“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” – Unknown I was talking with a client about meditation exercises the other day. He told me that he schedules 40 minutes every morning for meditation exercises and then it’s off to the gym. In fact it’s exactly 40 minutes and his meditation [...]
“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” – Unknown
I was talking with a client about meditation exercises the other day. He told me that he schedules 40 minutes every morning for meditation exercises and then it’s off to the gym. In fact it’s exactly 40 minutes and his meditation time is complete, whether the meditation exercises are complete or not. He told me if he tried to meditate longer it actually stresses him out because that’s all the time it has in his schedule. That’s kind of funny, getting stressed out about taking too much time to meditate.
I told him the good news is that he at least takes the time to meditate. Only, maybe he should give himself a little slack in his very crowded schedule. We’re all like my client, well almost. Most people don’t take the time to meditate every day but we all really need to take the time to relax. When you don’t, you end up getting stressed out and it can even make you sick.
William James once said, “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” Your ability to choose one thought over another comes as a result of you being able to relax.
While there are many methods to help you to relax, in our fast paced society we often look for the newest fad or the newest medical solution. The problem with this approach is that drugs are addicting and the newest methods can often cost you a pretty penny. But there are also many methods that can help you relieve your stress and anxiety that cost absolutely nothing and they are so easy to do.
Here is a list of 10 ideas to relieve your stress and anxiety that will cost you absolutely nothing:
Do you react or respond to negative events and people in your life? What I mean is, when something unusual happens, like a co-worker gives you bad news about a project you are working on, do you think about what they have told you and respond with a solution or do you react to the [...]
Do you react or respond to negative events and people in your life? What I mean is, when something unusual happens, like a co-worker gives you bad news about a project you are working on, do you think about what they have told you and respond with a solution or do you react to the news by becoming stressed, anxious and angry? If you are one of those many people that become angry, then learning deep breathing and meditation exercises just might help you to calm your mind so you don’t overreact when these negative events occur. I’d like to call this process non-reaction.
Non-reaction is a practice that can benefit you and the people around you. Non-reaction is the process of choosing not to react to negative events in your life but rather reflect and respond appropriately. Using deep breathing techniques, relaxation and meditation, you can learn to respond, rather than overreact, effectively to the stresses in your life.
Non-reaction stops your negative events and emotions from running your life. By choosing to practice non-reaction, you’ll be able to stay calm in the even the most stressful situations you encounter.
Learning the Art of Non-Reaction (more…)
