Stress Relief in 5 Minutes: Guaranteed!

Silence

Enough is enough.

Our eardrums are exploding under the assault of noise. If you are at home, even without any kids running around, focus on the sounds around you.

• Chances are, you are not watching your TV, but it is on. Background noise, “to keep you company.”
• In the summer, you probably can hear the hum of the air-conditioning.
• If the TV is off, you probably turned on some music on your smartphone. What music? You sheepishly admit that you are “not really listening.”
• There is some street noise trickling in, unless you have a huge house, or live in a very quiet suburb.

If you are in an office, you have a whole new list of sounds to deal with. And let us not even talk about a factory or construction site.

All this sound affects us. Our heart rates and blood pressures go up, and stress hormones often pour out. Our hearing suffers, too. You can read about details of these responses to noise at shivharsh.com.

Turn it off, already

Most of us can find 5 minutes to de-stress. Make it quiet time.

• Turn off the TV if you are not actually watching it. The world will not come to an end if you do not watch TV.
• Turn off the music, unless you are actively listening to it. Actively meaning to the exclusion of everything else.
• Use earplugs if you have background noise which you cannot control.

Now get used to the silence

 

You might find out that although you have turned off the outside noise, there is still some noise left. These are the thoughts tumbling around in your mind. This is internal noise or turbulence, which can affect you as much as outside noise. You stay anxious from the constant reminders and demands your inner voice keeps bombarding you with: PTA meetings, job-related deadlines, kids’ soccer practice, car servicing, care of elderly parents. And on and on.

Turn off the inner noise

It is not really that difficult.

• Find a quiet spot and a comfortable seat.
• Close your eyes and focus on nothing. Yes, really, on nothing.
• You will find your mind wandering, and some thoughts might intrude. At this point, start counting your breaths silently: one, two, three… and so on.
• Your mind might wander again; other thoughts might intrude; or you might feel sleepy.
• At this point, start counting your breaths all over again, starting from one.
• With practice, you should be able to do this for 5 minutes. You can then increase the duration, or try this at two or three different times of the day.

As you create zones of true silence, with repeated practice, “getting into the zone” will become easier and easier, and your stress levels will go down. You might then even become aware of sounds you had never noticed before, such as the gentle chirping of birds in your backyard. And these sounds are relaxing.

Deep Breathing

This has been studied extensively, and documented to alleviate stress. There is a yoga posture called shavasana which combines a relaxing posture with deep breathing to create a significant relaxing experience. You can read the details of this at shivharsh.com. Essentially, you lie down on your back with your arms and legs spread out at 45 degrees, and take in as deep a breath as you can, trying to force your belly outwards. Then you let it out slowly, taking two to three times as long to do so. Keep repeating this for about 5 minutes.

You can gradually increase the duration and frequency of this for maximum benefit.

Visualized/Guided Imagery

This is yet another technique guaranteed to relax you.

You should choose a quiet, secluded area if possible. Otherwise, use earplugs and do this right at your desk.

• Sit upright comfortably and close your eyes.
• Imagine yourself walking away from your desk, your house, or wherever you happen to be at the moment.
• Visualize yourself walking slowly to a soothing spot of your choice: a garden, a beach, a lake. You choose.
• Now mentally look around yourself, take deep breaths in and out, and engage all your senses.
• Feel the sand tickling your bare feet as you stand and look at the ocean.
• Spread your arms out (mentally) and feel the cool breeze flowing through your fingers.
• Imagine smelling the different fragrances of your favorite flowers that the breeze is bringing to your nose.
• Watch the waves gently lapping against the sand, and the sun setting gradually, leaving a palette of colors in its wake.
• Hear the sound of the waves as they touch the shore and retreat.
• Stick your tongue out (mentally), and imagine a few raindrops landing on it. Taste the rainwater slowly.
• Imagine taking a gentle horseback ride along the beach.
• Then slowly reverse these steps till you get back to your desk, and open your eyes gently.
• Remember to take slow, deep breaths in and out throughout this process. Of course, you can substitute your own imagery for the one I have suggested.

Conclusion

Any of these methods will work. You can choose all three in rotation. Even 5 minutes a day will relax you. However, ideally you should try to increase the duration and/or frequency of these sessions.

You only go around once. You can choose to stay stressed out all the time, or you can decide to do something about it. The remedy is not difficult, but you do need to make a beginning.

Why don’t you start today?