3 Quick Stress Reduction Tools + Practice

This recording is from a stress management breakout session that I led for a local company. It includes 3 tools that you can use for managing stress. After I share the tool, I lead the practice of using it.

Tools: 1. Quick focus switching to reduce reaction at the moment, 2. Centering to be present and prepared for stressful interactions, and 3. A 15 min Amrit I AM Yoga Nidra

Transcript

And I'm here on World Health Day to help each of us revisit simple tips and tricks that can help us manage stress.

So I'm super excited to share a few tips that I've learned from a book Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Sharmain and I highly recommend the book if you haven't read it or don't know about it.

In the book he helps people learn some strategies for maximizing productivity both personally and professionally.

I want to share a couple of tips here but before I do I just want to make sure that you know that anytime you are practicing stress management when I teach techniques they are for your benefit.

There is no right or wrong so the techniques are just tools and if you don't do it perfectly that's fine.

Often people say I can't meditate because my mind wanders.

Yes it does that's what our mind does it's constantly gathering information it's assimilating information as you begin to relax you get all kinds of thoughts coming into your head because it has some space to think and so it's very normal there's no right there's no wrong it's just being present so if you find your mind wandering in anything just bring it back accept it it's okay.

I wanted to make sure that that was expressed up front.

I'm going to teach you three different techniques so the first thing I'm going to teach you is something quick and easy that you can do anytime.

This technique you can and again I did pull it from the Positive Intelligence book you can do this anytime that you find yourself feeling a little stressed maybe you notice that your shoulders are tight maybe you notice your stomach is tense your jaw is clenched whatever it is for you you just notice maybe the pitch of your voice is changing you know that you're in a tense situation there's a customer situation that's really intense and things aren't going well or one of the providers the the folks working for you right maybe they're not performing the way that you need and it can be really intense you guys work at a very fast speed and under a lot of pressure so the first technique I'm going to give you is something that you can use in any of those circumstances.

