How To Calm Stress And Anxiety Attacks By Daydreaming When you view the world around you and then try to recall it, how do you view it? You see it in a series of pictures.
Of course if you are relaxing and remembering past events its almost like entering a kind or trance because you are visualizing.
Could you do this to manage stress in your life if you were suddenly feeling anxious? Do you find your mind racing at times with a seriesof thoughts when you are trying to get to sleep for example? We all have favourite activities or past holiday experiences that we like to relive when looking through photographs, a flood of warmth circling around us.
Or a re-union offamily or friends.
If you are in an agitated mood or suffering symptoms of anxiety and suddenly had a good feeling come over you, it may alleviate the stress you feel yourself.
However if you can practise and even bring on feeling good for long enough, it may help you cope with the daily strain we can often feel.
I cant say that there is a good or bad way to visualize a good past memory but you need to practise it particularly if you have difficulty using your imagaination.
However your surroundings or environment should be quiet where possible so it does not affect your attention.
Be aware of your breathing, placing one hand on your upper chest and one on your stomach.
Take a breath and let your stomach swell forward as you breathe in and fall back gently as you breathe out.
Take the same depth of breath each time and try to get a steady rhythm going.
When you feel comfortable with this technique, try to slow your breathing rate down with a pause after you have breathed out and before you breathe in again.
With regular practice this slower rate will soon start to feel comfortable.
Make the mental pictures in your mind as real as possible.
If this is difficult you could perhaps get pictures out of magazines to focus on such as a stunning beach on a far away islandand, use your senses of touch, taste, and hearing too if you can.
The more realistic the imagery that you see within your mind, the more benefit you will gain.
The mind is much like a muscle in that, in order to relax, it needs to regularly release what it is holding onto.
By visualizing the different situations, you are allowing your mind to relax.
It is like sending a message to your brain that when you close your eyes and begin this process it is time for letting go of anything, including anxious thinking.
To train for best effect and prepare your mind how to let go of the stress, it is important to practice daily.
With practice, you can learn to release all stress within minutes of starting the exercise.
If you practise daily the end results will be greater and it can be done any time of day or at bedtime so long as its not at a point in the day where others can distract you from concentrating.