What is Guided Relaxation and why do I need it?

There are many forms of guided relaxation techniques available to each one of us and it’s simply a matter of find the method that best suits us.

How much do you really suffer stress?

Well maybe you don’t really think you suffer from stress but let’s see. Do you jump in your car or catch the train or the bus to get to work?  Or are you lucky enough to live around the corner from your workplace and you can simply stroll into work? If you are like most people the daily commute to work can often be a stress.  what if you are a Mum with litte ones at home, all needing your attention and you not getting enough sleep!  What about the stress of medical bills, or phone bills or electricity bills.  And what about the new stress of trying to find work in a world where things have become so difficult?

If you arent suffering any form of stress then to be honest I would really like to hear from you!  Let me know where you live, and I am moving there lol.

Learning to Relax

A lot of us actually find relaxing difficult, as we rarely give ourselves permission to just be.  Just to sit and listen to soft music, or lie on the couch for ten minutes  without interruption.  Close your eyes and allow your mind to wander and thoughts to come in and out. Can you actually just allow yourself this quiet time? If you try to do this every day after a while your mind and body will learn to relax.  Welcome to the world of guided relaxation!

Can you reduce stress?

Realizing and understanding your stress is the key. When you tap into what your stresses are, you can then find the resources you need to lead you to guided relaxation.  It’s generally not a one size fits all theory. Firstly before looking out its probably important to look within. Stilling yourself and finding peace within you comes first.

Another important factor in reducing stress is the opportunity to rest and rejuvenate.  Our world is so pressure filled and it sometimes feels that there aren’t enough hours in the day to catch up on rest and relaxation.  By pushing yourself too hard and solving problems and running around you are not allowing yourself enough time for the mind and body to relax.

External relaxation is often found in the form of yoga.  It is a self-teaching exercise and you learn to stretch your muscles and joints which helps in relieving overall tension.

There are so many great books and CD’s about yoga on the net.  Sounds True is a Company I can recommend and they are currently offering a discount on their yoga products:

There is also a form of yoga referred to as Nidra Yoga which is a form of yoga that allows you to melt away the tensions and pressures of everyday life while at the same time repairing and recharging your mind and body, leaving you refreshed and relaxed.

Finding material that guides you to relaxation:

To get the information  you need to get started on learning about relaxation, you can find a wealth of resources online. Books videos, mp3’s and courses – all there for you to choose from.  In fact you will find a great source of soothing relaxation music at music source.

If you know you are suffering stress, then don’t wait to do something about it!  Stress is a hidden danger, bad for your help and can kill you slowly if you don’t start eliminating it from your life. It can tend to take over and control your life in so many ways.

Begin by looking at the stress you are suffering, make a list of those things you would like to undertake in the form of guided relaxation and DO IT!

By

MaryAnn Roche.

So many people today talk about modern day stress and I cant argue with this as stress seems to be everywhere we look.

The stress of gaining income, providing for a family, getting to work everyday in peak hour traffic, the stress of studying at school, at University, the stress of being a young girl in a society where you are accepted if you are thin and pretty, the list of stress just goes on and on.

I was just talking to my daughter earlier today about stress and explaining to her that although this level of stress is everywhere, there is another stress that people tend to not acknowledge or not even be aware of.  I am referring to the stress we place on ourselves everyday.  It is almost what I call an internal stress that we place  upon ourselves which to me can often be worse than the external stress we all have to live with everyday.

The stress we place on ourselves in the workplace – is my work up to standard, am I working hard enough everyday, will I get a promotion, am I earning enough money. As a parent  we place enormous stress upon ourselves, are we a good parent, am I teaching my children the right thing, what if I get this parenting thing all wrong, and so it goes.

I think external stress is much easier to deal with if perhaps we can firstly relieve the pressure a little but reducing our internal stress.  One of the most effective ways to do this, in my opinion, is through meditation.

I am a firm believer in meditation and truly believe it calms and stills our mind, and brings our mind to rest.  Sure the external stress still goes on, but taking that twenty minutes or so out of our day, to quieten our mind and relax our body, helps us cope with those external pressures much easier.  It also allows us to know what external stress  is really worth worrying about.

I find that if we can just allow ourselves some quiet me time on a daily basis, to do just  a very simple uncomplicated meditation, our overall functioning is greatly improved. It helps us to be better partners, daughters, sons, parents and so on.

