How to Use Positive Affirmations for Stress Relief

All of us have stress in our lives at some point every day. The paradox of being human is that we have both a need for certainty that everything is going to be all right, and a need for variety so that we don’t get bored when everything is going perfectly well at every moment of our lives.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”

Being humans we will make mistakes because perfection is reserved for the Divine. Sometimes those mistakes cause us stress beyond what we think we can bear. But there exists a simple tool that is free and available to everyone that can help alleviate the stress of daily life and help you find a bit of peace. This tool is affirmations.

Affirmations are short, positive statements that your repeat out loud or silently in your head like a mantra. The idea is that you keep repeating these positive statements so that they will eventually sneak past the defenses of your conscious mind and seep into your subconscious mind that takes any kind of direction it is given.

You can find lots of free affirmations in books. The Christian Bible is full of verses that can be used as affirmations such as:

• I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. [Philippians 4:13]
• I can trust the Lord with all of my heart, and I will not lean on my own understanding. [Proves 3:5,6]
• God has not given me a spirit of fear, but a spirit of love, power and a sound mind. [II Timothy 1:7]
• The Lord will be faithful to complete the good work He began in me. [Philippians 1:6]
• I will delight myself in You, oh Lord. You give me the desires of my heart. [Psalms 37:5]

You can create your own affirmations according to whatever challenges you might be facing. This is actually quite powerful because you are changing the way you respond to a stressful situation. For example, if something occurs in your life that you might at first perceive as a calamity, take a few breaths and step back before you react. Assess the situation from all available angles and see if there might be a different way of viewing the situation. Create a positive affirmation: “Everything is working out in my favor,” or you might say, “I always have everything I need,” or “I am filled with health, vigor and vitality.”

As you are reciting your positive affirmations, your conscious mind is striking them down as soon as you voice them. You might say, “I am full of confidence.” and your inner-critic will respond with, “You will never amount to anything.” Simply ignore that negative voice and keep repeating your affirmations. It can be helpful to listen to a recording of affirmations that you can play on an .mp3 player with headphones. You can set your affirmations to play on a continuous loop in the background while you do other tasks during the day or as your drift off to sleep at night.

If you’d like a recording of positive affirmations, sign up for our newsletter, the Stress Free Mind Journal and you can download a free .mp3 recording called, ‘Affirmations for Anxiety,’ a short, five minute program that you can listen to whenever you need to relax and de-stress quickly during the day.

The great thing about affirmations is that they are incredibly empowering. When you get into the habit of using them you quickly realize the power you have to transform your life. Try using affirmations today and see what happens for you.

Think You Can’t Meditate? 3 Simple Practices to Get You Started

If you think that you cannot meditate you are not alone. Countless people have given up in frustration saying, “I just can’t seem to quiet my thoughts!” Well, please take a deep breath and relax because trying to quiet your thoughts is not the goal. This can only end in frustration. The purpose of meditation is to achieve a state of pure awareness.

One of the first things that meditation will teach you is that you are not your mind. If indeed you were your mind you could control it completely. When you say, “silence,” it would become silent. But when at first you sit or lay down with the intention of meditating, your mind will have other plans and you will find yourself almost breaking a sweat trying to quiet that “monkey mind.” So don’t even waste your energy trying.

Try one of these beginner meditation practices. You can begin at five minutes and then slowly work your way up to 45-90 minute sessions.

1. Simple Breath Counting Meditation
This meditation has its origins in the Zen tradition. It helps to train your mind to focus on one thing at a time improving concentration and your powers of observation. It calms your mind and lowers stress levels.

1. As you inhale notice the feeling of the breath as it moves through your nostrils.

2. Count ONE as you exhale.

3. Follow step one and step two until you reach exhalation number four.

4. Begin again with step one.

2. Mantra meditation
With this meditation you choose a mantra, which a simple word or sound to repeat while you meditate. The traditional sound for mantra meditation is OM, but you can choose a positive affirmation, such as “I am peace,” or a sacred phrase from your own faith tradition.

Simply repeat your chosen mantra either out loud or silently in your head. Focus your attention on the sound and allow your breathing to fall into a deep, rhythmic pattern. Repeat your mantra for however many minutes you have chosen. Start with just a few minutes and then slowly work your way up to longer meditation sessions.

3. Object gazing meditation

This meditation exercise is done with eyes open with a relaxed but steady gaze at a particular object. You can choose a tree, a flower a candle or whatever stationery object you choose.

Gaze at the object without thinking about the object. When your thoughts begin to wander away gently bring your attention back with no judgment to focus on the object.

So, you see there are all kinds of meditative practices available to you. Try one of these simple practices and set aside a time each morning and/or evening to do your practice. If you can do it in the same place at the same time each day you will find that you are forming a positive habit and soon you will not quite feel yourself when you miss a meditation session.

