Reclaim Your Powerful You! – Day 4
Since stress can overwhelm you at any time or place, and make you feel powerless, here are five techniques you can do that are simple, quick and require no props. You can do these exercises independently or in various combinations and in these little ways begin to reclaim your Power.
Exercise: Note: You may wish to write down these five techniques and keep them with you. It’s one thing to try them when you are already calm. To use them at time of stress is the plan!
In order to familiarize yourself with these techniques, take one minute to do each one. If during your day you happen to have a stressful episode, try them again.
1. Focus on your heart. Close your eyes and bring your awareness to your heart or heart chakra. You can do this intentionally, with an inner gaze, or literally place your hand(s) over your heart.
2. Take a deep breath. Take several slow, deep inhalations through your nostrils, perhaps to a count of six. Even slower exhalations can move through your nostrils or mouth, to a count of eight. Experiment with various slow breathing patterns, making sure to breathe all the way down to your belly while expanding it.
3. Relax your jaw. Open your mouth and stretch out your jaw until it softens. Allow yourself to make as many funny faces as you can. If nothing else, you might conjure up a chuckle from yourself or someone watching you.
4. Depress the center of your palm. Using the thumb or forefinger of one hand, depress the soft concave center of your other palm and simply hold it there for a few moments. In hand reflexology, the center of the right hand represents the liver, while the left represents the stomach – both areas that are easily affected by stress.
5. Pray or chant. Recite the words to an inspirational prayer, such as the Serenity Prayer, or invoke your own. The rhythm and sound of your voice while chanting or repeating a mantra (such as “Om”) can be soothing to your soul and distracting to your mind.
Although it may not be possible to completely eliminate stresses from our lives, it only takes a little time and willingness to nurture ourselves through them.
