10 Top Tips for Stress Reduction

My thanks to 'Mind' the mental health charity for their 10 top tips which I have modified to include self-hypnosis techniques.

Here are the 10 Top Tips:

1. How do you know you are stressed?

Do you feel under the weather? Are you having difficulty sleeping? Are you feeling frustrated and angry or depressed? Could this be the result of stress? Understand the cause of your symptoms.

2. Take regular breaks.

Whenever you feel like things are getting you down, drink some water or other healthy drink or take a short walk.

3. Organise yourself.

Make a list of jobs and tackle one task at a time. Make it interesting by alternating between dull and interesting jobs.

4. What worries can you do something about?

Sort these worries out from the ones you have no control over. There is no point in worrying about things you cannot change.

5. Concentrate on what you can change.

Look at the problems that can be changed and get help if that is necessary to sort them out. Learn to say 'NO'.

6. Assess your life.

Look at what might be giving you too much stress in your life. Look at what you can change or off-load. How can you find a better balance between your home, your work and your social life? Is it time to reassess your priorities in life?

7. Lifestyle Improvements.

Find the time to eat healthy nutritious food, to exercise and get enough sleep. Avoid too much alcohol and tobacco because, despite your belief that they help you to relax, they do actually have the opposite effect - alcohol being a depressant and smoking having the effect of raising your heart beat and helping you to stuff down your emotions.

8. Don't keep emotions bottled up.

Talk to someone you trust.

9. Focus on the positive aspects of your life.

Try practicing a feeling of gratitude. I know that it is very hard to think of good things when we feel stressed and anxious but if you can think of just one good thing that you are grateful for in your life on a daily basis, something to feel positive about, you will find that more good things will find their way into your life. You will realize that a beautiful sunny day is something to feel grateful for (especially in this country!) and your worries will recede gradually as new positive things come into your life. You will begin to attract these positive experiences like a magnet. Think about the relationships you have that give you pleasure, think about the basic everyday things that we tend to take for granted like food on the table, a roof over your head and your abilities (whatever they may be). Practice feeling grateful and positive and you will reap the rewards.

If you find it difficult to be positive you might like to try EFT which can help you to resolve your negativity and the causes of it. Hypnosis can also be a very useful tool to use. There is a link on the left hand side of this page where you can find the emofree website. You can download a free EFT manual and get started!

10. Learn to relax.

Close your eyes and breathe in and out slowly and deeply

Imagine the tension draining out of you as your breath helps
you to relax your muscles and relax your mind

Relax each part of your body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes

Think of warmth and heaviness and say the word RELAX to yourself .... Say the word CALM to yourself. Repeat as
necessary until you feel very relaxed.

When you are feeling very relaxed and calm you may be able to think of more positive suggestions to give yourself. You can also just enjoy the sensation of complete relaxation and a peaceful mind. You can find free downloads of positive suggestions for well being on the internet. Look under 'self-hypnosis' and see what you find.

* If you decide to use self hypnosis you must make sure you are in a safe comfortable place before starting this procedure. After the relaxation part above you can learn to take yourself deeper down into an even more relaxed day-dream-like state. This is the state where your subconscious mind will be able to make the changes that you want.

Never drive or do anything that requires your attention
when using self-hypnosis or any hypnosis recording.

After 10 or 20 minutes (or however much time you need) take some deep breaths and have a stretch. Remind yourself that you feel wide awake, really refreshed and ready for the rest of your day.

Alternatively, you can do this before you sleep and just allow yourself to drift into a deep and peaceful slumber.