Helping You Love Yourself into Success and Less Stress Multi-Dimensional Stress Management Part II: Some Imaginative Strategies by Ilenya Marrin, DSS HOME FREE NEWSLETTER PRODUCTS SERVICES ABOUT ME TESTIMONIALS RESOURCES CONTACT Stress Management Remember that some stress is healthy and keeps you motivated to accomplish your goals. You want to eliminate unhealthy, excessive stress with excellent stress management approaches. The following tips are highlights of many possible ways to begin a natural stress management program in your life. Making small changes in the multiple dimensions of your consciousness -- physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually -- can greatly increase your relaxation and improve your stress management. Imaginative Strategies for Stress Management Use your imagination to help you relax. Take a break for two or three minutes and imagine yourself in a peaceful place, taking care of yourself, soaking up the sun, walking, gardening or whatever brings you a calm and contented feeling inwardly. To spark your creative process, here are a few other ideas for imaginative stress management. Imagine lying in a comfortable boat and drifting down a gentle stream, curling up in front of a cozy fireplace, lazing in a hammock in your backyard, lying on a beach, sitting quietly on a mountaintop, leaning against a huge friendly tree trunk, scuffing through the pine needles of a rich evergreen forest, or lounging on a cruise ship. For the best stress management results, make your imagination a "now" process - not a daydream of "What if" or "If only." Bring the images, sounds and scents of your island paradise right here and right now in your imagination. Again, for powerful stress management, really allow yourself to get into this vision. Make it as vivid, clear and bright as you can. If you envision it as tiny and far away, see if you can "zoom in" on your picture so you can see the details clearly. Be sure to put yourself inside the picture looking around at your surroundings in this imagined peaceful place. This mini-vacation in your imagination is an excellent stress management approach. If you do not visualize clearly, that's fine too! You can simply talk to yourself about what you imagine is there, or get a strong positive feeling for what is there. It's not necessary to imagine in technicolor to gain excellent stress management results using your imagination. Success and Stress Management Furthermore, if you are facing a tough interview, presentation, meeting, discussion or interaction with others, use your imagination in a similar way for stress management to decrease anxiety, boost confidence and help you succeed. Experiment with following these stress management instructions. About an hour before your important appointment, take a few minutes to imagine going through your meeting feeling relaxed, confident and coming out a winner. Stress Management Visualization: First, close your eyes and imagine a successful outcome - the very end of the meeting. Vividly picture it turning out the way you want - people are smiling, shaking hands, applauding, or whatever would spell success to you. Talk to yourself about how happy you feel, and really let yourself feel that happiness! Notice what the other people are saying, the sounds of success. To complete this stress management process, in your imagination, back up and imagine a relaxed and confident you in the beginning of the situation. And then imagine the middle scenes that get you from that auspicious beginning to the satisfying ending, feeling cool, calm and collected. As I recall from a workshop years ago, according to Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) experts, the sequence of your imagining for stress management and success is important. First imagine the successful ending, then the beginning, then the linking middle portion. This process is similar to what sports figures do when they imagine successful basketball shots, perfect putts, and running half a second faster. It's a stress management winner's strategy that can help you reduce stress, stay calm and succeed in challenging situations. Go to Multi-Dimensional Stress Management: Part III: Some Strategies for Managing Emotions

Loving Your Success Blog
Phone: 802-658-2921