Relaxation Goes a Far Way

One of the quickest and easiest techniques to deal with stress is to relax. As dumb as it may sound, taking a minute to breath can quickly calm us down, and give our minds a minute to reejuvanate. In the book “Managing Stress Before It Manages You”, author Jenny Steinmetz gives different breathing techniques help reduce stress levels.

When you get stressed, “you breathe more rapidly and shallowly”. (Steinmetz, 1980) Taking a minute to slow down your breathing, gives you a chance to gain control again. Steinmetz says breathing is most effective when broken into a cycle. She provides the following 4 steps to recieve the best outcomes.

1. Segment 1: Inhale, slightly deeper than your regular inhalation.
2. Segment 2: Begin to exhale. This should occur immeditley after the completion of the inhalation.
3. Segment 3: Focus on any relaxation that you become aware of spreading across your chest as your exhaling.
4. Segment 4: Complete the exhalation phase, but don’t release all the air you have, which would cause your muscles to tighten.

As simple as this may seem, by doing this a couple times a day when you feel stress coming on, you allow yourself to relax fast and in such an easy way. I tried this technique tuesday morning during my public health test. I got to a question I didn’t know and I could feel my stress levels begin to rise. I knew that if I didn’t control my stress, I wouldn’t be able to finish the rest of my test with my head in the right place.

At that moment I stopped and followed the 4 steps above. I could feel the relaxation take over me, and after I finished taking a minute to breath, I was able to to continue on with my test with my mind in the right state. Many people think that to be able to manage stress they have to go to counceling or even sometimes go on medicine, but the simpliest things really do go the farthest way.

Citations:

Steinmetz, J.(1980) Managing Stress Before It Manages You. Palo Alto, California. Bull Publishing Company.