Simple Stress Relief Methods
Hey everyone!
**Sometimes you need simple ways to soothe away the tension after a stressful day at work or need a short break to refocus your attention. I want to start this thread to share all the simple and easy methods to do so. Feel free to add in any methods that you know to share it with everyone!
The first method that I will introduce is a breathing technique called Square Breathing. It's a simply, easy and effective way to calm yourself and enjoy a few minutes of break. Not only does it help mentally, the technique also works your chest and abdominal slightly and makes full use of the air!
To practice spare breathing, follow these few instructions:
Step 1: Sit straight up in a comfortable chair. Put your feet flat on the floor and relax your hands in your lap. You may overlap your hands or let them lie separately with palms facing up. The important factor is to maintain an aligned posture and to be at ease.
Step 2: Close your mouth and breath in slowly through your nose. Count to four as you inhale. Hold your breath for four seconds. You are not trying to deprive your body of oxygen, but need to allow a few seconds for the air to fill your lungs. Concentrate on your belly and notice how it also moves when you inhale deeply.
Step 3: Open your mouth slightly and slowly exhale to a count of four. Hold the exhale to another count of four. Ideally, you should repeat the exercise for four minutes, but two or three times will help you to achieve a more relaxed state, relieve tension and settle your nerves.
Tip: If you find it difficult to slow down your thinking, say a mantra over in your head, advise doctors at the Mayo Clinic. Repeat a calming phrase or sound such as "ohm" as you breathe. For example, as you inhale, say "ohm," two, three four and repeat on the exhale. Your concentration surely will begin to narrow as you continue with the exercise.
I hope that you will find this method useful! 
References: http://www.livestrong.com/article/74944-box-breathing-technique/
�
@luxnova18
Thankyou for posting this. I did find this a bit awkward to do to start with as my mind was just racing with other thoughts but after doing several times was getting better at it each time and found that it did start to work, well, enough for me to function and restart the logical part of my brain again. So needed this today, instead of putting a venting post on my feed, I decided to do this and am glad I did as have managed to salvage dome if the day for peace, calm and positiveness. 😌
it was helpful@Mtude
@luxnova18 This is really helpful, thanks for sharing!
@NumerousBlessings @shonaali @Mtude
I am so happy to see some of you tried out square breathing and found it helpful!
Hey everyone!
I'm glad to know that some of you find my first simple stress relief method ( Square Breathing) helpful. Today I'm going to introduce on how you can cooporate Square breathing with exercising gratitude and meditation!
Here is a square that you can focus on (feel free to use any other square object)
1. Meditation
Start by focusing on the upper left corner of the square. As you inhale, move your gaze smoothly to the upper right corner. As you hold, bring your gaze to the lower right corner. As you exhale, move your gaze to the lower left corner. And, to complete the cycle, as you hold bring your gaze to the upper left corner. Repeat, as needed.
A Little Extra Pause
If youd like to focus the mind even deeper, use the elements in the corners of the square to boost your mental awareness. Using the wallpaper above, it might look like this:
THINK: BLUE SKY – Inhale 2 3 4 (moving to the upper right)
THINK: GREEN GRASS – Hold 2 3 4 (moving to the lower right)
THINK: PINK FLOWERS – Exhale 2 3 4 (moving to the lower left)
THINK: YELLOW SUN – Hold 2 3 4 (moving to the upper left)
2. Gratitude
If youd like to slow down the cycle and redirect your thoughts from negative to positive, incorporating gratitude into this practice brings additional benefits. Start by focusing on the upper left corner of the square. As you inhale, move your gaze smoothly to the upper right corner. As you hold, keep your gaze on the upper right corner and think of something from today that youre thankful for (keep it quick, youve only got four counts). As you exhale, bring your gaze to the lower right corner. As you hold, keep your gaze on the lower right corner and think of something else from today that youre thankful for. As you inhale, move your gaze to the lower left corner. As you hold, keep your gaze on the lower left corner and think of yet another thing from today that youre thankful for. As you exhale bring your gaze to the upper left corner. And, to complete the cycle, as you hold think of something else youre thankful for. It might look like this:
1. Starting in the upper left corner – Inhale 2 3 4 (moving to the upper right)
2. THINK: IM THANKFUL FOR WARM WEATHER
(while you Hold 2 3 4 and stay focused on the upper right)
3. Exhale 2 3 4 (moving to the lower right)
4. THINK: IM THANKFUL FOR MY DAUGHTERS SMILE
(while you Hold 2 3 4 and stay focused on the lower right)
5. Inhale 2 3 4 (moving to the lower left)
6. THINK: IM THANKFUL FOR A SHORT COMMUTE
(while you Hold 2 3 4 and stay focused on the lower left)
7. Exhale 2 3 4 (moving to the upper left)
8. THINK: IM THANKFUL FOR HOT TEA
(while you Hold 2 3 4 and stay focused on the upper left)
Of course those are just some suggestions. You can customize those methods to your own situation, in whatever way will help you set aside the stressful circumstances and enable you to jump back into your day with a more serene energy.
Please stay tune for more easy and simple ways to feel better. I will be uploading a new one very soon!
Share down below any of stress relief methods you know!
