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Published On: Dec 22, 2003 02:57 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Dec 22, 2003 02:57 PM
Staying Calm
There are plenty of strategies for
staying calm...the trick is to find the one that works best for
you.
Imagine yourself floating in a lazy
stream...there's something about the image of floating that relaxes me. I
suppose it wouldn't work for people who have a fear of water. In order to think
clearly, it's important to know how to calm yourself and to be comfortable doing
it.
Just about all the techniques begin with some assumptions: find a comfortable spot, loosen your clothing, and set your mind on something relaxing. Once you've accomplished that, you might find some of these ideas helpful:
1. Breathe in, breath out. Some prefer to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. You can even imagine that you're breathing in tranquility, and breathing out stress. In any case, slow, rhythmic breathing works best.
2. Alternately tense and relax the muscles in your toes, feet legs, buttocks, abdomen, shoulders, arms, neck and face. Tense for a count of 10, then relax for the same count. For some reason, it's easier to fully relax a muscle after it's been tensed.
3. Visualize the source of your stress: a person, an idea, a deadline, a problem...then visualize something happening to it. Imagine it shrinking to insignificance, or imagine it blowing out of the picture.
4. Have a cup of something warm and without caffeine...soup, tea, decaf coffee, etc. It's better not to have sugar, either, if you can avoid it.
5. On a larger scale, if you can go home...take a bath. Allow yourself enough time to get the muscle-relaxing benefit of the warm water. Use something aromatic in the water, if you have something that relaxes you.
There are other techniques out there, but the main thing is that if you want to be 'well-differentiated,' you'll need to know how to calm yourself...this is always the first step in managing your anxiety.
Just about all the techniques begin with some assumptions: find a comfortable spot, loosen your clothing, and set your mind on something relaxing. Once you've accomplished that, you might find some of these ideas helpful:
1. Breathe in, breath out. Some prefer to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. You can even imagine that you're breathing in tranquility, and breathing out stress. In any case, slow, rhythmic breathing works best.
2. Alternately tense and relax the muscles in your toes, feet legs, buttocks, abdomen, shoulders, arms, neck and face. Tense for a count of 10, then relax for the same count. For some reason, it's easier to fully relax a muscle after it's been tensed.
3. Visualize the source of your stress: a person, an idea, a deadline, a problem...then visualize something happening to it. Imagine it shrinking to insignificance, or imagine it blowing out of the picture.
4. Have a cup of something warm and without caffeine...soup, tea, decaf coffee, etc. It's better not to have sugar, either, if you can avoid it.
5. On a larger scale, if you can go home...take a bath. Allow yourself enough time to get the muscle-relaxing benefit of the warm water. Use something aromatic in the water, if you have something that relaxes you.
There are other techniques out there, but the main thing is that if you want to be 'well-differentiated,' you'll need to know how to calm yourself...this is always the first step in managing your anxiety.
Posted: Mon - December 8, 2003 at 05:15 PM