Got Stress?  It’s gonna get you if you don’t watch out!

Stress is the body’s response to a potential threat.  When we become stressed, our muscles become tense. Our breath, our pulse rate and even our blood pressure can increase as the body demands more oxygen and blood for the muscles.  Basically, the stressed body is in “charge” mode.  Yet, when most of us feel stressed, we are either at work, in traffic or at home, and we don’t suddenly get up to run or flee.  Instead we stay idle and feel pressured, worried, and uncomfortable, while our body might be screaming… “fight or flight”, and then we don’t know what to do.

Here are a few suggestions.  1.  Relax your body and find a place for peace in your life.  That place may be in your backyard or maybe in a quiet room, or at the nearby park.  2.  Concentrate on your breathing.  Focus on its pattern of taking in and releasing of air.  This is helpful for relaxation and is a way to create a more tranquil state within your body.  Focus on matching equal breaths in and out.  When you release the breath, think of “letting go.”  These are a few ideas that might help you calm your mind and help you breathe again!