Stress Reduction

Using Mind-Body Stress Reduction to Manage Stress

When you are feeling stressed, every task you are asked to do causes you even more stress. Even activities you once enjoyed don't seem as fun. Relax and learn to live mindfully, and you will relieve your stress and feel happier.

You may have heard of a Stress Reduction technique called MBSR, or mind-body Stress Reduction. This technique was originally introduced by the American psychologist Jon Kabat-Zinn, who is currently Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

His pioneering Stress Reduction techniques were first taught to cancer patients to reduce the anxiety, pain and stress of cancer treatments, but it is easily adaptable for anyone looking for a great way to calm the nerves and clear the mind.

The underlying foundation of mind-body Stress Reduction training is "mindfulness." Mindfulness simply means that a person learns the skill of paying attention to what is happening right now, in this moment. It might not sound like a tough thing to do, but concentrating on only the present moment without thinking about the past or the future is very difficult for most people.

MBSR trainers begin by guiding people through how to walk, sit quietly, and eat mindfully. For example, you might try eating a single raisin. You would pay attention to only the smell, taste, and texture of the raisin, and gently refocus your thoughts to center around only the raisin and the experience of eating it. This kind of exercise doesn't produce a sweat, but a lot of mental work goes on to just do that one thing.

MBSR brings the calmness and relaxation of the meditative state into every moment of life. When you combine the two ways of thinking and acting, you are essentially meditating all the time without actually sitting cross-legged on the pillow all the time.

You pay attention to only the task in front of you, so you can actually be more productive at work and home. Because you are not multi-tasking constantly and getting distracted, you finish what you are doing and enjoy the experience, even if it is washing dishes or working on a difficult project.

Once you learn the skill of living in the present moment, you will no longer "yell" at yourself because you didn't complete tasks or made a mistake. These negative thought patterns cause most of your stress, because you are not paying attention to what is actually going on around you - you are caught up in circles of regret and guilt about the past, or anxiety and planning for the future. This robs you of joy in your life, and makes you feel very unhappy. You find that you don't want to do what you are doing because your mind is distracted.

Besides performing every task mindfully and learning to live in the moment, mind-body Stress Reduction teaches you how to do light meditation. There is much evidence in the medical world that meditation relieves emotional, physical and mental stress. Sitting for fifteen minutes and just breathing, while not allowing random thoughts to disturb the experience, is relaxing and healthy for your mind.