Top 10 Tips to de-stress and feel great

Top 10 Tips to de-stress and feel great

1. A surprising number of us don’t breathe properly. Get into the habit of checking that you’re remembering to breathe. Your belly should gently expand when you breathe in using your full lung capacity. 

2. Take a moment to scan your body. Breathe deeply and notice anywhere that feels tense.  Squeeze and release any muscles that are tense and take a few more breaths to relax.  Use the energy you’ll save for something fun!

3. Imagine you are standing under a waterfall of silver coloured rain. Feel it washing over you and through your body. Allow it to wash away any tension, worries or aches and pains.

4. Focus on the soles of your feet standing on the ground. Imagine you have magnets in your feet or roots growing down into the earth: Just what you need to combat those stressed or ‘air-head’ moments.

5. Imagine dropping a plumb line from the crown of you head through the centre of your body and out between your legs. Imagine your body is dangling off the string and gently coming into perfect balance.

6. We’ve all experienced feeling our energy drained after ten minutes with Mr/Ms Negative.  Visualise or sense a ball of white light around you.  Any negativity can bounce off the outside: great before a challenging meeting!

7. Meditation is great for reducing stress, improving concentration and boosting your energy levels. Meditation means relaxing your body and focusing your mind (without falling asleep).  You can focus on your breath, an image in your mind or get yourself a meditation CD and let someone else guide you to some peace.

8. Caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands and uses up precious energy so the boost you get is short-lived leaving you more tired. Every time you have a cuppa, drink a glass of water too.  Mixing caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee together can be a great way to cut down without losing all the kick.

9. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by a never ending ‘To Do’ list. Ask yourself honestly ‘What would really be the worst that would happen if I didn’t do…’ then see how essential it really is.

10. We can all get heavy and take ourselves too seriously at times. Learn to laugh at yourself in a gentle way. Accept that making mistakes is part of life and then you can be gentle with yourself and grow.

Author:

James Barnett