technique is a combination of traditional yogic
breathing and Buddhist meditations which was developed
by some of our team..
Exercise 2 - The "Hakalau"
Technique (To focus in and spread awareness)
Take in a few deep breaths from the stomach, and then
focus on a spot slightly above head level, say on the
wall opposite you. Then, whilst keeping your eyes open,
begin to broaden your field of vision (or peripheral
vision) and begin to become aware of what you can see
in the corner of your eyes on each side. There is nothing
else you have to do apart from just to notice and become
aware of what is around you. You can then expand your
level of awareness to cover 360 degrees. Obviously you
can't see behind you, but just use your other senses
to become aware of what's behind you.
As you become more aware of your peripheral vision
in this manner, you may also become aware that your
breathing has become more deep and slow, and your muscles
have loosened slightly. Simply remain focussed on the
space around you and allow your breathing to deepen
itself.
This powerful technique seems to work by allowing
your mind to observe rather than be active, and there
is something about focussing in this way which seems
to stimulate the body's relaxation response rather than
the body's stress response.
Apparently this technique was used by the Kahuna Shamans
of Ancient Hawaii, who used it as a waking meditation
Exercise 3 - Bodily Awareness
Technique
As with the first exercise, you can schedule certain
times of the day to do this exercise. Whenever you find
yourself feeling slightly rushed or overwhelmed with
what you are doing, simply STOP for a couple of minutes.
Close your eyes and become aware of your body and all
the sensations in your body. Become aware of your feet
on the floor, and your arms, and your legs. Become aware
of the sounds around you. Then focus your attention
on any tightness or uncomfortable sensations in the
body or in the head.
Don't judge the sensations or recoil from them, but
simply notice and observe. As you observe with a feeling
of stillness you may find that those areas begin to
loosen and relax. Don't actively try and make them relaxed,
let those areas of the body do it by themselves whilst
you simply observe dispassionately and in a still manner.
Gently open your eyes after a period of time and see
how you feel! This technique is so simple yet it works
wonders, once again as long as you make the time in
your day to practise the technique.
| Exercise
4 - Relaxing Inner-Place
Make yourself comfortable. Sit, or, if you like,
lie down. Close your eyes and imagine your favourite
place where you feel most relaxed, calm and peaceful.
For a lot of people they imagine a place where
they went on holiday, their favourite garden or
beach, or even a room at home. Begin to focus
on what you can see around you, and what you can
hear in that place.
Next... imagine any smells around
you. Now you are ready to soak up the feelings
that you feel in that special inner place. Imagine
the feelings you get when you go back to that
place, and imagine really being there and enjoying
that peace - nothing expected of you, nothing
you have to do, nothing you have to achieve. For
those few moments you can just BE in the moment
(we are human beings, not human doings!). |
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Once you have really immersed yourself
in that scene, you can notice your breathing beginning
to deepen and your muscles loosen. When you're ready,
you can open your eyes and go about your day knowing
you can go back to your inner-place anytime you like.
Please Contact
us for further information.
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