Stress Management Magic

Stop here now! Take two minutes to refresh and regenerate these vital areas simultaneously.

If you have been here before, it is time right now to start mindful breathing.  If you haven’t, the following paragraph explains the breathing.

When we are tired or burdened with various elements of stressors, most people begin shallow breathing.  No one knows why, but stress causes this reaction.  It is the worst thing you can do for your mind and body.

When you slow your breathing two things happen: the brain doesn’t receive the needed oxygen to think optimally, and the body begins to tense up from the lack of oxygen and the already foreboding stress.  This is why our first line of defense again ANY mental or physical “challenge” is to think about our breathing.

Try it.  Inhale slowly through the mouth, think: “I breathe in new energy and finer intellect”.  As you exhale think:  “I am releasing all the negativity from within and will let it fly into oblivion.”

Eyes

The natural way to massage your eyes is to blink your eyes.  The eyes use eight times the nerve energy as any organ in the body.  We use our eyes constantly without much care.

Blink your eyes quickly ten times.  Open your eyes widely.  Look up.  Look down.  Look to the right – then left.  Blink your eyes again ten times.  Rub your fingertips together until they warm then close your eyes and gently place them on the lids for a moment.

If you are in your forties or older, it is great to carry a natural lubricant for the eyes and use it several times a day.  Viscine and “get the red out” products dry the eyes severely if used often.

Neck

This information is not new, but it is pertinent, so worth  a review. It is helpful to learn how to relax and lengthen, and decompress your neck as you become familiar with your own body.  Because of the structure of our chairs, the positions we sit in, the kind of pillow we use, the weight of our own heads, and the stress we maintain, our necks compress little by little.  This can cause horrible neck and headaches, and can cause your shoulders to further tighten up.

Here is a simple exercise to prepare you for keeping your shoulders down and your neck relaxed.  Hold an object weighing one or two pounds in each hand if you are at your desk you can bring one pound weights to use or find a substitute (such as a heavy tape dispenser-be creative).

Let the weight of the objects pull shoulder blades down.  Make sure that you keep the breastbone lifting up so that the tops of the shoulders don’t pull down and forward, collapsing the chest.

Now set the objects down and see if you can find the muscles you need to pull your shoulder blades down just as the weights did.

These muscles are called the lower trapeziums.  They attach to the vertebrae of the midback, and insert on the inner border of the shoulder blades.  They are antagonist muscles to the upper trapeziums. In other words, they are very important posture muscles, helping support the spine in the midback.  When the lower traps are too weak to counteract the pull of the stronger and tighter upper traps, the scapulae will tend to ride up, compressing your neck.

As a second exercise, sit up straight.  Press your pelvis to the back of the chair.  Drop your neck to your right shoulder and use your oxygen while hold the position for a few seconds.  Now drop your neck to the left shoulder and use your oxygen while holding the position.  Return the neck to center.

A few more mindful breaths and you will be better for the two-minute break.  You’ll never feel the benefits if you don’t try it.  You will be glad you did!

Teach your family, your children, your friends and peers.  Feeling good is addictive – and certainly NOT illegal!