Stress Busters

Techniques for blunting the impact of daily pressures

There is so much emphasis these days on stress management.

No surprise there; managing stress has been linked to all types of physical and mental health benefits. Even the prevention of cancer has been linked to good stress management.

Beware of the misconception this deluge can cause. Do not seek to be stress-free. Stress is inevitable in our lives. Instead, strive to strengthen your stress management abilities.

Pay attention to your feelings and learn to know when to relax. Anxiety and irritability are your body’s way of letting you know that an intervention is required. But we don’t all have the time to take a walk in nature, attend a yoga or meditation class, or adopt a cat.

Here are some quick and super simple ways to bust up that stress that you can execute at your desk, upon entering the maelstrom of a meeting, before making a call, prior to crossing the threshold of your home – all under five minutes!

  1. Deep breathing: You’ve heard this before, but here’s how to get the best results. The body’s automatic reaction to stress is rapid, shallow breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply to move into relaxation.

Breathe in through the nose, allowing your belly to fill, not just your diaphragm pushing up into your lungs. Pause at the top of the breath and, when you breathe out, envision the stress leaving your body. Then pause at the bottom of the breath. Repeat three times. Each time, breathe even more deeply, pause a bit longer, keep your eyes gently closed and sit comfortably. On the last breath, push all the stale air out of the bottom of your lungs to have those next calm, cleansing breaths.

  1. Guided imagery: Use your imagination to recreate a place or scene that is relaxing.

Close your eyes gently and sit comfortably, legs and hands uncrossed. Think of a specific place where you felt the most bliss – total relaxation and joy. Not just a beach, but the beach in Southern Crete just past Agia Fotia. Now, do a survey of your surroundings using each of the five senses and describe in rich detail what you see, smell, hear, feel, taste. By doing this, you recognize that you have achieved bliss before and can re-experience the bliss to sustain you during a difficult moment, which can also motivate you to seek out this bliss again.

  1. Other ideas:
  • Get some coloring books and crayons and color. Try to find themes of books that you enjoy: horses, kittens, planes, trains and automobiles.
  • Stretch it out. Get up from your desk and stand on the balls of your feet, stretch from side to side, keep working on touching those toes. Do some twists, turn your neck gently from side to side.
  • Meditate by being in the moment. Set a timer and think of nothing except your breathing, or the breeze, or the sound of the birds or the bees.
  • Use humor. Listen to some stand-up comedians in your earbuds or in the car.
  • Gratitude. Take a moment to make a mental list of things that you are grateful for today. Realizing that there is so much going right can help you gain a positive perspective and transform your attitude.

The more you include these items in your daily life, the closer you come to mastering stress-busting. These small steps can contribute to creating a virtuous cycle, as opposed to continuing down a vicious one.

Ria Greiff is a Master Trainer for a nationwide firm based out of NYC and has been providing wellness seminars for professionals of Fortune 500 companies for the past 15 years. She is also the clinical director of her own benefits consulting firm and has completed her doctorate studies in human services, as well as degrees in counseling and psychology from University of Dayton and The Ohio State University, respectively. She loves to help people and is always listening.