Relaxation: Stress Management Techniques

Fritzie
Stress Management

There's no easy solution to deal with the problem of stress. Stress is encountered in almost every aspect of our lives. Like successful weight management, in order to achieve stress reduction, we must weave the solution into the fabric of our lives. Through regular practice of stress reduction techniques, symptoms of stress decrease and become more manageable.

For the most part, stress is largely under your control. You may not be able to control the situation; however, your reaction in any given situation is entirely under your control. One way to monitor and understand stress in your life is to record your feelings in a diary. Once you gain better awareness of the things that cause you stress, you can then build an action plan to positively manage it by creating some positive goals to help reduce the amount of stress in your daily life.

Relaxation: Stress Management Techniques

For the next few moments... stop doing... just sit. Become aware of your breath. Focus on the subtle ebb and flow as you breathe in, and breathe out, and breathe in, and breathe out, and breathe in, and breathe out...

You have just experienced a relaxing, albeit brief, time-out. When practiced throughout the day, this breathing exercise can reduce your stress level significantly! There are a variety of stress management techniques that will help decrease the amount of anxiety you experience in your life. My list is not all-inclusive, but it's a good start. I suggest you experiment with a wide variety of techniques to find the ones that work best for you. Once you find some effective techniques, practice them regularly to weave them into the fabric of your daily life.

Deep breathing. The exercise like the one explained above can give you some immediate relief from a stressful situation. Focus on slowing your heart rate down by breathing in deeply and slowly, then exhaling slowly and completely. Repeat the inhale/exhale cycle at least five times, and you should notice a decrease in your heart rate and anxiety level.

Quiet time. Taking some quiet time for yourself can often reduce stress. Find a place at home and at work where you can get away from everyone and take a few minutes for yourself. You can practice any relaxation technique or simply spend the time thinking through a problematic situation. Use the time to do whatever will help you relax.

Relaxation media. There is a variety of relaxation media on the market in the form of cassettes, CDs, videos, and even computer software. These products can provide you with multiple forms of stress management techniques, step-by-step instruction, soothing music, and more.

Visualization. Mental visualization is a powerful technique. While it can be implemented in almost any situation, visualization has gained notoriety in its successful practice by competitive athletes. The basic technique of visualization is to put yourself in a relaxed position, breathe deeply and rhythmically, and close your eyes. Then, in detail, imagine in your mind's eye a peaceful place or any surroundings that are pleasant and calming to you. While imagining this place, focus on breathing deeply and releasing tension from your entire body.

Visualization can also be used to play out a situation from the beginning to its positive end. This is one of the variations used by competitive athletes. In your mind's eye, imagine in detail the chain of events and the actions you will perform to attain a positive end result. During this process, focus on breathing deeply, releasing tension from your body, and approaching every action in a calm and confident manner.

Yoga. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit language meaning union and is believed to be at least 6000 years old, originating in India. Yoga combines dynamic physical exercise with a lifestyle philosophy. There are many forms of yoga, but the goal is always the same: perfect self-knowledge. More specifically, the ultimate goal of yoga philosophy is complete detachment from reality, as we understand it, and complete self-knowledge. If you would like to experiment with yoga as a stress management tool, check out some books at the library to learn more or rent a beginner's yoga video. There are a lot of good exercise videos available on yoga that would be worth experimenting with.

Meditation. Meditation is meant to bring about awareness, nothing else. It's a time to connect to your inner "source" and let go of the issues, responsibilities, and situations that bind your life. The benefits of meditation are uniquely individual, but both physiological and psychological balancing are common. To get you started, here is an explanation of how to practice classic and simple meditation:

The Mantra: A mantra is a sound, word, or phrase that is repeated to yourself out loud or silently. The purpose of the mantra is to discard your normal thoughts and focus your awareness inward. You can select anything as your mantra from a single word to religious scripture, anything that is meditative for you. For this exercise, we will use a natural mantra "hamsa," being the natural sound one makes when breathing... "ham" (h-ah-m) on inhalation and "sa" (s-ah) on exhalation.

The Hamsa Meditation:

- Sit comfortably, back straight, shoulders relaxed with your arms by your side or resting in your lap. Select a quiet place if possible, but it's not required.
- Close your eyes and breathe naturally. Sit for a minute before you begin thinking the mantra to allow your heart and breathing to slow.
- Gently focus your attention on your breath and begin thinking the mantra, slowly and rhythmically, matching the mantra with your breath... (h-ah-m) on inhalation and (s-ah) on exhalation. Allow yourself to become absorbed in it.
- Let your thoughts and feelings come and go without concern. Don't try to control them in any way, simply note them. When you realize you're not repeating the mantra, refocus your attention on your breath and begin thinking the mantra again. Don't try to force yourself to think the mantra to the exclusion of all other thoughts.
- Meditate for at least 10 minutes, preferably 20 minutes. When done, take about a minute to slowly return to normal awareness. (It's okay to glance at a clock to time your meditation, however, I suggest you don't use any kind of alarm timer.)
- Gently open your eyes and slowly move to your feet. Be careful not to get up too quickly after meditating; you may experience some dizziness after a deep state of rest.
- You may or may not experience a deep state of relaxation and rest your first time meditating. As with many relaxation techniques, meditation takes practice to reap all the benefits. Don't get discouraged, just stay with it.

