Relaxation Techniques - A Simple Trick For Stress Reduction!

By Carol Pounds

Are you sick and tired of being stressed out?

If you are stressed, you literally are sick and tired. You are in a constant state of hyper alertness.

You feel like your mind can't quit thinking! You're tense, erratic, and feel like you have a hundred things to do all at once, and if you quit thinking about them for one second, you'll forget something.

Or you have a big project due at work, and it's got you on edge.

Whatever it is, long term stress can make you physically ill. Often headaches, stomach pain, back pain or other more serious illnesses are caused by stress.

Although it's impossible to eliminate all stress from your life, you can change your reaction to stress.

It's time for a change, don't you agree?

I finally found a trick that will help you overcome one of the situations that stress causes.
Proper breathing!

Some of the greatest minds in hypnosis agree that one of the easiest and most effective stress reduction relaxation techniques is based on the simple notion of proper breathing.

Most of us are shallow breathers and when we're under stress; our breathing becomes even more erratic and shallow. When you slow down and control your breathing, you immediately reduce your hyper alertness. And in turn you reduce your feeling of stress.

Use this trick to dramatically reduce your stress level:

• Sit or lie down and close your eyes
• Place your right hand on your stomach and your left hand on your chest
• Imagine a blue balloon in your stomach

Breathe slowly ten times using the following technique:

• Breathe in through your nostrils and imagine the balloon filling up in your stomach
• Exhale and allow all the air to flow out of your body
• Repeat silently to yourself "relax, relax, relax" and say the number ten

Repeat this relaxation technique again by breathing in, filling the balloon, and slowly exhaling, repeating "relax, relax, relax" again and say "9". Repeat the exercise again saying the number 8 and so forth until you get to number 1.

This exercise should take approximately 3 - 4 minutes.

This simple program of slowing down, breathing deeply and slowly, and repeating relax; will bring you peace and calm. When you combine this breathing exercise on a daily basis along with self hypnosis techniques for relaxation, you are on your way to reducing much of the stress in your life.

For more information on stress reduction and relaxation hypnosis, visit my website.
Carol A Pounds

I have twenty years experience in teaching and education, twelve years working the in health care profession, and am a certified hypnotist. My goal is to help people keep their minds and bodies in optimum condition as well as give them the ability to achieve any goal they truly desire through the power of their subconscious mind. More original content on achieving your goals posted on my website.

http://www.achieve-with-hypnosis.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Pounds

Taking Control of Your Life - An Empowerment Technique That Could Change How You View Everything

By Lynn Marie Sager

How can you regain control of your life?

Pay attention to your language. Listen to the words that drop carelessly from your lips.
Whatever you say often enough, you eventually prove to yourself. Your language is a refection of your thoughts and your attitudes. Your language reflects whether you feel in control of your life, or out of control in your world.

How often do you hear statements like: "I can't," "If only," "I must," "There is nothing I can do," "I was born that way," "She irritates me," "He makes me uptight," "They won't let me," "You need to do something," "Everything is a mess," "I had no choice," "He started it."

Now, take a moment to consider how often you use similar statements yourself.

Statements like these are limiting. They indicate that the speaker has relinquished all power. They indicate that the speaker feels helpless and unable to affect worthwhile change.

If you want to reclaim your sense of power, then you need to retrain your tongue to take back your sense of control. Don't ever think that the words you utter don't matter. Your mind starts to believe anything that your tongue says often enough.

When you change your words, you change your thoughts. When you change your thoughts, you change your perspective. When you change your perspective, you begin to grow. And once you start to grow, you'll start to develop power, self-esteem, self-control and the ability to design your own life. So remove self-limiting statements from your habitual speech patterns. Whenever you catch yourself using limiting words or phrases, use the SPAR technique explained on my website. Retrain yourself to use words that empower you. Don't let yourself make statements that tear you down. If you can, ask someone that you trust to help you listen to your wording.
You don't always notice your own limiting phrases and a partner can help you.

Anytime that you discover a limiting thought, affirm its opposite. Write down the affirmation, say the affirmation, sing the affirmation-do whatever it takes to prove to yourself that you are not limited. Most importantly, don't buy into the myth that you have no control over your life.
Whatever you focus upon determines your life, and you have total control over your focus.