Reference:
Integrative Meditation: Towards Unity of Mind, Body and Spirit, James Wyche Green, Ph.D. Self Published

Celebrate Earth Day: Manage Stress by Embracing Nature

As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, it’s a great opportunity for you to indluge yourself a little bit and find a way to get out in nature as a way to relax and manage the stress in your life. If your life is harried and stressful and your first response is, “But I don’t have time!” you really need to take a break.

You might wonder what good it will do you to get out and embrace nature, so I’m going to tell you. Being outdoors in the fresh air where you can jest relax and let down can be very calming. Even if the closest you can get to nature is the corner of a city park, or the potted plants in the atrium of your building, that will do.

If you can’t escape to the woods, take a moment to appreciate our beautiful earth. Watch a nature video and meditate on the beauty and complexity of life on this planet. Take slow, deep cleansing breaths and focus on a particular plant. Then bring your focus to a single leaf or flower. Peer into the leaf or the petals of the flower. Witness the delicate beauty and be grateful for this moment.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to get out in the woods, or even for a walk in the park, take you shoes off and let your feet and your toes come in direct contact with the earth. If the sun is out, feel it shining on your face as you wriggle your toes in the grass or the soil. Feel a deep connection between yourself that goes deep, down into the center of the earth. Let your love and gratitude travel deep down into the earth and feel that gentle tugging sensation from the magnetic field at the center of the earth. You are grounded with the earth and you can feel a solid connection. You are standing in between earth and sky.

Sit and meditate or just do some slow, mindful breathing. Listen to the birds singing. Maybe you can hear a dog barking or children laughing. Embrace everything about this moment. Bask in the glow of this feeling of bliss and contentment. Wrap that energy up and carry it with you for the rest of the day. If something comes up that is threatening to steal your joy, let your mind travel back to those moment of bliss. Breathe deep and remember the smell of the earth, and the feel of the cool, damp grass on your bare toes and let the angst simply melt away.

You are welcome to sign up for our email list where you will get more tips, resources and information about living a peaceful, more stress-free life. http://www.stressfreemindblog.com/News

3 Simplest Meditation Techniques – Mindfulness, Breathing & Guided Meditation

By Katie Hoffman

Meditation has been known to relieve stress and tension and promote well-being. It relaxes your body and mind and heals the soul. It rids the mind of conflict and soothes the spirit. Regular meditation helps one cope with everyday pressures without falling victim to them. Meditation can be practiced in several ways. There are many techniques that help you get in touch with your inner self and bring relaxation to mind and body. Some of the simplest meditation techniques are mindfulness meditation, breathing and guided meditation.

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness implies awareness. So, mindfulness meditation aims at being aware of one’s inner self and the surroundings while touching on a higher level of consciousness. With mindfulness meditation all thoughts, feelings and emotions are acknowledged without making an attempt to suppress them. You have to play the part of a detached observer. In other words, you have to live in the moment without getting involved in it. There are several ways to practice mindfulness meditation. Most of them involve focusing on a certain object or a process. This could be focusing on your breath, performing a recurring exercise or simply chanting a mantra. There’s no specific posture that you need to take while doing mindfulness meditation. You can sit comfortably but you have to make sure that your back is upright in order to remain relaxed and alert. This is a very simple form of meditation and can be practiced at any time since all you have to do is sit and do nothing.

Breathing Meditation

Breathing meditation aims to clear the mind of distractions and make it calm and peaceful. Select a serene place to meditate and sit comfortably. You can take up any posture as long as you keep your back erect. Sit with your eyes slightly closed and focus on your breathing. Breathe through your nostrils and gain an awareness of how each breath enters and leaves your nostrils. Concentrate on this alone and make an effort to stop your thoughts from wandering. If your mind strays from the breathing process, bring it back to the task at hand. Do this as many times as is necessary. With constant practice, this will bring a sense of calm and peace to the mind. Even though breathing meditation is often considered as a prelude to other forms of meditation, it is a very effective technique to experience peace and contentment from within.

Guided Meditation

The deeper the level of meditation, the greater healing it brings to mind and body. Guided meditation aims at taking you to a whole new level altogether. Either your guru can guide you and bring you to this new state or you can use an audio tape to achieve a similar effect. You have to keep your mind free of all thoughts and focus only on the guiding voice in question. Here, you touch your inner self and unleash old resentments and emotions to create peace and harmony within. There are many audio tapes available over the internet that can be used for this kind of meditation. All you have to do is unwind and follow the instructions. Guided meditation is used to instill feelings of self-confidence and release feelings of insecurity.

All these three meditation techniques have a common purpose: To bring peace and reduce the conflict within yourself. Regular meditation will enrich your life and make way for a healthy and wholesome lifestyle.

Katie Hoffman lives in an apartment that uses a large wall mirror in the living room to expand the space and bring in some light. She also loves the large antique wall mirror in her entryway.

Article Source: 3 Simplest Meditation Techniques – Mindfulness, Breathing & Guided Meditation

What are the Health Benefits of Meditation?

