5 Techniques To Relieve Stress In 5 Minutes

Some people call it stress, some call it anxiety, worry or overwhelm but no matter what you choose to call this feeling, sometimes it can just be too much to handle. And worse it can feel like it will take too much effort to get to a different feeling. It doesn't have to be this way, in fact you can get out of that feeling in less than 5 minutes most of the time. Following are 5 of the best techniques to shift you out of that stressed state and into one that feels much better.

#1 Vagal Reset

This first technique uses your eyes to help you reset your system and move out of the fight/flight/freeze state and into the ventral vagal state (social engagement side of nervous system). I have worked with a number of Chiropractors over the years and one of them, Dr. Gary Walicki of Advanced Chiropractic in Asheville, NC  is a Functional Neurologist and with many of his patients whose nervous systems are extremely imbalanced he uses the eyes as a way to access the brain and reactivate certain portions of the brain and calm down overactive portions.

In a similar vein this technique helps you to activate the parasympathetic side of your nervous system through the eyes and it typically takes less than 5 minutes to start getting some relief. Just take the steps below whenever you are feeling overwhelmed and allow your mind and body to settle back down:
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1. You may choose to lay or sit for this exercise. Laying may be better but if you are not in a place to do so then sitting is perfectly fine.
2. Place one hand on your forehead and the other hand on the back of your head over the bump at the base of your skull. This effectively places your hands on either side of your amygdala (emotional center) in your brain. You might realize that when in a state of overwhelm the tendency is to put the hands on the head.
3. ​Keeping your head facing front, turn your eyes far over to the left (or right) and keep your gaze focused there.
4. Breathe slowly and deeply into your belly
5. ​Continue until you feel a calming sensation. You may notice that you have the urge to yawn which is a sign that you are shift to a parasympathetic state. Hold as long as it takes to get that calming down feeling.

#2 Heart Focused Breathing

As a trained HeartMath Institute Practitioner I learned a variety of techniques to create coherence in the heart and brain. Most of them are extraordinarily simple and can elicit a change in less than 5 minutes. The Heart Focused Breathing technique can be done anywhere at any time and you may even find it to be a good strategy to keep yourself from getting into the stressed state in the first place. Here are the simple steps to to Heart Focused Breathing:
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1. Close your eyes
2. Breath a little slower and deeper than you normally would
3. ​Bring your attention to the area around your chest and inside your chest where your heart is
4. As you breathe in imagine, sense or feel that breath coming into your heart. As you breathe out imagine, sense or feel that breath going out of your heart. 
5. Continue for 5 minutes with this focused approach on your breath and the space in and around your heart. You may begin to feel a calming sensation around that area in your body that will start to spread around your body as your brain and heart realign into a coherent state.

#3 Eye Movement Technique

This is a technique that is best facilitated with a professional but you can also create some change simply by doing it on your own. To be clear this is not EMDR but instead a completely different technique. The process again uses your eyes to reset your brain and the shifting of focus to something other than what is overwhelming you also helps to change your state. Give this modified version a try and see how quickly it can calm you down.
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1. Sit comfortably with your eyes open
2. Fix your head forward and do not allow it to turn as you do the process
3. ​Hold two fingers of one hand out in front of your eyes about 12-18" in front of you.
4. Begin moving your fingers left to right slowly while tracking your fingertips with your eyes
5. Keep your primary stressor in mind as you do this but maintain your eye fixation
6. ​Do this for 1 minute
7. Then start to move your fingers in a figure eight pattern from left to right
8. Now begin to bring to mind a positive emotion or a higher perspective on your issue
9. ​Do this for 30 seconds one way and then 30 seconds the opposite direction

#4 Modified Tapping

If you aren't familiar with tapping it is an acupressure technique that can reset your meridian system and help to alleviate symptoms ranging from physical to emotional. The below guide will be a shortened version that you can give a try:
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1. Bring to mind the main issue that you are stressed about. Or you can just bring to mind the feeling of stress in your body. You might say out loud, "this issue with _______ that I am feeling in my __________ in my body". This brings to mind the felt sense of where this issue exists in your body. Say this several times to yourself or aloud.
2. Karate Chop your two hands at one another hitting the side of your hands together about 2" below the base of your pinky finger. Do this 5-10 times while saying the above.
3. Continue saying your issue aloud and proceed to tap the following points one after another. You can change what you say as you cycle through these points. For instance you may start by stating the problem and then proceed to make a statement such as, "it's okay that I feel this feeling of _______". Then you might proceed to say, "this feeling of __________ is leaving me now."
4. Here are the points to tap which can be done with both hands/3-4 fingers on both sides:

• Top of head (Crown)
• Third Eye (inner edge of eyebrows)
• Outside Eye
• Under Eye
• Under Nose
• Chin
• Collar bone (where your clavicle meets your sternum/ next to the cavity at the base of your throat)
• Under arm (below arm it at ribs)

#5 Qigong Body Patting

As is the case with many of these strategies, moving your focus somewhere different can break the state of stress that you are currently experiencing. Your physical body is an outward expression of your inner world and as such you can access your inner world to some degree through the physical body. Think how great a massage feels, just having your body touched. This Qigong technique recognizes that your are more than your physical body and by engaging with the physical body you can begin to shift your energetic body. This can be done very easily in less than 5 minutes and you will feel a shift in how you feel:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart
2. ​Make gentle fists with your hands
   
3. ​With the finger side of your fist begin to slap or pat your body alternately with those fists
   
4. Up and down your arms
   
5. Tops of your shoulders and reach back to your upper back
   
6. Gently on the sides and back of your neck
   
7. Your chest and belly
   
8. Your low back where your kidneys reside
   
9. Fronts of your thighs
   
10. Your calves
    
11. Finish by stomping your feet on the ground. If you feel drawn to you can also let some deep sounds come out as you do this.
    

If you are looking for something more powerful then check out my Golden Sieve (pronounced 'siv') Divine Stress Reduction Meditation or if you'd like to get to the deeper causes of your stressful feelings then book a consultation and we can discuss how hypnotherapy can help you dramatically feel better and stay that way.

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