Clear Your Mind

I briefly scanned an article listed in Yahoo News this morning that stated that psychological studies have determined that talking too much about a problem or problems causes anxiety. To me, this study falls under the category of "Duh! Ya think?"

This is one of the life lessons that I learned a long time ago. If you obsess on something bad, it was going to cause stress and anxiety.

One of the problems that I see, and from my reading it is a problem that is rampant in the United States, many people do not know how to relax. It is time for my disclaimer here. I am one of the worst at allowing myself to to obsess on problems. How am I going to be able to pay all of the bills and still have gas money for work? Inventory is happening in two weeks and we do not have the people or technology in place to do it correctly. And I could go on. Problem after problem.

I actually felt myself tensing as I typed out the previous paragraph. I had to take a brief moment to take some deep breaths, relax my shoulders, and let my mind clear.

And that is the point of this blog. We all need to find how we can relax, even if it is for just a few moments. My reading and research has shown me one of the quickest method of relaxing is deep breathing. One of the best advocates of the importance of deep breathing is Matt Furhey. Matt has many web sites. A good place to start is mattfurhey.com. Looks around and you will find links to many of his other pages. I am on his emailing list and I look forward to his emails everyday.

I find that for myself, taking long full, deep breaths get me on the fast track away from tension. I breath in through my nose, taking in as much air as my lungs can take, holding for about 3 seconds. I then exhale all the air until there is no air left. I also hold that for about 3 seconds and then relax as the air comes rushing back into my body.

I repeat this several times, depending on how much stress I am banishing. I also focus on me. I focus on my breathing, trying to clear as much out of my mind while only paying attention to the flow of air in and out of my body.

Most of the time, deep breathing does the trick and allows me to get back to going about my business without anxiety and stress weighing me down. On the rare occasion that this does not complete the task, I do something physical to kind of loosen the muscles that are wanting to hold on to the tension. If I am able, I go for a long walk. I focus only my walking and things immediately around me. The pace of my steps. Sounds of birds or crickets or frogs. Plants or trees. I do my best to focus on the very here and now, nothing outside of the moment that I am in.

If I am somewhere I can't go for a walk, I will try to clear my mind while relaxing my muscles. I will try to shake out my arms, imagining that they are like 2 ropes connected to me at the shoulders and I shake while the muscles are totally disengaged. I will also do what I have heard called the "washing machine." I rotate my upper body back and forth, letting the arms swing free but trying to keep the lower body still as possible. Sometimes I shake my legs as if I am trying to get rid of something off my shoe. I do this one leg at a time and repeat several times or until I start to get funny looks.

These are some things that I do to help me to not focus on problems. They let me clear my mind. I feel better and function better when I am not a half a step from an anxiety attack. I encourage anyone who reads this to try to find ways to help you relax. Think of ways to take brief mental vacations. Life is too short to go through it full of tension and anxiety. Does this mean we need to ignore problems? No. At the same time, we can't let the pressures of our world dominate our lives.

The best thing that I have found about my mental vacations? Often, they start me down the right path to discovering the solution. And that is the best way to get rid of anxiety, solve the problem.

Keep Smiling!!

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(c) Copyright 2007 Eddy Seegers