Best Stress Relief Canberra
Stress relief is such a common issue that my clients come to me about. We work together to quickly reduce physiological responses, re-frame beliefs/thoughts/attitudes and build new behaviours so that life’s experience is from a “whole-brained state” – more balanced, calm and peaceful.
Stress is “a response to a pressure or threat” and our bodies are actually beautifully designed to respond well to stress, and then return to our natural balanced state. Stress can be our friend from the perspective that it can save us from a life-threatening situation, motivate us to perform better or overcome an obstacle, and propel us to achieve our goals outside of our comfort zone. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal brilliantly explains in her TedTalk How to make stress your friend how your beliefs about stress contributes to its effect, and that trusting yourself to handle life’s challenges and utilising our human connections in times of stress is extremely important.
However, life experiences such as grief, trauma, work-life imbalance, issues with relationships and health have the potential for us to be in elevated levels of stress for longer periods. Our body, as well as our thoughts, feelings and behaviours start changing, moving us away from our desired health and wellbeing. If you are wanting stress relief Canberra to start moving you forward and towards your optimal health and wellbeing, Deana Cuming is an expert in stress relief management and can guide you exactly where you want to be.
Guidance from the expert: stress relief management
We first uncover what is causing the stress. Often people are aware of the cause of their stress, however in other cases the source of the stress may be complex having occurred over years, or it may not be as it appears on the surface.
A common source of stress in our lives is when our subconscious learns to automatically respond to experiences that are similar to past trauma, for example if we experienced a car accident when it was raining, we can keep feel anxious every time we are in a car and it is raining. Another source of stress is when our beliefs that are stored in our subconscious are not in alignment with what we want consciously for our life. For example, we consciously know we deserve love and are wanting to find it, but our subconscious was programmed when we were a child that we were not deserving of love, and that creates an inner conflict and stress that is reflected in life.
Once we understand what is causing the stress, we use simple and effective strategies to release the stress and unravel the common side-effects from longer periods of stress:
- Undereating and overeating
- Short temper, anger, loss of patience
- Sleep concerns
- Stomach issues
- Depression and anxiety
- Tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse
- Alientation/disengagement from life.
Simple strategies to help with stress relief
Book an appointment with me! I can help you to reduce your stress levels, improve your ability to respond to stressful situations, and build resilience.
Call Me on (02) 6162 4102
Because I am passionate about empowering people to achieve health & wellbeing, please find below some simple strategies that you can start incorporating into your life right now that can effectively provide stress relief Canberra.
- Using the whole-brain posture
A simple and effective posture when sitting quiet and relaxed for a few minutes helps alleviate stress. Sit comfortably in a chair, cross one ankle over the other, cross one wrist over the other, bring your palms togther, interlock your fingers and relax your hands in your lap (or you can take your crossed hands and fold them under and towards you to rest on your chest). To understand why this works for stress reflief and to see what this posture looks like watch this video by Bruce Litpon – Using 100% of your brain
- What gets me to my happy place?
Another very simple strategy is to keep handy a list of the things you know work for you (e.g. on the fridge door, purse, typed into your phone) – a reminder of the little things that can make a big difference to shift our mood in a positive direction.
Here is my list for simple de-stressing to give you some ideas:
- Breathe deeply
- Whole-brain posture (see above)
- The quick coherence technique (www.hearthmath.org)
- Go outside for 5 minutes
- Listen to music (positive/uplifting songs)
- Go for a walk
- Make a cup of tea and drink outside
- Smell flowers
- Watch the kids play
- Watch animials or nature
- Have a bath
- Smell essential oils
- Ring a friend
- Draw an inspiration card.
- The GET-IT morning ritual
I learnt this morning ritual from my mentor Brendan Bruchard, and it is a great way to start each day. Typically this can be done in a few minutes, if you have time you can spend longer, and set the intention for your day.
G is for Gratitude: what is one thing to be grateful for today (doesn’t have to be a new thing every day)
E is for Excited: what is one thing I can get excited about for my day (can be small)
T is for Trip-up: what is something that might trip me up today and what can I put in place to mitigate it
I is for inspiring: what is one thing I can do today to surprise and inspire someone (e.g. tell a random stranger they look nice or tell someone you appreciate something they do, write a note for wife/child and pop in lunch box)
T is for talk: talk out aloud with meaning and conviction, a statement or paragraph from a book, something that is true and positive about you or life. These could be from a list of statements that you brainstorm that are your best qualities.
- Journal
Why not end each day with a couple of minutes of reflection, write down the 3 things you were grateful for today.
Why not try this for a week and see if you notice any difference.
Call Me on (02) 6162 4102
Also View: PSYCH-K Canberra, Wellness Coach Canberra, Health Coach Canberra, Mind and Body Coach Canberra