Thinking Brain

Feeling stressed nowadays? Unearthen the keys to living a healthy and stress-free life as Anshiko reveals easy-to-do yet very effective techniques to combat everyday stress in an instant. By Anshiko.

The rainy season is upon us once again. Rainy days come strong with rainy schedules, thundering in alongside the onset of another school year. Soon it’s going to be a tornado of deadlines, papers, group works, presentations, and exam dates all threatening to tear you apart. Students might be thinking it’s another year of determination, perspiration, intimidating hard work and responsibilities. Yes, our brains shall be receiving its yearly jumpstart again soon. But I’m sure you’ve spent at least some days during the last summer vacation to detoxify yourselves and get ready for the future school-year, so jumpstarting won’t be as numbing an experience as you thought it would be. The problem is, this time, you won’t be having as much opportunities to unwind as before.

Last issue we talked about aromatherapy as a stress-buster. But even aromatherapies, spa trips, and parties with friends take a significant chunk out of our busy schedules. This issue we are going to talk about something you can do right then and there, anytime you think you’re going to collapse. It’s an “instant” stress-buster, and it won’t take more than 2 minutes to take effect.

First, let us take a look at some causes of stress, or the things, which you have to avoid in order not to decrease your tolerance for stress. Mental stressors include having too much of (bad) news and brain-less TV, being a worry-wart, thinking too much about your problems, putting yourself down, pessimism, and being with too many negative and demanding people. Physical causes of stress are more obvious: constantly rushing in and out of things, taking in harmful chemicals through smoking, drinking too much alcohol, and caffeine, sleeping less, not exercising at all and being overweight. Lastly, though this is not oftentimes focused on by people, stress also comes from being spiritually drained. Spiritual stressors include not being able to express what’s inside you, doing things you hate, staying with people or being in a job you dislike.

Basic de-stressers against those above are simply doing what’s opposite of them. But what’re you going to do if you’re stuck with these elements, running out of fuse and about to explode soon? Try thinking brain. No, I don’t mean that over-heating grey matter inside our heads that is the root of all these, but delving into what the acronym stands for: Breathe right, Relax, Ask yourself, Imagine, and Notice.

Breathe. Never underestimate oxygen. It actually has the power to calm you down more than anything. When we’re stressed, breathing becomes shallow, and the body gets into the “fight or flight” response where all muscles are ready for action, and energy hormones (at the top of these, adrenalin) are secreted more than is necessary. Pause. Try consciously altering your breathing to “5 seconds in, 5 seconds out”. That is, inhaling for 5 seconds and exhaling for 5 seconds, while making sure to use abdominal breathing. You’ll find that taking this “mini time-out” calms your body and mind.

Relax. This is the effect of the abdominal breathing described above. Your muscles relax, and as oxygen levels in the brain increase, relaxation hormones dopamine and serotonin are secreted as well. Focus on the muscles that are tense. And as you breathe in, and out, think that you’re inhaling pure, revitalizing, calming energy which infuses itself in your tense muscles, and that you’re breathing out all the spent negative energy inside your tense spots.

Ask yourself what you would rather be feeling right now. Focusing too much on the negativity around you just aggravates the situation. Thoughts such as “what’s wrong with this, that, or is it me?” invite more stress. It’s your thoughts (frame of mind) that are the cause of unnecessary stress, and it is also your mind that is the key to eliminating the negativities it has created. Ask yourself this question and hear yourself answering positively.

Next, Imagine that you are in that state you would like to be in. Being in control of the situation means being in control of yourself, of your thoughts. Just the thought of positive emotions is enough for you to start imagining a time and a place when you felt those feelings. Surround yourself with the imagery.

Lastly, Notice how the above measures brought about changes in your physical & mental state. Consciously replace negative thoughts which threaten to enter and take over, with positive imagery, and try to maintain that frame of mind. If done correctly, there should be a significant difference between your feelings before and your disposition after you began taking this mini time-out.

You will never have to feel out of control again. One thing very good about this de-stresser is that whenever you feel like you are going into another one of those stress-attacks, you can start your brain into thinking BRAIN, and unwind then and there, right on the spot.


About the Author: ANSHIKO is a graduate of Business Administration in UP Diliman. Her affinity to the occult started in high school, due to Anne Rice’s influence. She learned more about Wicca and its misrepresentations by the Catholics while preparing for an information speech on the subject in college. She got attracted to the Path’s teachings, finding a kinship to it.

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