A way to deal with frozen feelings (2 of 2)

Any emotional situation that takes us out of the present and into the past means that whenever the same kind of emotion crops up later in our life we return to the past for our reference point. If that point was at age three, we find ourselves behaving like a three-year-old. We feel childish and we behave childishly. Even worse, we condemn ourselves for being stupid or immature and through our mental self-talk; reinforce the problem while desperately searching for a solution.

Whenever we feel deeply stressed our brain and body goes into a fight or flight response. It’s good if we can actually fight or run away, but most times we just freeze emotionally. Our ‘frozen feelings’ are the cause of this ‘glitch’ in our learning process. We know we should be able to make a positive change, but that doesn’t change anything. With a sense of helplessness we fear the future and self-doubt rules our lives.

The process of change need not be traumatic. We need to understand that whatever pain we experienced in the past because of which we made certain choices, were the only recourse we had at the time. We couldn’t have done any better because we didn’t know how to. But we should realize that was then and this is now! We can get help from trained professionals and learn to unblock the negative emotions fused in our past that affect our positive future. We can choose to choose again. It’s up to us. It’s our movie!  -The Times of India

The writer is the co-founder, AJNA Centre for Learning, Pune.  E-mail: ajnacenter@yahoo.com.  Website: www.ajnacenter.com

 

Breeeeeeathe

Good morning friends.  Reading is one of my hobbies. It’s good to always read because from that you will learn many things in real and even you can apply what you have read.  I read one article in one magazine.  I’d like to share it with you.  I’m sure it will help you a lot and even with me.  I tried to do it and it gives me positive result.

 

We all know to breath, but are we really getting the most from each breath we take?

 

Many of us inhale too shallowly, particularly when we’re stressed or tired.  These high, fluttery breaths only make us feel more anxious.  Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., author of Conscious Breathing advice to many people to take a moment and look at their abdomen.  If the belly doesn’t move, expanding in and out, then you’re not doing it right.  Sure enough the belly was hardly moving.

 

Slow yourself down to four seconds of breathing in and four seconds of breathing out, Hendricks said.  All it takes is three of those nice, slow breaths, and your stress quiets down.  To calm down even more, the reset button or doing four-second in-and-out breaths, but then pausing when the breath is out of your body until you need to breathe again.

 

Taking four seconds to breathe in and four-seconds to breathe out meant that you needed to stop what you was doing and concentrate, which was difficult at first.  You sill feel a glowing sense of refreshment that eased the tension and anxiety.  This is so easy to do and unobtrusive enough that you can do it anywhere. - Sandi Khan Shelton

The Ultimate Self-Help Principles

The breakout principle fit in all the health benefits of the stress-reducing “relaxation response,” which measures the cardiovascular and respiratory responses to meditation.  At the same time, it opens up the door to creative breakthroughs, spiritual insights, greater productivity and more.

 

The first stage of the breakout process begins with a hard mental or physical struggle.  It may be concentrated problems analysis, demanding physical training or an involuntary event such as an assault on your emotional well-being.

 

The next stage involves “pulling the trigger.”  The same mind-body device operates in every breakout trigger:  you must first cut completely your previous train of thoughts and emotions.  The critical distraction of prior mental patterns will enable you to shift your focus into new and more productive directions.  This event has been described as a “letting go,” or “backing off” or “releasing” your mind from the hard-work mode.  A wide variety of activities and thought patterns can act as a trigger, including walking, jogging, sewing, meditating or sitting in a beautiful setting.

 

The third stage in the process is the actual breakout, coupled with a “peak” experience.  The breakout is always accompanied by a greater sense of well-being and relaxation and often leads to peak creative experiences.

 

The cycle finishes with your returning to a “new-normal” state—including an ongoing state of improved performance and mind-body patterns. Those who have enjoyed a breakout must always re-enter the world of struggle and stress.  But now they are in a stronger position to rise to greater achievements or generate more deep ideas and insights. – Herbert Benson, M.D., and William Proctor

Vision Quest – 5

The Ability to Hear

 

“I think an essential step [in this progression is developing sensitivity to the subtle promptings of one’s soul,” says Dubitsky.  “Sometimes, the promptings can be felt viscerally in the form of illnesses of one kind or another.  Everything from tension headaches to backaches to stomachaches, to stress and colds or accidents can be signals that something is saying stop!  Getting sick allows for rest—and rest allows for reflection.”

 

The quest, says Andrews, is really no more that a search to re-establish our own connection with spirit—a return to the spiritual presence out of which we are born and to which we eventually return.  This connection, he adds, is one that may feel extremely distant within the context of daily life and the intricacies of responsibilities and relationships.  Approaching this search by setting an intention, suggest Rann and Arrott, can aid in the process.

 

“Intention is the first harbinger of our acceptance of a change in our lives or the expression of a new dream,”  explain Rann and Arrott.  “It is the wisp of the idea that we say ‘yes’ to.  The wisdom and power of the universe is always prepared to fully support and provide everything necessary for the unfoldment of the dream, and intention is the key that calls forth this universal wisdom and power.   Next, we make the decision to accept this dream or goal in our lives, and this decision sets the action.  Our commitment to the dream while it is unfolding—whether we see it happening or not—releases the full wisdom and power of spirit into action to bring this manifestation into existence for the greatest and highest good for all concerned.  And, so often, this manifestation will turn out to be so much better than we ever could have thought.”

 

In the beginning of any spiritual search, I think it’s important to have a support group or a guide or teacher.  Embracing spiritual truth in a way is like traveling to a new country.  Old coping mechanism will no longer work, so being with people who’ve traveled the same road is very helpful, as is reading books or listening to CDs that are both inspirational and instructional.

 

Ref: fityoga

Ways to Lift Your Spirits – 2

Learn to Trust.  I used to have trouble seeing how gentleness and humility could lighten my load.  Instead, I thought I needed to learn confidence and courage.  Or time management and goal setting.  Or efficiency and effectiveness.  But God knows that the two greatest sources of stress in our lives are aggression and arrogance.  They make us think we can do more and control more than we really can.  Learning to be humble will take you to  deeper level of calm confidence than any time-management seminar ever could.  It comes from trusting God with the details of your life.

This is a process that takes time.  You didn’t develop your stressed-out, overloaded, hyper-drive lifestyle over-night, so you’re not going to change with one simple decision.  You will have to unlearn and replace old habits that cause you stress.  But God will give you the power to change if you trust Him.

America witnessed a remarkable example of Jesus’ formula for coping with stress a few months back in the case of Ashley Smith, which made headlines.  When faced with an incredibly stressful situation-being taken hostage at gunpoint by alleged rapist and murderer Brian Nichols-Ashley obeyed the words of Jesus, and likely ended a killing spree.  First she turned to Jesus for strength and urged her captor to do the same.  Next she explained that God’s purpose for Brian’s life was greater than his problems.  She calmly urged him to stop trying to control things and to surrender to God.  Finally, she served Brian breakfast in a gentle and humble an “angel from God”, and the crisis was defused.

It’s unlikely you’ll ever face the stress that Ashley did, but you’ll undoubtedly experience other sorts of stress this very week.  When you feel like giving up—look up!  And you’ll lighten up as well.