Stress? Cut it in 5 minutes or less

Stress is not good. Over time, tension and overloads can seriously harm our health. A constantly stressed person is not a happy one. With unnecessary tension, we age faster. The immune system becomes weaker. Some people say they thrive on stress but they usually mean they enjoy challenges and stimulus. As with most things, balance is the key. Stimulus can be good but we also need to rest our minds and bodies. Here is a wonderfully easy stress-busting technique.

Stress buster – an easy technique to calm mind and body

Anyone can do this. It’s an ancient method and I make no claim for it. It works superbly and it’s simple.

You can do this standing, sitting or lying down but I recommend doing it seated to begin with. In fact, if done whilst seated it can be used as a form of meditation for quietening the mind and is probably one of the simplest, and oldest, forms of meditation.

For the first couple of times you do this, place the flat of one hand on the lower abdomen, just over the navel or a fraction below it, and breathe right out. As you breathe out, you should be able to feel the abdomen draw in slightly. As you breathe in, it should expand. If you find the movement goes the opposite way, it means that you are shallow-breathing. The diaphragm moves up rather than down on the in-breath which results in a shallow breath.

After a few breaths, take the hand away and begin the technique:

• Sit up reasonably straight with the hands resting in the lap or on the knees or thighs. If you are sitting in a chair, make sure that the legs aren’t crossed at the knees and the feet are flat on the floor. It’s important to be comfortable but if we slouch, we constrict the energy channels in the body, especially in the back, and we won’t have the same benefit.
• Place the awareness on the lower abdomen and exhale, feeling the movement of the abdomen.
• Close the eyes and continue to breathe normally, simply being aware of the movements that come with the breathing.

It’s important not to try to control the breath in any way; this is not a breathing exercise and we should be relaxed. If you don’t like having the eyes closed, having them half closed with the eyes downcast is fine.

That, simply, is it. We should sit like this for at least five minutes. Once we become used to it, we can extend it to a ten minute session, which will work wonders. When we find the mind wandering, we simply bring our awareness back to the movement of the breath.

Help the brain, lose stress and concentrate the chi

Call it an exercise, a meditation or a technique. It doesn’t matter what we call it. By engaging in this process, we allow a number of things to happen.

• Awareness brings our mind and body together (more on this here)
• As mind and body unite with the rhythm of the breath, we enter a state of rest – pulse rate lowers, as does the blood pressure.
• This deeper relaxation allows the gradual release of stress and tension.
• Brain activity changes – a balancing between left and right hemispheres takes place, resulting in greater coherence.
• Chi or energy in our body settles quickly, particularly in the abdomen. With practice, chi can build up in the dan tian. This is an energy area in the lower abdomen. When our chi is settled there, we feel calmer and are less prone to stress.
• After our session, we will normally feel some quietness. This is our natural, inherent quietness that gives a calmer and clearer mind.
• With practice, we will benefit from less stress, greater happiness, clarity and more energy. That’s what I call a result!

What do you find effective in reducing stress and giving energy?

More on this in The Great Little Book of Happiness which is available now.

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