Once you start to practice controlling your thoughts, you'll discover that the power to control your life is as simple as changing your mind.

During class, I often say that things are simple, and then I see everyone looking skeptical. Notice that I said, "simple." Not "easy."

A vast difference exists between simple and easy.

Everything I teach is simple. In fact, a lot of what I teach is so simple that many people consider it obvious. Yes, the rules of the river are simple to understand, but they are not easy to incorporate into your life. Control takes commitment, focus, process, belief and effort. Control is simple, but it is not easy. Control will not happen overnight, but it will begin to happen as soon as you start...

You'll find a table on the Navigating Life Website containing limited statements along side their more powerful opposites. Simply visit http://www.navigatinglife.org and click on our galley, where you will find a link under "Shortcuts to Navigating Life" entitled "Empowered versus limited thoughts." Take a look at it and ask yourself, "How does what I constantly tell myself compare to these examples? Do my words limit me, or empower me?"

From A River Worth Riding: Fourteen Rules for Navigating Life, by Lynn Marie Sager copyright 2005

You can find much more about this topic on Navigating Life's website. Simply go to http://www.navigatinglife.org, and visit the Galley for links to our full articles.

Lynn Marie Sager has toured over two-dozen countries and worked on three continents. Author of A River Worth Riding: Fourteen Rules for Navigating Life, Lynn currently lives in California; where she fills her time with private coaching, public speaking, and teaching for the LACCD and Pierce College. She runs the Navigating Life website, where she offers free assistance to readers who wish to incorporate the rules of worthwhile living into their lives.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lynn_Marie_Sager

Quick Tips on Interviewing - The S-O-A-R Technique

By Robert Taub

Your stories should tell about actions that you took to bring about positive change. The "SOAR" story technique does just that: A sure-fire method for bridging your qualifications and successes to the needs the targeted company.

One of the most important tenets in product marketing applies here in career planning:
Differentiate your product from others in the marketplace.

John Folcarelli, Labor Attorney and Human Resource Manager for Laidlaw Education: "Most people involved in planning their career tend to fly by the seat of their pants rather than exercise control over the process as it unfolds. For instance, in the interview, instead of simply reacting to questions imposed by the interviewer, the job candidate can and should attempt to take on more responsibility for influencing the direction of the interview.” The story technique does just that. It is a method for bridging your qualifications and past successes to the needs the targeted company.

Your stories should tell about actions that you took to bring about a positive change. Story techniques cover the "before", the "action" and the "after." You can begin by first explaining what had existed that required your attention: Situation. Next consider how this new challenge may benefit the enterprise and you: Opportunity. Briefly describe what you did: Action. Lastly, describe the outcome and its benefits to you and the company: Results. Here are two examples of the use of the story technique or “S.O.A.R”:

Example 1

(S) I was selected by top management to lead a corporation into the US market and…
(O) I recognized an opportunity to have a big impact on operations at a wholly owned subsidiary.
(A) Over a two-year period I developed a cohesive staff which went on to develop 1.5 million square feet of office properties at $350 million which…
(R) Produced over $25 million of net operating income and $4 million net cash flow for the corporation resulting a promotion to President of the wholly owned subsidiary.

Example 2

(S) The ownership of a physical therapy and sports medicine company recruited me to…
(O) Lead, grow and concurrently stabilize a $4.7 million health systems company staffed by 85 professionals.
(A) I developed and executed all business plans and opened new markets in industrial and corporate health promotion, …
(R) positioning the company for its very profitable $6.6 million sale, $2.5 million more than the ownership had anticipated.

A strong, well-articulated philosophy, sound success concepts and persuasive examples of your successes using the Story Techniques (SOAR) are essential for securing a quality position.

Rob Taub, a 21-year veteran in the career consulting field who heads the RLS Executive Group, N.E. for RL Stevens & Associates, has also been active as a fund-raiser for Technology in Education, an auctioneer with WGBH Public Television, a debate moderator with Community Access Television, an instructor for Junior Achievement and a youth sports coach. He has also been a guest speaker for community organizations, chambers of commerce and alumni associations on a wide range of subjects including Education, Technology, Career Management, Marketing Communications and Direct Selling.