The Three-Minute Cure: A conscious stress management practice

While negotiating the obstacles of Delhi’s traffic, including families on motorcycles, mobile street vendors, and cows meandering across the roadway, my driver, Kumar, a yoga practitioner who likened himself to a Grand Prix racer, maintained a remarkable measure of calm and peace. I was his passenger and my life was in his hands. I was taking a journey through India to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to visit a friend and meditation teacher in the foothills of the Himalayas. Along the way I witnessed the resilience of not only Kumar, but many others living in a land that juxtaposes a deep spirituality and sacredness with over-crowding, poverty, stifled resources, and a chaos that rivals the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange. Throughout moments of reflection during my practice, I realized how often I was holding my breath in fear when Kumar negotiated everyday obstacles. My physical reaction reminded me of the stressful challenges I faced daily back home in Los Angeles, like work deadlines, family responsibilities and LA’s traffic, but nothing could compare to what a seemingly normal, routine day was like in India.

To live without stress is impossible. However, what you or I experience as stressful may not be the same for others. Since people demonstrate different reactions for managing life’s stresses, we could draw the conclusion that how we think — our perspective — plays a role in how we process stress. This in turn affects everything from how we breathe to personal transformation, healing, and our ability to find balance.

Managing and reducing stress includes both how we approach recuperating from the demands surrounding us and how we build our own residence, mentally and emotionally in preparation for life’s unexpected challenges. In this way, how we manage stress has at least two parts. First, create an environment that gives our body and mind enough time to restore and heal. Second, condition ourselves to respond to stress in a healthier manner by cultivating a more functional and mindful perspective, adjusting our attitude.

When we intend to participate in Conscious Stress Management, simplicity is key. We don’t want to overwhelm ourselves with too many instructions or techniques. Half of the practice sets our foundation by directing the body toward a healthy, feel-good state, while the other half aims at influencing our mind in a life affirming way. The following practice can help you reduce the effects of stress and improve your attitude about whatever challenges you face along your path.

Ultimately, our breath is the barometer, telling us how we’re doing mentally, emotionally, and physically. Taking a few moments to mindfully experience your breath has powerful, stress-relieving benefits. When we interact with our breath, we can affect our state of mind, our physiology, and our body’s stress response.

Ask yourself if this moment is a good time to give The Three-Minute Cure a try?

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath to settle. Begin to follow your breath, either at the nostrils or the belly/chest. This is your foundation. As the body becomes peaceful your mind opens to suggestion. Count 12-15 long breaths with the intention of relaxing your body.

Next, as you count another 12-15 breaths, visualize or imagine you are somewhere that you find quite pleasant, safe, and comforting, such as a beautiful beach or sitting by a warm, cozy fireplace. You can even imagine you’re with someone you love or care for. This will reinforce the Relaxation Response and align body and mind.

In the next 12-15 breaths or so, use your inner voice and remind yourself what a gift life is, and feel how thankful you are to discover and learn new things and how you have breath to breathe. You can add anything else to this list that creates happiness and joy.

Complete by saying to yourself that making the choice to see the positive side of whatever might be challenging you is the most logical and practical way toward health and well-being.

Before getting up, take a long, deep breath and thoroughly notice how you feel and what has changed.

After practicing this meditation a few times counting your breaths won’t be necessary. You’ll intuitively know just how long to stay with each segment.

The Three-Minute Cure is just one of many techniques that can elicit the Relaxation Response and better prepare us for life’s challenges. Its simple structure can reinforce the ability to be thoughtful of body and mind and to believe they are powerful tools for transformation, if used consciously. Sometimes, a state of healing and balance creates an opening so we can listen to ourselves. Since we are most suggestible to our inner voice, participating in what we say can make all the difference.

10 Steps For Sleeping Soundly

Do you wake up in the middle of the night?

It is believed that our sleep patterns are created when we are infants, but it might be difficult for you to go back in time to establish new patterns. Instead, we can influence today’s sleep cycle by actively managing our approach to rest and eventually undesired patterns may begin to change. Sleep preparation is a mindful technique for reducing the frequency of restlessness between the sheets.

Keep in mind that our sleep cycles can be affected by many variables, including but not limited to age, diet, stress levels, lifestyle and general health. You may already know, as we grow older it is very normal to wake up two or three times a night. If we consider this seriously and add stress to the mix or a stimulant (even some medications), naturally our sleep interruption scenario may be more pronounced. Also consider that the nervous system can change over time and metabolize what we put into our bodies differently. For example, although you may have been a coffee drinker for years, with body chemistry changes the effects of caffeine can become delayed, causing us to experience restlessness hours following our cherished cup of java.

Regardless of the cause(s) of sleep interruption, it is important to not worry about how you’ve been sleeping, as the stress of worry doesn’t help. I encourage you to work with your body and mind as a system whose main objective is to feel good. Acknowledging that your body wants to feel good and pointing your attention toward healthy practices that support this objective lets your body and mind system know it is safe and there’s no reason for sleep to be interrupted.

1. At a very low volume, play steady rain, or white noise. Avoid intermittent rain forest sounds, as sound variations can be disturbing.
2. Make sure there are no sharp lights that are visible from your bed.
3. Do not use the iPad, computer, or iPhone at least thirty minutes before sleep.
4. Do not watch the news, action or violent television before sleep and avoid loud or agitating conversation.
5. Have a glass of red wine or a small cup of herbal tea one to two hours before sleep.
6. Take a warm bath or shower.
7. Wear soft clothing, specifically for sleeping and treat yourself to high thread count sheets.
8. To sooth the nervous system before bed even more, place a large folded blanket near a wall and with your rear pressed up close to the base board, put your legs up the wall. Once positioned, take ten long, slow comfortable breaths extending the exhale naturally without force through your nose or mouth. Remain with your legs up the wall for five to ten minutes or until you feel very relaxed. When bringing the legs down lie in fetal position for couple of long breaths and repeat to yourself, “It is time to sleep soundly.” If you are physically challenged and cannot do number eight, simply sit and say a prayer for your family and loved ones or silently acknowledge everything in your life that you are thankful for. Gratitude has a soothing effect.
9. In bed, lights out, eyes closed, say to yourself, “I am safe. I don’t have to be anywhere or do anything. It’s my time to rest.”
10. Draw seven long, slow and comfortable breaths. For each breath visualize a body part and allow that body part to give into gravity a little more and let go. Start with a relaxing breath for your face. One breath for your right leg and one for the left. One breath for your right arm and one for the left. One breath for your torso and spine and one breath for your head.

It is a good idea to place a note pad by your bed and a small glass of water. Many times the sub-conscious mind will wake us up, simply because there is a thought or idea that we need to become conscious of. Write down the thought or idea, take a drink of water and go back to sleep, taking a few breaths to settle again, not forgetting to allow the body to give into gravity. If you awaken and there’s not a thought or idea in your mind, repeat step number ten and enjoy the fact that in the middle of the night you don’t have to be anywhere or do anything. It’s your time to rest.

Please visit: http://www.threecircleflow.com

With love,

John Sahakian C.Ht.