Stress Management

Stress Relief — How to Relax

When struggling with stress, most people think about stress management. However, I don't really like the idea of "managing stress". I'd rather get rid of the stress in the first place. As Bruce Elkin says:

Stress Thresholds

Everyone has a threshold of stress. That's the point beyond which you no longer cope well, or even cope at all.

Now, the thing is that you can't change other people or situations – but you can change your response to them. You can learn ways to change your own feelings and emotions, so that the same things no longer stress you out the way they used to.

Think about it: I'm sure you've come across people or situations that stressed you out, yet the same thing didn't bother someone else. Or perhaps it's been the other way around: You've found something quite OK, and wondered why someone else had a real problem with it.

Same thing… Different response… It's not the thing that makes you stressed, but your response to it.

Changing your Response

So the solution isn't to try to change what's out of your control, but instead to change your own state of mind. And I know, it may seem that your emotions are outside your control. You can't help what you feel, can you? Actually, you can, when you know how!

Some tips

A short article like this can't give you the tools and skills to learn to change your emotions. However, I can give just a few tips that may help a little.

1. Breathing: Whenever you start to get stressed, stop! Take a couple of seconds to check that you're breathing; and make sure that you breathe with your diaphragm (your stomach), not your chest.
2. Your body: Having a sick body is a major source of stress, and it makes your stress threshold a lot lower. In other words, you can't cope as well. Be sure to keep yourself hydrated (with water and caffeine-free drinks); look after your diet; and exercise regularly. You'll be amazed what a difference it makes!
3. Meditation: Meditation, or similar skills such as self-hypnosis and mindfulness, helps to calm you and raise your stress threshold.
4. Acceptance: Acceptance does not mean that you give up.
   Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgment of the facts of a situation. Then deciding what you're going to do about it.

   — Kathleen Casey Theisen
   When you resist something, it causes more discomfort or pain. Stop resisting; accept first, change second.
5. Your thoughts: Watch what you say to yourself. Keep your thoughts about yourself and others polite and calm. When you swear at yourself or call yourself names, or when you say things like, "I don't deserve this" or "I can't do this", then you train yourself to be unhappy.
   The most influential person who will talk to you all day is you, so you should be very careful about what you say to you!

   — Zig Ziglar

There is, of course, a lot more, but if you take those few tips seriously, you'll go a long way.

Call 01865 429135 or email with your questions.

This website for hypnosis in Oxford is available for people to learn more about hypnosis and hypnotherapy for various issues and solutions. For hypnosis for stress and stress relief you can browse these pages. You can find more about how to relax here. Hypnosis can also be used for taking control of other problems or issues, especially when used together with other therapies, such as hypnotherapy, self-hypnosis, NLP and EFT.