Stress Management Training--the First Step In Managing Stress

The first step to manage unhealthy stress that you learn in Stress Management training is not Tylenol, Motrin..., but instead deep breathing. Caution, if you suffer from agoraphobia and or anxiety/panic, it is not recommended that you use deep breathing until after you've gotten rid of the anxiety. The reason this is so is because breathing techniques require internal focusing which is not recommended for anxiety sufferers. For them external relaxation techniques are recommended--see the resource box.

In response to stress, it is normal that our breathing is immediately affected. It becomes upper chest and shallow which is actually part of the fight or flight reaction. Sighs are often a tense upper chest breadth.

We generally make basic mistakes in breathing:
We become so consumed with our appearance that we learn to hold in our stomachs which greatly limits our breathing to the upper chest.
When we take a deep breadth, we force our lungs to expand against our chest putting chest muscles in spasm. This can create chest and back pain.

Life is about stress and as we adapt to higher and higher levels of stress from one year to the next, our normal breathing becomes tense. Even as we sleep, we may breathe in a tense manner. The tense breathing also affects our posture, starves the body of much needed oxygen, and blocks our Chakras--the natural flow of energy through our bodies.

No matter what the physical health problem--headaches, neckaches, muscle pain... (all direct effects of stress), or disease such as heart disease, cancer... it's important to address breathing (except for anxiety sufferers as previously noted). The problem is that no one makes any money from deep breathing. No drugs are required so you will not hear an announcement on the radio, "Remember to do your stress reduction deep breathing exercise!"

Look for times during the day when you are feeling tense, in a rush, stressed, under pressure, defensive... Whenever you find yourself in one of those situation, instead of tensing you remember to do your deep breathing stress relief technique.

And all you have to do to engage your first defense against stress is to consciously become aware of your breathing. That is to simply shift from your upper chest tense breathing consciously to an abdominal breath.

How to take an abdominal breadththe first defense against stress:
Let your stomach and abdomen relax.
Breathe down through your chest into your stomach.
Let your stomach expand outward.
Let your chest expand slightly at the end of the breadth.

As you exhale:
Pull your stomach inward.
Expel all the air up through your chest.

If you can hear yourself breathe, you are breathing too fast. Ten to twelve breaths per minute is fine. If you feel your shoulders lifting as you inhale, it is a tense breadth. Just let your shoulders be loose and limp as you inhale and exhale. Let your arms hang from your shoulder like rope.

Yoga is a great discipline to learn deep breathing. Yoga will also provide many other healthful benefits.

When to do your deep breathing: Make a list of times during the day when it would be appropriate to take advantage of the deep breathing stress management technique such as:
Before entering a building or an office.
As youre waiting for your computer to load a program or shut down.
Before answering the phone or making a phone call.
As you listen to someone conversing with you.
Whenever you're at a red light.
Before eating or drinking.
Whenever you notice yourself feeling stressed.
Whenever you can remember to take a deep breadth.
Remember, no one makes money on deep breathing so you will not hear an announcer on the radio reminding you to take your deep breadth exercise to manage stress.

Several deep breathing exercises are available one one inexpensive cd to live longer, manage stress, and even eliminate hyperventilation. Practicing the exercises produces real results.