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Home › Articles › Beauty & Wellness › Nurture Yourself!

Nurture Yourself!

Practical and Fun Ways to Lower Stress

By Rick Hanson

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

  • Look at something pretty.
  • Knead your neck and shoulders.
  • Nibble something good.
  • Rub your eyes and the bones around them gently.
  • Hug your child or partner for one whole minute.
  • Remember a good joke.
  • Repeat a favorite saying or prayer to yourself.

    • Long-term Stress Relief
    Immediate stress relief feels great, but it's also important to build up your psychological resilience for the long term. The essence is simple: First, let go of the "bad," like tension, sadness or troubling thoughts.

    Then, when you have released these burdens on your mind, you will have created a space in yourself in which to take in the "good," such as positive experiences of happiness and self-worth. You can let go of stress in each part of your inner world, including your body sensations, mental images, emotions, desires and thoughts.

    Letting Go of Stressful Thoughts
    Untrue, illogical or overly negative thoughts just increase your stress – and insight into them is like waking up from a bad dream, usually to good news, as one mother found out.

    She says: "I got a message at work that the daycare staff had phoned me. I called them and called them, but their line was always busy, so I left and drove over. It's true, I usually assume the worst. I was sure Jasmine had gotten hurt, and I worried about all the horrible possibilities the whole way. When I got there, they said she was fine, they'd had some trouble with their phones and they just wanted to ask me aboutmy payment last week. I felt a little silly about getting so worked up."


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