I genuinely believe we can quiet down our lives, or simplify our lives and eliminate stress for our daily existance.

By

MaryAnn Roche

Once you commence your journey into meditation, you will very soon discover the power that it possesses to reveal truth and provide peace in your life.

In a fast pacedworld where everything keeps accelerating and becoming more complicated, it is important to deepen your meditation experience.

With regular practise you will find you will be able to go deeper into meditation without too much effort.

As you practise, you will become more disciplined at dealing with distractions and achieve a certain depth of meditation in a shorter period of time. If you practise meditation for just 20 minutes per day, you will discover that your meditation experience will become deeper and you will become more centered.

Deepening Your Experience

You may be wondering what it means to deepen your meditation experience. It’s definitely a topic that is difficult to sum up in words. It is similar to talking about how to deepen and intensify their ;ove. If you have been in love you will know in your heart how it feels to experience the depth of such emotion. The same is true when you meditate, you will very quickly know what it feels like when your meditation experience deepens.

Tactics For Deepening Your Meditation Experience

If you want to go beyond regular practice to deepen your meditation skills, you can try other tactics.

Consider these suggestions as you deepen your meditation experience:

 1. Focus.

A big part of deepening your experience is working on improving your focus. Find something that works for you.

* Begin by experiencing eyes open meditation. Meditate with a small focal point and don’t let your gaze go astray during your session. You can also try eyes open meditation without the need for a focal point; this may help you to keep your focus within.
 

 2. Your breath.

Your breath is also a part of your focus. It is how you break up your life into a series of moments. Take a moment to breathe in the good and a moment to exhale the not so good. In order to deepen your meditation experience, experiment with various breathing techniques.

* Work on the length of your breaths. Some people decide to work with their moods when they work on breath length. It’s a way to just go with how you feel, instead of deciding on a set pattern of breathing.

* Use a mantra. There are many mantras to choose from or you can even create your own depending on how you feel at the time or what you like.

 3. Your posture.

Your posture also has an impact on how deep your meditation experience will go. Choose a position that’s comfortable for you.

* During sitting meditation, it’s always a good idea to maintain good posture. This means: Don’t slouch! The location of your legs usually doesn’t matter as much.

* If you maintain a good posture without hunching over, you tend to maintain your alertness and you’ll be less likely to fall asleep.

Remember your goal is to remain in the present moment and not simply to relax.

Keep Up Your meditation exprience daily.  Tweak and fine tune all aspects of your meditation experience however I find if you simply practise daily, your meditation experience will naturally evolve the way it was intended.

BY

MaryAnn Roche

Tips to Make Your Mornings Easier and More Productive

Are mornings the the most difficult part of your day? Some of us find it tough to get going in the mornings no matter how much sleep we have had.

If you are a Mum and you need to get children dressed, fed and out the door with backpacks and school books, mornings can be very grueling. Now even if you aren’t a morning person, there are some strategies that you can engage that will help you feel motivated and looking forward to the day, as opposed to dreading it.

Try the following tips to help you cope with those challenging early mornings:

1. Get to bed on time the night before to ensure you are getting enough sleep. Of course, sometimes even if you have had your required sleep, you will still feel weary in the morning when you wake, but that may be due to the actual quality of sleep you are getting. This could be the very reasson why you can’t get up with a smile on your face in the mornings. So get to bed on time for a week and monitor yourself in the mornings to determine if you feel any different.

2. Try waking up earlier, I know its the last thing you want to do but this might give you a little more time in the mornings to get organised. If you’re trying to squeeze every possible moment of sleep into your schedule, when you do get up you have to madly rush around, which is too stressful first thing in the morning. Much better to wake up and allow yourself a very quiet, calm moments before your feet hit the floor! Enjoy the sunrise while you have a leisurely cup of coffee, before the rush begins.

3. Preparation. Get organised for the morning the night before. Do whatever you can the night before to make your mornings easily and less stressful.Make sure your keys are in the usual spot, make the lunches and organise the backpacks, and have everyone’s clothes laid out. That way when you wake in the morning there is much less to be stressed about!

4. Turn some music on. My music teacher always taught me to make sure I had music in the house with my children. Nice relaxing music in the morning can be a beautiful way to start your day. It can ease you gently into the day whilst keeping you calm, even if you are busy! Enjoying these first few moments that you’re awake can make a massive difference to your entire day.