So the first technique is this finding something where you can bring your full attention to it for just a minute or so or even a couple of breaths and so that one thing I'm going to mention today just to keep it simple is just rubbing two fingers together and so what you want to do is just practice rubbing two fingers together with such an intensity that you can feel the fingertip ridges and you're just noticing maybe the temperature of your skin you're noticing the texture of the ridges as you're rubbing the two fingertips together you are noticing the speed with which you're rubbing you're just really paying attention to this and you can do it in a meeting your hands can be down by the side they can be underneath the table you can be on a phone call nobody even has to know what you're doing you're just rubbing two fingertips together but you're bringing your attention to that and trying to only focus on that for just a couple of breaths and you'll notice that it changes how you feel in the moment it can be very a very fast change and a grounding experience so I want us just to practice that together right now so whichever fingers you want there's again doesn't matter you just take two fingertips and I want you to rub them together often in a meeting you can't close your eyes but if you can close your eyes that's great and bring all of your attention to it try to quiet your mind and just begin to notice temperature of the fingertips the texture maybe the pressure and just simply notice all that you can feel as you rub those fingertips together and now you can go ahead and stop you did you notice any changes as you just took time to focus solely on the fingertips for just a couple of breaths were there any changes and notice anything so that's something you can easily do I'll give you another quick tip if rubbing your fingers doesn't feel good you can press each of your toes inside your shoes just press them down one at a time and just focus on pressing your toes down and being aware of which toe is pressing which is another quick thing closing your eyes always makes a difference because you're blocking out the stimulation and that does make a difference but sometimes you're in that intensity and and those little things can even help it maybe not as much as when you close your eyes but they still can help ground all right the next thing I want to do is if you have a little bit more time I want to suggest something similar again it's focusing on something very specifically and the idea is that if you've got two minutes then you just focus two minutes on something that helps center you this is a great thing to do before a meeting if you have a little bit more time then you can do this before a meeting you can do it when you when you know that you're going into a circumstance where you need to really be present actively listening to the customer or your affiliates and and responding in a way that's going to be forwarding and helping you achieve the goal that you want okay so you can set a timer on your phone for two minutes and there is even an app for this it is positive intelligence I think it's pq for positive intelligence and you can even use this app or you can enroll in a program I'm not trying to I don't get anything from that I'm just saying that they even have timers and guided things like this but let me give you what it is so you set a timer for two minutes and then you just begin to focus very intentionally on something and if you're auditory you begin to notice sounds around you and in this two minutes if you can you close your eyes and if you can't and we'll practice it in just a minute if you're auditory then you're listening for for sounds if your eyes are open you might focus on one thing in particular and notice textures but if you're tactile and that's the one that we're going to practice today then we will expand on this rubbing fingers together okay so we're going to practice so you take a couple of minutes and you rub your if you're tactile you're rubbing you're just focusing then we're going to go to just feeling the textures between rubbing our hands together and then focus on our breath so we're going to practice this and see how it feels again as a different technique so let's go ahead and start you can sit comfortably in your chair you can close your eyes or have your eyes open let's begin so just begin again by rubbing the two fingertips together all of your attention on your fingertips if the mind wanders simply bring it back to the fingertips sensations temperatures notice the rate at which you're rubbing them together now begin to rub the palms and fingers of one hand against the other and just be curious about how it feels as you rub the fingertips against one another the palms the palms noticing temperature textures the feel of the skin all of your attention as you explore touch and now release the hands and put one hand on the belly bring all of your attention to the rising and falling of the belly feel the belly expanding on an inhale feel the belly pressing the hand out on an inhale feel the belly pressing the hand out on an inhale feel the contraction on the exhale all of the attention on your breath and then when you're ready you can open your eyes if they are closed or bring your hand back down into your lap and how was that for you did you notice a difference between just the simple and the longer exercise i want to end on something that is a wonderful practice we're going to do a very short meditation and you'll be seated in your chairs this is something a great way to begin a day to end a day if you're having a really tough day and emotions are are very present then if you can take a 15-minute break or so this is a longer way to de-stress and to really center yourself ground yourself and be present in the moment and when we are present in the moment we think more creatively we solve problems better and by golly we just feel better and we have a better day so it can help us professionally and it helps us professionally and it helps us personally so what i want everybody to do and this is a time when you will be closing your eyes and you can just find a comfortable seat so you are sitting in your chair so just make sure that the feet are planted on the ground your spine is comfortable and you're sitting tall in your chair the shoulders are relaxed and when you are ready you can close your eyes begin to quiet your mind be still let go of all the thoughts worry and tension relax trust and let go breathe in fully and exhale with a deep sigh and again you can breathe in fully exhale with a deep sigh let go even more feel a deep sense of contentment and peace in your heart now allow yourself to receive the following intention as i repeat it let your whole body listen to what i say i draw from my inner peace in the midst of chaotic times we'll move into the physical body begin to become aware of your face just noticing how your face feels and then begin to actively tense and relax the facial muscles really squeeze the forehead draw the eyebrows together squeezing the eyes shut tight you can continue to breathe normally squeeze the cheeks and the jaw and then relax open the mouth wide stretching everything out raising the eyebrows really stretch exaggerate the facial expressions and then on an exhale let it go on an exhale let it go extend the head upwards reaching the chin toward the ceiling stretching out the neck muscles as if it were growing like a giraffe begin to do head and neck rolls drawing the chin down toward the chest and then rolling the ears over the shoulders one ear over one shoulder and then rock the head behind you drawing the other ear over the other shoulder and take some time to just roll out that neck feeling all of the sensations and then begin to do shoulder rolls bring the shoulders up by the ears roll them down the back squeeze the shoulder blades together and then release and roll the shoulders forward as they fat pass the chest try to make the shoulders touch in the middle rounding the back separating out the shoulder blades and then inhale those shoulders up and do a couple of circles in one direction and then the other and then on an exhale relax the body allow your entire body to respond to my words directly and non-mentally as you react to a wonderful piece of music that gives you goosebumps let your mind merge and melt into the energy you feel in the form of sensations or pulses go beyond the boundaries of body and mind shift from thinking and doing to feeling and being and being now direct your full attention to your breath create no struggle around your breathing allow the breath to release any tensions let your breath flow in a steady uniform unbroken stream continue to ask to stop let your attention be totally connected to your breath as it flows in and out with each exhalation release all tension held in your body let go use your breath to progressively enter a deeper level of stillness and silence we will continue with three more slow deep breaths and we'll count them like this three i am breathing in three i am breathing out i am breathing out continue down to zero two i am breathing in two i am breathing out continue on your own be absorbed in the sound of your breath allow yourself to feel more peaceful with each breath now you can return to a normal breathing pattern and just feel the energetic impact of the words in the form of pulsations in the body your attention allows the energy field in the body to grow and expand experience it energy follows attention let your mind merge and melt into the river of energy flowing in your body enter an effortless state of being now follow my guidance as we move through different parts of the body now let your attention rest on each part of the body as i name it without comment or judgment all 10 toes both legs pelvic floor both legs pelvis chest shoulders arms and hands throat face arms and hands head back buttocks backs of legs soles of feet sense the whole body from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet whole body feel the whole body contained in vast spacious awareness feel completely safe and comfortable as you hand yourself over to the sense of peace handing over all fear apprehension and anxiety about all that you want to change control and manage let go of all doing here your intention and your affirmations are actualized and fulfilled with effortless ease now allow yourself to receive the following intention as i repeat it feel every cell of your body receiving these words i draw from my inner peace in the midst of chaotic times allow this intention to go to the deepest levels of recognition with no hesitation open your heart and feel content now begin to become aware of the rising and falling of the breath slowly feel yourself beginning to rise to the surface of awareness take your time do not hurry you can bring your intention into your awareness again change nothing i draw from my inner peace in the midst of chaotic times every time you feel yourself in reaction you're empowered to replace it with your intention regardless of what you consciously recognize that has or has not changed consciously recognize that has or has not changed know that something deep has within you has shifted to connect you with this intention begin to become aware of the body bring a deep sense of peace and contentment as you bring attention back to the body notice how silent the mind is be still be grateful know that you can easily enter here again and again now you may gradually open your eyes thank you for being with me and sharing this time with me i hope some of these tips will help you as you manage stress and navigate these very chaotic times may you be blessed have a good rest of your day