Meditate4Life

Transforming Tension and Stress into Relaxation and Ease

1. When you are experiencing a situation in which you feel tension and unpleasant emotions, ask yourself the question, in what way would I like this situation to be different?
2. When you notice you are feeling tense, then watch the tension as it is approaching from the distance. Once it has come, accept it. Do not try to push it away or suppress it or get angry at yourself for reacting, because that will make you more tense. Just recognize and observe what you are feeling and allow yourself to experience the symptoms in your body.
3. Now, begin to breathe using the abdominal breathing technique, slowly and deeply. As you change your breathing pattern, notice that you can begin to relax and change your thinking pattern. The breath is very closely connected to your mind and emotions. Check your body and see if there is any tension in your back, neck or shoulders; if so take a deep breath and consciously give yourself the message to relax that area of your body.
4. Notice if you want to fight, argue or run from the situation and then follow the next steps to begin to change your thinking about the situation.
5. Recognize what you are telling yourself that you want from the situation. If there is anything that you can practically do to change the situation then decide to do it; if not, then you must accept what is actually happening rather then trying to fight it mentally and emotionally. Give yourself the message that, as there is nothing you can do to change it, there is no point in having your mind dwell on it.
6. To stop dwelling on useless thoughts, you can elicit the relaxation response by placing you attention on the breath and slowing down the number of breaths you take per minute. Then start repeating the mantra, allowing the thoughts to come and go; then place your attention on the observer of the thoughts and gently bring the attention back to the breath or mantra whenever it gets involved in the thoughts.