Feeling a Bit Stressed Out? 2 Great Tools to Manage Tension

/
Do you feel you’re stuck in a rut? Is there something about your life you wish to change, but have no idea how? In her book, Become the Person You Were Meant to Be, Dr. Beth Cujé sets forth a series of steps and tools that help you go from shadow into light, in other words, from a problem-focused reality to a problem-solving one.

Now, the first step in crossing this bridge from shadow into light is recognizing that you have a problem, and recognizing the stress that this causes on your body. In her book, Beth provides some very handy, easy to do exercises, to manage the tension. In the tradition of Andrew Weil, use these tools to calm your body and reconnect with your feelings and thoughts.

Deep Breathing

First check to see how stressed you feel on a scale from 0 to 10. Zero is mild stress, 5 is strong stress, and 10 is totally stressed. 

  1. Release your breath through your mouth with a whoosh.

  2. Put your tongue behind the ridge on the roof of your mouth, behind your upper teeth. Slowly inhale through your nose, mouth closed, to the count of 4. Imagine you have a balloon in your stomach that you fill as full as possible. Feel it expand.

  3. Hold the breath to the count of 7.

  4. Now put your tongue behind your lower teeth. Relax and exhale slowly through your mouth with a gentle whoosh to the count of 8.

  5. Repeat the inhale to the count of 4 with your tongue behind your upper teeth. Hold to the count of 7, and whoosh out gently for the count of 8.

  6. Continue the exercise for 4 or 5 rounds as you continue to breathe slowly and calmly.

  7. Notice how you feel now. Are you lower on the Stress Scale?


Continue breathing as deeply as possible in this way for as long as you want, or until you feel calmer. When you are finished, check your Stress Scale again to see if you are less stressed.

Another great way to reconnect with yourself and calm the tension in your body is through this hand-tapping tool:

Hand-Tapping

 Start by becoming aware of your breathing.

• As you breathe deeply, tap with the side of one hand (the fleshy part on the little finger

side) on the palm of the other hand.

• Tap firmly and repeatedly in a chopping motion.

• As you tap, give yourself permission to feel whatever surfaces, and imagine letting

go of it by breathing it out.

Feels great, doesn’t it? Now, that you feel a bit calmer, it’s time to consider what you want for your life. Want to feel fully liberated from everyday stress? The Choice-Cube Method® can help you. Dr. Beth Cujé, therapist and author of the book, Become the Person You Were Meant to Be, is giving you the opportunity to download the first chapter of the book for FREE. Just click here and see what the Choice-Cube Method® can do for you today.