Melt Away Stress

In continuation of the last two posts (see articles below) what are other ways to surrender to the flow of life?

Well, like I said, there are as many ways to let go as there are people to think of them.

They can vary from simple methods like cleaning and clearing the clutter in your home to indirectly clear mental clutter (this really works and feels so liberating when you actually do it) to working for years with a professional hypno/psycho/gestalt/etc... therapist to work through psychological blocks.

There are practices that emphasize physical work (like The Alexander Technique, Feldenkreis, Autogenic Training, and various forms of massage/body work, etc...) and there are some that emphasize the mental aspects (like most forms of meditation, affirmations, self-hypnosis, energy-work, etc...)

Keeping with my general preference for simplicity, these are a few that I've personally used on a regular basis:

Progressive Relaxation & Self-Hypnosis

Using progressive relaxation of all the muscles in my body is how I originally began studying meditation. I used to hold a lot of tension in my body in junior high as a result of pushing myself to succeed and being surrounded by anxious individuals. I would get stressed out for exams and for my sports competitions. Then I had enough of the cold sweaty palms and racing heart and I decided to teach myself how to relax completely and let go of all the tension I was holding.

I bought books on martial arts and meditation and that's where it began.

The easiest way to do it is simply to sit in a comfortable position (if you lay down you will most likely fall asleep) and start either at your head or your feet. Let's do the feet.

With your eyes closed (eventually you will be able to do it anytime with your eyes open, instantly) feel for any tension in the feet. Contract/flex the muscles in your feet for 3-5 seconds and then let go, relax. Do that once or twice more until all the tension is gone. Then move up to the calves. You do the same thing for each muscle group in sequence until your entire body is free of tension, amazingly relaxed.

That's it. That's progressive relaxation, and it works for any type of stress, whether it's for a physically hard-working body or tensed-up mind.

Then, once you feel sooooo relaxed, that's when you can use self-hypnosis to help program your mind for success.

How?

When you are in this super-relaxed state, your resistance is lower. This means that your mind is more OPEN. This also means that since the door is open it is a great time to put some healing and empowering beliefs in there.... and all you have to do is repeat affirmations of who you are becoming and what you are achieving (for ultimate effectiveness, focus on being instead of wanting when structuring your affirmations) and continue repeating them until it becomes true for you in your reality.

Ex: Every day in every way, I am stronger and stronger (classic)

Hypnosis is nothing mysterious or difficult once you try it on yourself. Use it for good. Program yourself for happiness and success!

I haven't turned myself into a completely cool and fearless man of the world just yet... but anytime fear, stress or tension of any kind manifests in my life I can quickly scan my body, find where the tension is... and let it go with this relaxation. Instantly.

I'll talk about another one I use daily next week.

CHB

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