Tips to Relieve Stress

Tips from a Hypnotist on Relieving Stress
Getting Rid of Stress

Tonight I've been thinking a lot about using self-hypnosis and other techniques for stress reduction. Some things in particular that are really helping me are as follows:

1. Misdirection: When I'm obsessively worried about something, I distract myself by feeding the fish, washing dishes for 10 minutes, or changing clothes.

2. Compartmentalizing: Visualize myself locking the problem away in a little box until the appropriate time to deal with it. I'm sure you've all experienced when something bad happens on a Fri. night, and nothing is open until Monday so the problem can ruin your whole weekend, whether it's a car problem, a dental issue, or a billing issue or something else. So put yourself in a trance, put the problem in a box, and lose the key until Monday.

3. Reading: Read a good book. Usually the story will give you a respite from the stress of the day. Romance novels, mysteries and fantasies are all a form of self-hypnosis.

4. Music: Pick the 20 songs that make you the happiest and make sure to turn it on when the depression kicks into overdrive. Music creates immediate age regression, taking you back to the time when you first heard the song.

5. Happy Place: It may be a cliche, but close your eyes and imagine your private paradise, your favorite mountains or the time you won the game.

6. Comfort Food: Screw the diet...sometimes you just need pancakes and real syrup. Eat something that will remind you of happier days. Cotton candy, snow cones, red licorice...whatever gets your head in the right place.

7. Humming: I heard this on a TV show recently and I'll be darned if it doesn't work. Humming or whistling a silly tune can change your mood quickly.

8. Breathing: Be aware of your breathing. Lay down and watch your abdomen fall and rise. If it's not, you are breathing too shallowly. Put a stuffed animal on your tummy and watch it go up and down until you get the hang of it.

9. Music: Practice that instrument you always swore you'd learn to play. The rhythmic strumming of a guitar or the breath control for any wind instrument will take your mind off your problems.

10. Comedy: Be ridiculous. Tell yourself a tall tale of the worst case scenario. Tell yourself that your evil boss turned into a giant T-rex and ate all the expensive cars in the parking lot and then got a horrible stomach ache and died, leaving you the CEO of the company. Keep elaborating until you are laughing about the whole situation. There is no situation that you can't turn into a comedy of errors if you try hard enough.

11. Sleep: Our body does repairs during sleep. Think of it like a car...if you never take it into the shop when it has minor problems, you end up with major problems. Give your body a chance to heal. But don't oversleep...that just leads to a strange sense of fatigue and inefficient living.

Change it up and try different methods. If one isn't working, try the next or make up a new version. It's hard to stay angry while wearing a ridiculous hat. It's hard to be depressed on a roller coaster. Keep trying until something clicks for you.

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