5. Meditate. Meditation is great for calming your life down or slowing your life down. It allows you to center yourself and go back to a state of peacefulness which in turn can carry you throughout your day. I would recommend though that you mediate in an upright position so you’re not tempted to fall back asleep.

6. Try to develop a positive mindset. If you have a tendency to be grumpy in the morning, make a conscious decision to start your day in a positive way. Try to imagine the wonderful things that may come your way today. If you have something not so pleasant that you have to face then try to focus on all other aspects of your day which are positive.

7. Be thankful. Start your day by giving thanks for everything you have in your life. Being grateful sets the tone for the day.

If mornings just arent your thing, try to make them easier on yourself and others by remembering to use these strategies and I think you will be surprised at the difference they will make!.

By

MaryAnn Roche.

Stress is almost always a part of work. However, there are some occupations that are naturally more stressful than others, due to the type of service or the industry to which they belong.

If you are subjected to these stressors on a daily basis, you simply must implement ways to reduce the amount of stress you have to cope with.

In reducing your exposure to stress, you will become more productive in your chosen occupation. 

Medical Care Professions

Doctors, nurses, social workers, or medical assistants have particularly stressful jobs. The nature of the job in itself is quite difficult, given that the health and well-being of others are at stake,  and there is always that added pressure of your action potentially resulting in a negative impact to one’s health. Effectively. this means there is no room for error, making these occupations ones with especially high stress levels.

To learn tp deal with stress you must first identify its source, in order to find the appropriate coping mechanism to employ. If a Doctor or other medical professional is able to do this, it certainly reduces the possibility of making what could be, a fatal mistake in their work. 

Law Enforcement Jobs

As with the medical profession, there is undoubtly an enormous amount of stress in law enforcement. It is, after all, their responsibility to protect the community and maintain peace and order.The amount of personal risk can be enormous as law enforcement officers are forced to put themselves in extremely dangerous and highly stressful situations. 

You can reduce stress in your profession by giving yourself timely breaks which allows the body and mind to recuperate and rejuvinate. As law enforcers typically have a lot of work on their plate, having proper time management and organizational skills will also assist in dealing with stress.

Teaching Professions

While many enjoy the teaching profession, often people in this field will tell you that there is a high level of stress involved, as they deal with many children who can be difficult. Inner city teachers find their jobs particularly stressful due to high levels of crime in the area and often the children they are teaching have been exposed to violence and crime, and as a result do sometimes have behavioral problems that a teacher must also cope with, in addition to actually educating the child. Teachers are also often under close scrutiny by the community at large.

Teachers can deal with these stressors by trying these strategies:

• Try to be patient and calm, particularly with those students who are more difficult than others.  Perhaps over time with patience, you can develop a deeper emotional relationship with these children.
• Set realistic goals. When you aim to teach your students something, understand not every child will learn at the same pace. Some will take longer than others, so your schedule to have something in particular taught in one day may well blow out to two days.  Rather than get frustrated, try to factor this into your planning from the outset.

 
• Take care of yourself, whether physically or mentally.

Jobs Involving Sales

Sales roles can be very stressful as your livelihood is often dependent upon your ability to produce sales. Jobs involving sales therefore require you to meet high levels of standards and often require you to deal with the public and their demands. Since most of the stress involved in this job is associated with the results, learn how to set your goal and then forget it. Get on with using your skills and creativity to sell the service or product in your own unique way. Nobody likes a salesman with a hard sell approach and if you are constantly worried about meeting your target then you may well become one of these salesman and thwart your efforts in the process! 

Telecommuting Jobs

Can be a stressful occupation, what with having to meet deadlines, to taking care of multiple clients and their inquiries. One way to reduce stress in this instance is to examine ways in which you can become more organised. Organise your day in such a way that you can accomplish what you set out to do, however with proper breaks built into your day so that stress if reduced. Make sure in this type of occupation, that distractions are kept to a minimum as these impact greatly on your ability to produce, and hence, cause more stress.

Whenever you feel stressed out, give yourself a break and do some deep breathing. Try to slow down, take 20 minutes out of your day to meditate, and you will amazed at how less stressful you will be. Bottom line is the lessed stressed you are in the workplace the more productive you are.

By MaryAnn Roche