www.bodymindhypnosis.com
Stress is a powerful influence on how we feel, emotionally,
mentally and physically. This powerful technique can be used anywhere to help
you relieve stress and relax. All you need is two minutes and a quiet place
where you can close your eyes.
You’re stressed out – admit it. Everywhere you go, you are
subjected to stress. Your boss at work, standing in line at Starbucks while
the lady in front of you tries to make up her mind (how can she not know what
a mocha is?), and sitting in traffic during rush hour. That’s enough to get
anybody’s blood boiling!
Why do we get so stressed out? Are we really in that much
of a hurry? Are we that worried that we are going to look bad? Are we
overstimulated? Are we too busy trying to cram everything into our lives that
"somebody" thinks we should be doing?
That’s part of it. But realize that much stress is related
to events from your past. Emotional stress from the past plays a big part in
your blood pressure readings. Here’s why.
Your subconscious mind is the part of you that manages your
emotions. It creates them and then you feel them in your body and your mind.
But what happens when you don’t feel the emotions – what if you don’t process
them? For instance, if you have a lot of emotion all at once, and you still
have to take care of life events – like when someone close to you dies, or you
get into a car accident…you don’t have time to process all the sadness, grief,
fear, shock, guilt, anger and other emotions that might be present. So what
happens to them? We’ve all heard of stuffing emotions, right?
Your subconscious mind will be kind enough to store the
emotions for you. It’s just doing it’s job – protecting you from being
overwhelmed. So it might store the emotions along with the memory that created
them. It’s easy to tell if this is the case – when you access that memory, or
think about what happened, you will feel the emotion – even though it may have
happened years before. Or the subconscious might store that energy in your
body somewhere – in effect blocking other energy and possibly causing physical
issues. Especially excessive stress.
So, here’s a technique you can use, pretty much anywhere
you are. It’s a visual exercise, but don’t worry if you are not visual. Just
imagine or pretend…it works just as well.
Find a place where you won’t be disturbed for a couple of
minutes. After a little practice, it will only take you seconds to do the
exercise, but for now give yourself plenty of time. And since your eyes will
be closed – don’t do this while you are driving…
Close your eyes and take a couple really deep breaths.
Breathe all the way down to the bottom of your stomach, filling your lungs
completely, and exhaling all the way. As you breathe, mentally will all of
your muscles to unwind – imagine that you are a bowl of spaghetti, and
mentally untie all the knots in your muscles and let them go loose.
Keep breathing, and as you do, imagine yourself walking
along a beautiful stream. As you walk, pretend that you can hear the birds,
frogs and crickets around you as the stream rushes by. Imagine that you can
feel the wind cooling your face and the sun warming your back. Take a moment
just to visualize it…to feel it…to really internalize how that would feel.
Now imagine that you see a gentle waterfall. You can feel
the mist on your face and hands as you approach it, watching the water bounce
off the rocks at the bottom. You might even see a rainbow as the sun glistens
of the mist. Raise your hand and put it into the waterfall, and feel the
perfect temperature of the water, refreshing and cool. Imagine stepping into
the waterfall and feel it splash down around you, gently rushing over your
head, your neck, your shoulders and down over the rest of your body – it feels
wonderful. Now it occurs to you that this is a very special waterfall, and as
the water rinses the stress from the surface of your body, the energy from the
waterfall penetrates deep inside you, rinsing away negativity and old emotions
that are simply not needed anymore. You look down at your feet and see a
darkness from your body seeping out into the water as the energy from that
intense, cleansing waterfall rushes over you. Let it go…let it all go. The
stress, the worry, the anger, the fear, the guilt, the shame, the sadness, the
grief. Watch with amazement as it is rinsed out of your body by that
cleansing, pure waterfall. Let it all go. And as the water at your feet begins
to run clear, feel yourself begin to fill up with a wonderful sense of peace
and well being. Breathe it in to every cell in your body. Allow yourself to
feel it – give yourself permission to really feel good, relaxed and peaceful.
Let it resonate with your deep inner being, with your spirit, your soul.
Notice how good it feels.
Take another deep breath, and step out of the waterfall,
feeling refreshed, cleansed, optimistic and objective. Open your eyes when you
are ready.
As you use this visualization, you will be able to imagine
it more and more intensely, and it will get much faster for you. Soon you will
be able to use this technique for relaxation even if you just have a few
seconds. The more you use it, the more powerful it will become for you. You
are training your mind to let go and relax. Use it often, and enjoy!
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Tracey Burchard is a Certified Hypnotist and Life Coach in
Central Florida and does sessions by phone and in her office. She has authored
and produced a line of audio CDs and MP3s based on the Law of Attraction and
Emotive Visualization™. Visit her hypnosis website at
http://www.bodymindhypnosis.com
or check out her Self Improvement CDs at
http://www.cdonlinewarehouse.com
