We all know that stress kills, or at least causes physical, emotional and mental pain.
Yet few of us understand the pathway by which stress deforms us, creating physical problems like disease and aging, emotional problems like depression, frustration and anxiety, and mental problems like hyper-activity, obsessive compulsive disorders, and confusion.
Even fewer people understand the pathway of self-healing.
That pathway is a pathway of letting go of stress.
Yet how do we let go of stress, and how does this help us physically, emotionally and mentally? The answer lies in recognizing that all forms of stress express themselves in a similar way in the body.
No matter what the kind of stress we experience, it translates itself into physical tension.
The classic description of stress includes physical tension.
Our muscles contract and our breathing gets restricted whenever we experience stress.
And this clearly affects us over the long term in physical ways, for example in headaches, back pain, arthritis, reduced circulation, weakened digestion, and so on.
But these physical symptoms not only are part of the physical stress that contributes to disease and aging.
They are also intricately tied up with emotional and mental stress.
Emotional stress always creates physical tension.
Think of how anger makes you clench in your jaw or chest, or fear creates a knot in your stomach.
Mental stress also is always correlated with physical tension.
When we lack good focus, our body is tense.
When we are well focused, on the other hand, our body is relaxed and calm.
That is why, when we are performing at our peak mentally, we often describe this experience as being in a flow state.
Since physical, mental and emotional stress all involve physical tension, focusing on letting go of physical tension can play a huge role in improving health, reducing emotional stress, and enhancing mental focus.
The conscious practice of relaxation is a key tool to improving the physical, mental and emotional quality of your life.
Very few people recognize that making physical, mental and emotional relaxation a priority is the key to obtaining physical, mental and emotional health, and that once you do this, your life will automatically flow more and more easily.
The easiest way to do that is to focus primarily on being present to your body, in your breathing, your movement, your day to day behavior, and to invite your body to soften.
Learn to let your breath deepen and soften, learn to let your muscles relax, to let go of your grip on life.
Make being at ease moment by moment your goal, rather than sacrificing ease in the moment for the sake of achieving that next goal.
Strange as it sounds, this is the key to true success: to cultivate inner balance, calm, and quiet, in the midst of the chaos of life.
The rewards include longevity, emotional serenity, and peak mental focus.
What else is worth living for! © 2007 Ingrid Bacci PhD.
All rights reserved.
This article is FREE if published with resource box.
Yet few of us understand the pathway by which stress deforms us, creating physical problems like disease and aging, emotional problems like depression, frustration and anxiety, and mental problems like hyper-activity, obsessive compulsive disorders, and confusion.
Even fewer people understand the pathway of self-healing.
That pathway is a pathway of letting go of stress.
Yet how do we let go of stress, and how does this help us physically, emotionally and mentally? The answer lies in recognizing that all forms of stress express themselves in a similar way in the body.
No matter what the kind of stress we experience, it translates itself into physical tension.
The classic description of stress includes physical tension.
Our muscles contract and our breathing gets restricted whenever we experience stress.
And this clearly affects us over the long term in physical ways, for example in headaches, back pain, arthritis, reduced circulation, weakened digestion, and so on.
But these physical symptoms not only are part of the physical stress that contributes to disease and aging.
They are also intricately tied up with emotional and mental stress.
Emotional stress always creates physical tension.
Think of how anger makes you clench in your jaw or chest, or fear creates a knot in your stomach.
Mental stress also is always correlated with physical tension.
When we lack good focus, our body is tense.
When we are well focused, on the other hand, our body is relaxed and calm.
That is why, when we are performing at our peak mentally, we often describe this experience as being in a flow state.
Since physical, mental and emotional stress all involve physical tension, focusing on letting go of physical tension can play a huge role in improving health, reducing emotional stress, and enhancing mental focus.
The conscious practice of relaxation is a key tool to improving the physical, mental and emotional quality of your life.
Very few people recognize that making physical, mental and emotional relaxation a priority is the key to obtaining physical, mental and emotional health, and that once you do this, your life will automatically flow more and more easily.
The easiest way to do that is to focus primarily on being present to your body, in your breathing, your movement, your day to day behavior, and to invite your body to soften.
Learn to let your breath deepen and soften, learn to let your muscles relax, to let go of your grip on life.
Make being at ease moment by moment your goal, rather than sacrificing ease in the moment for the sake of achieving that next goal.
Strange as it sounds, this is the key to true success: to cultivate inner balance, calm, and quiet, in the midst of the chaos of life.
The rewards include longevity, emotional serenity, and peak mental focus.
What else is worth living for! © 2007 Ingrid Bacci PhD.
All rights reserved.
This article is FREE if published with resource box.