8 Essential Life Skills

When we are stressed or anxious, the body responds with muscle tension. The tense muscles, in return, increase the feeling of anxiety. Learning to relax the muscles reduces tension, slows down heart rate and breathing. Your deep and steady breath will let the body know that is safe to begin to relax. This is not something that you “make” happen. Relaxation is something that you “allow” to happen. You can practice by lying on your back, or sitting in a chair. The most important thing is that you are comfortable.

Today's relaxation audio builds on day one. Unlike traditional training, this format actually teaches less as the days go on. The purpose of this is simple: You need to be aware that it is really you that's allowing the relaxation and not just the words guiding you down. The end goal of this section is to give you a "convincer" that you can recreate relaxation when and where you need it.

Today's relaxation audio builds on day one and two. As the days go by, you are getting simpler and simpler instructions. This starts to build the relaxation response and your experience is starting to become automatic. The body is slowly being retrained.

Today's relaxation audio builds on day one, two, and three. After this audio, you should gently try the techniques yourself without listening. This starts to build the awareness that it is really you relaxing and you don't always need an audio track to help you.

Today's relaxation audio builds on day one to four. In this last track of the relaxation section, the instructions are very simple. You should be noticing more and more that the body is responding to this simplicity and "letting go" quicker and quicker.

Diaphragmatic breathing is the healthiest and most natural way of breathing. The diaphragmatic breath is highly effective in dealing with anxiety and panic symptoms. This technique is also called yoga breathing, belly breathing, and deeper breathing. Do not be fooled with the simplicity of these techniques. It is incredibly beneficial.

As you start the second deeper breathing audio, you will notice that your body is getting a little more used to beathing down into the diagphram. Unlike most relaxation practices, there needs to be little conscious effort to build new habits. Just be gentle with your progress.

On this third day, you may want to shift things a little. If you have one hand on your chest and one on your stomach, you may want to put the hands down onto your lap and vice versa. If your mind wanders during this practice and you go back to "normal" breathing patterns, just notice it and gently guide the breathing deeper again.

The body should be getting a little more used to breathing at this stage. With gentle practice, the body will start to "take over". Many people report that when they find themselves in a stressful situation, they notice that they have automatically started deeper breathing and therefore, feel more grounded and balanced. This is a perfect technique to use last thing at night as you fall alseep.

As the name suggests, the Countdown Technique involves counting backwards, often from 10 to one. It can be a very effective way of deepening your relaxation. When using this technique, rest your awareness on your exhalation. Invite the muscles to relax as you exhale. You should count down with each out-breath, or even with each second out-breath.

Today's countdown technique involves you counting down in time with your own exhalation. This is where the magic starts to happen. You are connecting a thought process (counting) with a physical action (exhalation). When the two are combined, you can really take yourself much deeper into relaxation.

A slower and easier version. Even after 2 days, you should be finding this becoming natural and a wonderful way to take yourself down deeper. Try using the technique on your own after listening to this audio. This is a great technique to help children fall alseep.

The mind is a powerful tool that can be trained to become the co-creator of our lives. Everything we create is first formed in the human mind. The images and thoughts we create directly influence our emotional and physical well-being, both positively and negatively. Visualisation is the purposeful use of the mind (in memory or imagination) to create positive images accompanied by feelings, sounds, tastes, and smells.

Day 2 allows you to experience the same technique again without pressure. Many people try too hard on the first attempt, rather than letting it happen. When you know the technique, you can let go of trying.

Day 3 allows you to really immerse yourself in simple visualisation, but also start to grasp the possibilities of using this technique for healing, confidence, happiness, love, and so much more. Remember to use all your senses when listening.

The goal of meditation is to quiet the mind and bring us into a deeper state of connection to the self. Meditation is an ancient practice, and science is still discovering all of its countless benefits. Regular meditation can help you control emotions, enhance concentration, reduce stress, and build a deeper connection with yourself and others.

Simplifying from Day 1: Through the gentle practice of daily meditation, you can generate a deeper sense of peace and tranquility. This state of connection and peace can be maintained and nourished no matter what is taking place around you. It is a place you can always return to.

Simplifying again. The less you do, the better the experience. Simply notice what you notice and allow the process to happen. Notice any thoughts, feelings, and sounds and let them go without getting caught up in analysis, judgment, or creating stories. Then, gently come back to the breath.

Today, we keep the meditation as simple as possible. Listening to audio tracks can be transformational, but meditating without audio can really connect you to your inner self. This really helps you integrate the techniques.

Mindfulness encourages you to observe your thoughts as they drift across your mind. The secret is not to judge your thoughts or to get caught up in them. Simply notice each thought as it arises. You may notice your inner thoughts right now. Your mind will likely chatter on about it agreeing or disagreeing with what you just read. This internal monologue is often lifelong. Once we begin to observe the thoughts, we are no longer identifying as the thoughts themselves.

Our minds like to be kept busy and they follow patterns. Through mindfulness, you start to become aware of how your thoughts and feelings tend to move in particular and familiar patterns. Over time, you can become more aware of the tendency to judge experiences as pleasant or unpleasant; good or bad. This occurs because the mind is dual by nature. Once it forms one thought, it will immediately also form its opposite thought. With some practice, the mind will begin let go of judgment, and will seek to remain more present in the moment.

Simplifying again. The less you do, the better the experience. Simply notice what you notice and allow the process to happen. Notice any thoughts, feelings, and sounds and let them go without getting caught up in analysis, judgment or creating stories. Then, gently come back to the breath.

Today we keep the mindfulness practice as simple as possible. Listening to audio tracks can be transformational, but practicing mindfulness without audio can really bring you back to the moment in your own way.

Anchoring is one of the most useful Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques. Anchoring is the process by which a memory, a feeling, or some other response is associated with (or anchored to) something else. We will use feelings of joy and anchor them to a physical reaction in the body.

We all already have positive and negative anchors in place. Today we simplify the process and allow you to deepen the practice. Here are a few examples of positive anchors: Flicking through an old family photo album stirs pleasant memories and feelings associated with them. The smell of freshly baked bread brings back memories of a happy, carefree childhood.

Affirmations are positive sentences that describe a desired situation. When these sentences are repeated, they instruct the inner mind and trigger a positive action. When you learn the simple rules about affirmations, you can start to give the inner mind new instructions in the way it understands.

Repetition is key. Affirmations are like commands given to a computer. Repeating affirmations builds mental imagery and sequencing in the mind. The images help you focus on the aim you want to create and achieve. Unfortunately, often we mentally repeat negative statements, such as when we tell ourselves that we cannot do something, that we are not good enough, or when we believe we are going to fail. Shifting to positive affirmations can be a deeply transformational process and can have lifelong effects. It takes an equal amount of energy to uphold negative or positive statements. The choice is ours.