Meditation has many unexpected health benefits. Who knew that simply sitting in peaceful silence would have such a healing effect on the body? The body’s desire is to be in a state of homeostasis – in balance with everything running like clock work. The practice of meditation can help to get your mind and body in a state of harmony and balance. If you want the body’s state of health to change you must first change your state of mind.

Correct breathing is an important component of the meditation exercise and that goes quite a ways towards bringing the body into balance. Correct breathing brings more oxygen into the system and helps it to circulate throughout the entire body. Every system in the body needs oxygen.

The peace of mind and relaxation that is achieved during the practice of meditation also contributes to helping the body to achieve balance. The state of total relaxation of both the body and mind that is achieved during meditation allows the body to heal itself quickly. Taking our minds off of the chaotic circumstances of our lives for just a little while invites a tremendous amount of peace and well-being.

Some of the health benefits of meditation include:

• Improved concentration

• Increases energy

• Increased blood flow

• Normalizes blood pressure

• Reduces anxiety

• Decreases muscle tension

• Increases the production of serotonin, which improves mood

• Boosts immune system function

• Relieves allergies

When I first began the practice of meditation I had an experience that really surprised me. I had a very bad cold, and I hesitated to do the meditation that morning, but then I thought better of it and did in anyway. My nasal passages were so congested that I had to breathe completely through my mouth. When the meditation process was begun I became aware that my nasal passages were clearing up a little.

As I continued to meditate they cleared up even more to the point where I began breathing through my nose without even thinking about it. Then my entire body began to feel better. When the meditation time was done and I gave a good stretch and went back to my life in this world the cold was back just as it had been before I started the meditation exercise. There is a lesson in that experience that spurred me on to continue to meditate for years to come.

When in a calmed and meditative state it is possible for the practitioner to assess the entire body beginning with the top of the head and moving slowly down to the feet. This process can alert you to any problems that exist so that attention may be given to that particular issue.

When you have developed a daily meditation practice you may begin to notice that you feel calmer and more steady. You may feel less prone to emotional responses and your ability to focus and concentrate will be improved.

Soon you may begin to notice a marked difference in your demeanor and how you handle the circumstances of your life especially on the days when you don’t meditate.

Do you have a regular meditation practice? Please feel free to share if it has had a positive effect on your health or well-being.

Celebrate April as Stress Awareness Month with 30 Days of Meditation

April is Stress Awareness Month, and April 16th is Stress Awareness Day. Our entire purpose 365 days a year here on the stress free mind blog is to share some simple easy ways that you can learn to manage the way you deal with the stress in your life. Our favorite stress management technique is meditation. We love it so much, and we really believe in the power of meditation to transform your life that we are devoting the entire month to exploring this topic in some depth.

Stress is a part of everyday day life as a human being. As long as you are alive on this planet you will have to deal with some form of stress. The trick is to find a way to float above the things that happen in life rather than allowing yourself to get sucked down into the morass of worry, anxiety, dread, and fear.

Now, I’m betting you’re saying to yourself, “Float above everything? Seriously? I have bills to pay and my boss is on my case and I’m upside down in my mortgage and the dog keeps peeing on my new carpet and. . .” And you could go on and on. You can furrow your brow and get your stomach all in knots as you wring your hands chanting “woe is me!” Or you can take a deep breath, smile serenely and remember that all of this will soon pass.

Meditation is a simple practice that will teach you how to focus and quiet your mind so that you are operating from a peaceful center that is unflappable in the face of swirling chaos.

Getting to that place where you can float above the stress in your life is a process. Stress is addicting because at the root of it it’s exciting. When you are under stress something is actually happening. You feel your pulse rate increase, your breathing gets a little faster, and your blood pumps a little faster. Your on edge and poised to act. When you choose that kind of response your body gets all fired up.

But then at other times when things seem to be operating at a somewhat even keel your body begins to crave that rush of feeling and sensation that occurs in a crisis. So, you may unconsciously start doing things that will lead to the creation of yet another crisis so that you can spring into action and resolve it.

The daily practice of meditation can help you to gently break that addiction to trauma and drama and replace it with a habit of calm, peaceful introspection allowing you to peer into the deepest parts of yourself and meet up with who you really are. It also allows you to establish or deepen your connection to the Divine of which you are an eternal spark.

As part of our celebration of National Stress Awareness Month, we are going to take a month long look at the ancient practice of meditation. It is our desire that you give meditation a try and see if it helps you to feel more centered, peaceful, calm and alive. We love meditation because it’s simple, it’s free and you can do it almost anywhere.

So, please join us on this month-long journey of exploration into the mysteries of meditation. You’ll learn about the different kinds of meditation, you’ll discover some cool meditation aids, and hopefully you’ll try some different meditation techniques either for the first time or as a way to expand your repertoire.

Please take a moment to subscribe to our email list and you will receive a free audio program called, Affirmations for Anxiety, and you will receive updates about what’s happening on the stress free mind blog. Subscribe to our RSS feed and get a copy of each day’s posts in your feed reader.

Don’t forget to breathe! Be well and please enjoy our April meditation series.