Exercise. Exercise is an excellent means of releasing tension from your body and inducing a relaxation response. You've been practicing this technique for many weeks now. Among the other benefits physical activity brings, have you experienced a reduction in stress?

Stretching. Stress makes your muscles tense up and can cause headaches, a stiff neck, sore shoulders, and a knotted back. Full-body stretching will help your muscles relax and help you breathe deeper. Always remember to hold stretches for a minimum of ten seconds and concentrate on elongating the muscle slowly and rhythmically. Don't bounce! When you don't have the time to stretch your entire body, try these simple upper body stretching exercises to release tension. They can be easily done in a chair anywhere; at home, at the office, traveling in a car, bus, or on a plane:

- Neck. Sit comfortably with your back straight and your shoulders relaxed. Tilt your head to the left as though you are trying to touch your left ear to your shoulder. Feel the stretch on the right side of your neck. Hold the stretch for 10 seconds. Be sure not to let your shoulders raise up, keep them down and relaxed. Now, slowly move your head to the right, repeating the exercise to stretch the left side of your neck. Lastly, slowly roll your head down, bowing your head and try to touch your chin to your chest. Feel the stretch down the back of your neck. Hold this position for 10 seconds. A word of caution: Do not tilt your head back in an attempt to stretch the front of your neck, this position hyperextends the neck and can cause physical harm.

- Shoulders. Sit comfortably with your back straight, your shoulders relaxed, and your arms at your sides. Slowly begin rolling your shoulders in a circular, backward motion. Keep the movement isolated to your shoulders and keep your arms relaxed and limp. Roll your shoulders back ten times then begin rolling them forward ten times. Make the largest circles you can and feel the full range of motion as your shoulders move.

Next, shrug your shoulders up as though you were trying to touch them to your ears, then bring them down as though your were pressing them to the ground. Repeat this up and down shrugging ten times.

- Back. Sit comfortably with your back straight, your shoulders relaxed, and your arms at your sides. Slowly rotate your torso and head as though you were looking over your left shoulder. Rotate as far around as you comfortably can and hold the stretch for ten seconds. Slowly bring your torso and head back to the center position and rotate to your right side. Hold the stretch for 10 seconds.

Next, sit comfortably with your back straight, your shoulders relaxed, and cross your arms in front of your chest. Now bring your crossed arms up to a 90-degree angle, perpendicular to your body and hold them there. Slowly begin rounding your back, making your chest concave. Stretch your arms away from your back as though a string was tied around your arms pulling them forward and another string attached to your back was pulling it backward. Hold the stretch for ten seconds.

Lastly, sit comfortably with your back straight, your shoulders relaxed, and your arms at your side. Slowly begin leaning forward until you are resting your chest in your lap. Allow your arms to relax and gently fall to the floor and bow your head over your
Dr. Jogeshwar mahanta
Dear Fritzie,

Namaskar.

You have posted a good collection of techniques, but I have seen quite a number of threads on this topic on this website. Now, there are trainloads of materials and experts on stress management. But stress reminds me of two things:

1. Much before the Mahabharat war happened, Vyas Dev came to Satyavati and said, "Oh, mother! Maha Samhar is coming to your family. You just cannot see it. No one can stop it. So take sanyas and come to the jungle with me." So she left the world.

2. The founder of Prajapita Brahmakumari Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya has predicted that Satya Yug is coming soon. But by the end of Kaliyug, there will be only 21 persons. This is what I was told by a Brahma Kumari.

By and large, this appears to be true to me.

Regards,
Jogeshwar
thesysthink
Dear Fritzie,

Your article on Stress Management is a wonderful work. Please keep posting. Regarding Mantra and Yoga, I just wanted to add that probably some other forms of meditation are also available. I know one of my friends who is a black belt in Martial Arts with an MBA (now an HR Practitioner). When in stress, he uses his sandbag (boxing punch bag) to reduce stress. He also practices meditation using some difficult-sounding Japanese words. I perceive the sandbag technique to be not only a stress reliever but also an anger buster. Anyway, does learning Martial Arts help in managing stress? I practice a form of yoga called 'Pranayam,' a breathing exercise that helps. When stressed, I play basketball and go on long walks alone. Just wanted to know which practice you prefer?

Regards,
thesysthink
shoOOonya
Hey Dr. J M ....

I did not quite get the connection of your post. What's the connection of the statements you made with stress or stress management? Kindly explain!!
thesysthink
Hi,

Dear Fritzie, shoOOonya, and Friends,

I have a tool (Excel sheet) using which you can 'roughly' estimate your stress levels. Hope it will be of some use. 😃

➡️ (The tool is not developed by me. I credit it to my friend who's working with Patni Computers.)

