Stress is a killer. Excessive stress can cause you to lose sleep at night. It can make you so edgy that you lose friends. And in serious cases, it can damage your health. Studies indicate that excessive stress can lead to higher blood pressure. Before you lose too much, take steps to reduce stress to ease hypertension and keep hearth and home together.
Instructions
1. Take up yoga. This ancient Indian practice combines physical, mental and spiritual training. Yoga will help you to achieve balance in your world and in the process, it will teach you to let go of the stresses of the day.
2. Walk. Assure your stressed self that you will use the time to organize your thoughts. Then put on your walking shoes, grab a bottle of water and hit the sidewalk or the track or the trail. Take long, relaxed strides. Swing your arms. Breathe deeply. See your world with new eyes. Attempt to clear your mind of stressful things.
3. Practice relaxation techniques. For example, sit back in a chair, feet flat on the floor, in a straight but relaxed posture. Close your eyes. Beginning with your toes, imagine yourself relaxing every single inch of your body: relax your toes, then your feet, then your ankles . . . As you move up your body, breathe slowly and regularly. Truly feel yourself relax and release tension.
4. Breathe. Lie down on your back, hands at your sides, body relaxed, or sit back in a chair, feet on the floor, arms relaxed. Inhale slowly and deeply; hold the breath briefly. Exhale; as you let the breath go, imagine the air pulling all the negative energy out of your body. Feel the exhaled air carrying tension away from your feet and legs, out of your fingertips and chest. Continue to breathe in a relaxed, regular manner for a few minutes.
Tags: your body, back chair, back chair feet, chair feet, then your, your feet