Stress Management - A 2-minute Stress Buster

A 2-minute Stress Buster

Meditation seems to have arrived in the mainstream of late, and for good reasons. As reported in a 2004 issue of Time Magazine -- brain imaging shows that meditation actually shifts your brain's activity from the right side of your brain, over to the left side.

So what?

Such a shift calms your brain's often overworked "rational thinking center," and reduces the stress response.

This shift of activity to the left side of the brain immediately allows you to be less stressed -- and almost instantly far more relaxed and mentally focused.

The following is a quick and easy seated meditation for rapid stress reduction, relaxed alertness, greatly increased energy and mental clarity. You'll also get an easy boost toward healthy longevity.

This simple exercise takes advantage of the direct connection of your eyes to the optic nerve -- which is a direct pathway to the higher thinking centers of your brain.

The resulting "message" tells your mind to unwind and release stress. The measurable *net result* is an instant increase in your slower alpha and theta brainwaves -- the meditation secret to calm mental awareness. This is also a great way to instantly drop your blood pressure, and often also seems to have the effect of easing tension headaches.

Just follow these simple steps to quickly bust your stress:

1. Sit upright in a comfortable chair, keeping your spine as straight as comfortable. (Don't force it.)

2. Position your feet flat on the floor.

3. Allow your eyes to gaze comfortably downward.

4. Soften your focus, and don't "look" at anything in particular.

5. Keep your eyes open, but allow your eyelids to "droop"as far down as comfortable (don't force them to drop lower).

6. Continue to gaze downward, focusing on nothing in particular.

7. Gently notice that your breathing has become very regular and comfortable.

8. Don't resist if your attention begins to drift. Just allow yourself to soften your focus and remain calm.

9. If your eyes want to close, let them do so.

10. Maintain your meditation for as long as you wish.

End your meditation with two or three mentally-energizing deep, slow breaths.

The author, Dr Jill Ammon-Wexler, is a doctor of psychology, pioneer brain/mind researcher, and former advisor to the Pentagon, a Presidential Commission, and numerous top executives and executive teams. The author of several books and hundreds of articles, she is also the co-founder of quantum-self.com, and the Creative Director of the Self Discovery Community. She can be reached at: drjill@quantum-self.com

Come visit the exciting Self Discovery Community. Discover the most interesting, unusual, stimulating and creative methods of self discovery on the web today! Free sizzling weekly ezine, and the web's first Brain Gym ezone. http://www.quantumbraingym.com

Car Insurance Rates | Dental Insurance | Health Insurance | Home Owner Insurance | Life Insurance Quote

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |

Dealing With Workplace Stress
One of the hardest forms of stress to avoid is workplace stress. After all, you need to go to work a...(related: Stress Management)

Conquering Stress And Depression With Exercise
One of the best ways to combat stress and depression is to make physical fitness a part of your daily routine. Aside from the proven health benefits of exercise, people who exercise regular...(related: Stress Management)

Stress Management And Mastery: 3 Powerful Tools To Beat Stress
Q: We recently had someone come to our company to talk about stress management. All he did was talk about the physical results of stress and tell us we need to not be so stressed and to relax. It really wasn't very helpful, and I was wondering if you could offer some tips on how to handle stress.A: You've run into a problem I see all too often in the field of stress management, as well as in any other area that involves change.Anyone can describe the problem for you, sometimes in great detail.Then a few others can describe the problem and tell you what you sho...(related: Stress Management)

Stress Managment: 12 Universal Laws For Managing Anger
1. The Law of EveryoneIt is not neccessarily wrong to get angry. You get angry, I get angry, all God's children get angry. It's what we do with our anger that makes the difference.2. The Law of StressAlthough we don't often think of anger as a...(related: Stress Management)

Stress Managment And Mastery: Progress Vs. Perfection
David Bowie once sang, "Ch-ch-changes, tryin' to face the strain."And though working on changes in our lives can be difficult at times, it really doesn't have to be such a strain.Where did we get the notion that change has to be such a struggle? And what would it be like if we could make change easier?That's what I have spent most of my career doing, finding the simplest, fastest and most effective ways to help people get the changes they want and need.With that in mind, let's look at one of the major roadblocks to achieving lasting change, and then look at what to do about it.Perfection vs. ProgressThe failure to understand the important distinction between perfection and progress is a major stumbling block to lasting change.Far too many people get stuck in demand...(related: Stress Management)

Stress Relief
Traffic jams. Toddler tantrums. Deadlines at work. Money troubles. Too much work. Not enough sleep. No time to eat right or even to think.Does this sound familiar? Stress is all around us. It's an inevitable and normal part of our daily lives. But over time, its effects can be quite taxing. Stress becomes a problem when you feel overwhelmed by its challenges. An...(related: Stress Management)

Stress & Self Esteem: Raising One By Lowering The Other
In our article about Exercise & Stress, we looked at the way these two factors form a self-reinforcing cycle that can work for us. With stress and self-esteem, however, the relations...(related: Stress Management)

Balancing Acts: Keeping Work And Life In Equilibrium
In the fast-paced world that we live in today, it seems as though it's hard to find enough time to do everything that needs to be done. Days at work are long, but too often don't seem to be long enough? we bring home what we can't finish and end up creating highly stressful situations for those around us. Even worse, it seems like medical science is constantly finding new problems that are caused by overworking and the stress that results from it. If only there were some way to reduce the effects of this stress and make life more work-...(related: Stress Management)

Help! Im Working With A Baby!!
Did you know that more than half of our adult population has an anger problem? Have you experienced them? They act all flustered and pitch a fit. Can you believe it that some of them actually throw things when they get mad? And not only that, they cuss up a storm, rant and rave, and carry on like they are a child.We all have probably experienced people like this on occasion. But what about the people who do this on a regular basis? ...(related: Stress Management)

Need To Stop Worrying?
I once worked with a woman whose zest,joy and enthusiasm lit up the room [and it was a big office!]I remarked that it was lovely that she was always such uplifting company."Oh,I wasn't always like this", she replied. "It all changed when my dad died, when I was about forty.""Was he that bad?" I asked her."On the contray," she told me "he was wonderful." However, just before he died he made a confession:"Darling, I have ruined my life with worry. And not one thing I've worried about has ever happened! Don't let the same thing happen to you!"Som...(related: Stress Management)

Taming September: Avoiding Fall Frenzy
When September rolls around, does it generally hit you like a ton of bricks? Do you feel as if that invisible being in charge of your life has suddenly ratcheted up the speed on your treadmill? WAY up?This year, take on September with some new tools and expectations. See if you can stand up to it more s...(related: Stress Management)

Let Go Of Stress: Slow Down! Survive!
Don't wait to have a life-threatening disease to learn what I learned. When you think you'll die from cancer in six months you wonder why you've spent so much of your life rushing to get more done. At least I did. Let me explain: I grew up believing that I'd be loved, or not, because of what I did and that belief drove me to constantly try to please people.I craved approval and finally found it in the workplace. I loved it. It wasn't long before I figured that if I worked faster, harder, longer hours I'd get even more approval. And I was righ...(related: Stress Management)