Stress Reduction Techniques (Page 1 of 5)

Stress Reduction Techniques
You can reduce stress by using techniques such as breathing, sensory openness, and meditation. What follows is a brief discussion of these beneficial techniques.

Step 1: Breathing
You can change your stress response by changing your breathing patterns. Neuroscientists have discovered what martial arts masters, yoga instructors, spiritual teachers, and advanced thinkers have realized for centuries: Proper breathing enhances blood flow to the brain and helps quell destructive emotions such as anxiety, anger, envy, jealousy, fear, frustration, and even shyness. Take some time to listen to your breathing and to feel it. Slowly, draw each breath into the lower lungs, expanding your ribs. Each time you exhale you should feel more relaxed.

Step 2: Sensory Openness
Many of us are out of touch with our senses. We're so busy and so tense that we have drifted away from the landscape of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches around us. Stress has won! Without sharp awareness of our tensions and what causes them, we can not neutralize negative pressures. One way to open your senses is by scanning your body for tension. This technique helps you become alert to your tense muscles and to relax them more easily.

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