In general, stress is related to both external and internal factors. External factors include the physical environment, including your job, your relationships with others, your home, and all the situations, challenges, difficulties, and expectations you're confronted with on a daily basis. Internal factors determine your body's ability to respond to, and deal with, the external stress-inducing factors. Internal factors which influence your ability to handle stress include your nutritional status, overall health and fitness levels, emotional well-being, and the amount of sleep and rest you get.
Stress is a normal part of life that can help us learn and grow. Conversely, stress can cause us significant problems. Stress releases powerful neurochemicals and hormones that prepare us for action (to fight or flee). If we don't take action, the stress response can lead to health problems. Prolonged, uninterrupted, unexpected, and unmanageable stresses are the most damaging types of stress.
Many of our ways in dealing with stress -- drugs, pain medicines, alcohol, smoking, coffee, and eating -- actually are counterproductive in that they can worsen the stress and can make us more reactive (sensitive) to further stress.
Stress can be best managed by regular exercise, meditation or other relaxation techniques, structured time outs, and learning new coping strategies to create predictability in our lives. The management of stress depend mainly on the willingness of a person to make the changes necessary for a healthy lifestyle.
Here there are four exercises that will relieve daily stress. These are part of a book called "Stress Away- The Way to Relax: a complete forty day program". It was given to me back in the 1980s when I was trying to cope with many changes going on in my life-internal and externally. I do practice these exercises as I jump out of bed. They have proven to be a gem for me. I do pass them to you with the hope that they will be a gem for you too (of course, you have to practice them regularly!)
1- The Heart Strenghthener Exercise:
this exercise relaxes the area of your heart. It stimulates the nerves that go from the tips of the fingers, through the hands and arms in the chest, meeting at the heart center. By properly holding the position for the set time, the heart muscle itself is relaxed, the lungs are expanded and there is a general cleansing of the entire upper torso by the stimulated activity of the lymphatic system.
Sit down on the floor comfortably with your legs crossed and your back straight- you can sit in a chair: keep both feet flat on the floor, legs uncrossed, also with the spine straight.
Raise the arms up to a 60 degree angle, keep the elbows straight with the palms facing up (see illustration above). Begin breathing long slow deep breaths. Breathe through the nose only. Keep your eyes closed.
Timing: 1 minute minimum up to 3 minutes maximum. At the end of the one to three minute time period, inhale deeply, hold the breath for few seconds, then exhale and relax the arms down. Sit still for at least one more minute with your eyes closed, feeling the effect of the exercise.
2- The "Pick Me Up" Exercise:
this exercise releases abdominal stress. It gives you an immediate boost of energy throughout your body. It allows you to breathe deeper and adds to your energy level
Lie down on your back and just relax for a moment. Then bend the knees and draw the heels up toward the buttocks, keeping the feet flat on the floor. Then grab the ankles and holding on to them, slowly raise the hips up, arching the lower spine and lifting the navel toward the sky (see illustration). As you lift up, slowly inhale through your nose. Hold the breath and gently stretch up, lifting as high as is comfortable for you, then slowly relax down again as you breathe out through the nose.
Timing: Slowly repeat the lifting up and down movement a minimum of 12 times. Maximum number of lifts: 26. Rest on your back for two minutes after the exercise. If you have any history of back problem, check with your doctor before doing this exercise.
3- The Great Triangle Exercise:
this exercise strengthens your entire nervous system on the spot; makes your breathing long, slow, and deep; and relaxes most of your major muscle groups in your body. It gives you an immediate outlet for frustration you may be feeling, irritability and impatience.
Timing: Begin ling, slow breathing through the noise and continue for a minimum of one minute. Work up to a maximum of three minutes. Breath away any shaking or discomfort. At the end of the one- three minutes, inhale deeply, hold for few seconds, exhale and relax. Keep yourself in a sitting position for at least two minutes, keeping your spine straight, the eyes closed and your attention inwards. The key to this exercise is the breathing- long deep breathings. Feel how your body feels.
4- The Neck Roll Exercise:
this is the most simple of the exercises but also the most important. It is important because it relaxes that part of you where the brain and spinal cord meet- the neck. Necks were designed to turn. If yours doesn't, then it means you are not getting the proper amount of blood to the brain, as tense neck muscles restrict that flow, plus your nerve impulses from the brain to the rest of the body are slowed. Your nerves allow you to feel life; so if your neck is loose and flexible you will feel more alive.
Sit in any comfortable position with the spine straight (feet flat on the floor if sitting in a chair). Eyes closed. Begin rolling the neck around. Drop the right ear down to the right shoulder. Let the head roll back, chin up, until it comes to the opposite shoulder. Bring the chin all the way around and down by sweeping the chin across the chest from shoulder to shoulder. Continue in the same direction 12 times moving slowly, then switch directions and continue for another 12 times. To complete the neck roll, retunr the head to center. Feel its relaxing effect for few minutes. Let your breathing be relaxed.
Freedom from stress and anxiety affects the quality and success of your lives.
If you can relax, you can enjoy your lives.
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