2008 Woodie Awards
Easy Tips for Stress Relief
Omar Rachid
Issue date: 10/29/07 Section: Life & Times
- Page 1 of 1
Masseuses during midterm offered much needed relaxation. Because massages are not offered on a weekly basis, here is a condensed list of ten ways to relieve stress and tension adapted from Elizabeth Scott, M.S. who based her research on several health and medical journals.
1. Guided Imagery: With the help of an instructor or tape, envision a relaxing scene and invoke all five senses. It can be
done just around anywhere that is quiet and it involves a heavy commitment from the person to want to be in a state of complete relaxation.
2. Self-Hypnosis: One of the least understood therapeutic practices, hypnosis, under the person's consent and awareness, will lead to a state of suggestibility. Triggering your relaxation response and fighting tension, a state of hypnosis is one of the most deeply relaxed states you could be.
3. Autogenics: This is when you train your mind to achieve a meditative state that
counteracts the fight-or-flight instinct.
You become aware of certain sensations and the responses they produce to reduce anxiety.
4. Journaling: It is not merely writing down your day's events, but rather in detail and with emotion, narrate your events and how they affected you. This has proven to be effective to improve cognitive functions, strengthening the immune system, and counteracting negative effects of stress.
5. Yoga/ Take a Walk: Yoga is the oldest practice of self development and has recently become very popular in the West despite its Oriental origins. Just like taking a walk, both methods will help you sleep better, improve your digestive system, and make you overall a more stable person.
6. Breathing: You only need a few minutes set aside for this and it helps relieve muscle tension. Sit in an upright position and while you inhale count to six and then exhale. If you do this for a few times you will increase your lung capacity and provide better oxygenation to your brain and rest of
the body.
7. Laughter: Health benefits of laughter include strengthening the immune system, reducing food cravings, and increasing one's threshold for pain. Just listening to a little Dane Cook or Chris Rock will reduce the level of stress hormones and takes away your focus from negative emotions.
8. Music Therapy: There is a list compiled by experts of top stress-relieving albums and among them are Songs About Jane by Maroon 5, A Day Without Rain, and Monkey Business by the Black Eyed Peas.
9. Eat a Balanced Diet: Do not make The Grille a habit, rather catch a cup of fruits the next time you're at the dining hall and do not fill your plate, nutritionists recommend you eat until you feel that you are 80% full because it takes time for the message to get to your brain that you're actually full.
10. Watch T.V. Comedies: Shows like Arrested Development, The Office, and Scrubs offer medicine similar to laughter. The shows teach us to be lighthearted and being a little shallow will not do any harm because it teaches you to lighten up and to not take every situation as a threat or a challenge.
1. Guided Imagery: With the help of an instructor or tape, envision a relaxing scene and invoke all five senses. It can be
done just around anywhere that is quiet and it involves a heavy commitment from the person to want to be in a state of complete relaxation.
2. Self-Hypnosis: One of the least understood therapeutic practices, hypnosis, under the person's consent and awareness, will lead to a state of suggestibility. Triggering your relaxation response and fighting tension, a state of hypnosis is one of the most deeply relaxed states you could be.
3. Autogenics: This is when you train your mind to achieve a meditative state that
counteracts the fight-or-flight instinct.
You become aware of certain sensations and the responses they produce to reduce anxiety.
4. Journaling: It is not merely writing down your day's events, but rather in detail and with emotion, narrate your events and how they affected you. This has proven to be effective to improve cognitive functions, strengthening the immune system, and counteracting negative effects of stress.
5. Yoga/ Take a Walk: Yoga is the oldest practice of self development and has recently become very popular in the West despite its Oriental origins. Just like taking a walk, both methods will help you sleep better, improve your digestive system, and make you overall a more stable person.
6. Breathing: You only need a few minutes set aside for this and it helps relieve muscle tension. Sit in an upright position and while you inhale count to six and then exhale. If you do this for a few times you will increase your lung capacity and provide better oxygenation to your brain and rest of
the body.
7. Laughter: Health benefits of laughter include strengthening the immune system, reducing food cravings, and increasing one's threshold for pain. Just listening to a little Dane Cook or Chris Rock will reduce the level of stress hormones and takes away your focus from negative emotions.
8. Music Therapy: There is a list compiled by experts of top stress-relieving albums and among them are Songs About Jane by Maroon 5, A Day Without Rain, and Monkey Business by the Black Eyed Peas.
9. Eat a Balanced Diet: Do not make The Grille a habit, rather catch a cup of fruits the next time you're at the dining hall and do not fill your plate, nutritionists recommend you eat until you feel that you are 80% full because it takes time for the message to get to your brain that you're actually full.
10. Watch T.V. Comedies: Shows like Arrested Development, The Office, and Scrubs offer medicine similar to laughter. The shows teach us to be lighthearted and being a little shallow will not do any harm because it teaches you to lighten up and to not take every situation as a threat or a challenge.
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