Regards,
thesysthink
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Fritzie
Hi thesysthink!thank you for appreciating my post. just updated my post coz when Dr. Mahanta didn't appreciate it, i thought that no one will ever like it also. i'm surprised to receive a reply from you as well as from sho00onya. thanks to you guys.rock on!

anyway, i have a link here that would discuss more on the different relaxation techniques which is entitled: Stress Relief: Yoga, Meditation, and Other Relaxation Techniques.

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stre...relaxation.htm

With regard to your question on whether martial arts can help reduce stress, my answer is yes. as stated in this article, “All martial arts were designed to increase one’s longevity. Sometimes this means preventing another person from killing or injuring you. Nowadays, the same system can be used to help keep stress from killing or injuring you..."

Well, as for myself, I prefer to take a long walk alone by the beach or in a park. I'm a nature lover thus it really helps me relax just by breathing the cool sea breeze, looking at the clear blue waters, chirping of the birds, and all other pretty things in nature. :D
Fritzie
Good day everyone! :D

Hi thesysthink! I have tried out the check stress tool and it's really amazing! Please tell your friend at Patni Computers that I like his work.

Thank you. :wink:

P.S.

What language did he use to create it?
thesysthink
Dear Fritzie,

I consider myself a student (and I will be a student forever). I appreciated your article because I am not yet a Doctorate!

During my Grad., I had to study something on Stress, which was very academic. My Professors discussed Stress, Stressors, Optistress, various theoretical aspects. (We got hyper-stressed after finishing that credit!). I liked your article because of its application aspect. I can start using it.

Are you a practicing Physiologist or Trainer... just curious!

Stress, in my perception, is a multidisciplinary concept. Firstly, it depends on Human Perceptions, Genotypes, and Social Learnings. Maybe Work Environment and Quality of Work Life add impact to it. (I did have a Professor studying Human-Machine Interaction and Stress.) In IIT, I have an Alumni doing Ph.D. on Human Brain and Trauma. Burn-out rates in young executives have been appreciated in recent years according to them (it's not verified yet). Stress may be one of the factors.

Regarding Music, I have a keen interest in all forms of Music. I agree with you. It helps in managing stress. The only problem with me is when I start singing, my friends get stressed!

Dear Fritzie, it doesn't really matter who appreciates your posts. There are probably two thousand members in this forum who understand the difference between Quality and Quantity posts and value good Articles.

I would like to thank shoOOonya for posting his query.

Keep posting.

Heartiest regards,

thesysthink
thesysthink
Hi Fritzie,

I am happy to know it could be of help. I will definitely convey your message to him. I have another inventory which may be used to attribute stress (actually I am working on it, it's not standardized as of now). I gave it a test run in an organization, and the initial results were not that bad! If I succeed, I will post it for you.

The language used is VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). VBA is available with Excel, which uses the Excel Object Model (works within the Excel specific environment). VBAs can be used to enhance applications.

Dear Fritzie, by any chance, do you have any exposure to Psychometric Inventories?

Regards,
thesysthink
Dr. Jogeshwar mahanta
Dear Frietzie,

Namaskar.

This is to clarify that your above feeling is not correct. I have appreciation for your collection. I trust you might be practicing and imparting the exercises to others as well. In modern times, it is a great job. I myself run a course on this subject for 5+5=10 days to prepare indigenous gurus for stress elimination (yes, stress elimination).

But what I wanted is for the topic to be discussed beyond the ordinary realm because in the common realm, it is already being discussed at various levels. For example, for about the last year, I have been attending high-powered committee meetings intermittently as an expert on the subject, and the recommendations are almost at the final level of drafting.

Therefore, like probably Valmiki (who suddenly said - "manishda pratistham twamagama saswati sama. Yat krounchamithinad ekam abadhi kama mohitam," the meaning of which he did not know, and later it became the first sloka of Ramayan) did not know while initiating this thread that it would lead beyond the ordinary realm.

So let your thread be the Ramayan on stress elimination, and that is what I sincerely wish.

Regards,

Jogeshwar.
Fritzie
Dear Dr. Mahanta,

I sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding that has occurred between us. I now understand the situation clearly and appreciate your advice. Thank you. :D
Fritzie
Dear thesysthink,

With regard to your question on whether I am a Physiologist or a Trainer, sadly, I'm not. I do research on topics about Stress Management, though, because I find it a very interesting subject and it really helps me a lot in how to make myself stress-free, especially with all the things that I do. I'm a very busy person and I really need the time to just get away from the "too busy world" that I have.

I am not really exposed to Psychometric inventories, but I think it is a remarkable topic. As far as I know, it deals with the design, administration, and interpretation of quantitative tests for the measurement of psychological variables such as intelligence, aptitude, and personality traits.

There are times when we become unaware of our own feelings as well as the true feelings of others. I believe that through psychometric inventories, we can become more aware of these feelings, our values, beliefs, and attitudes, as well as those of others.
thesysthink
Dear Fritzie,

Thanks for the reply. I have some theoretical background in Psychometrics, unfortunately did not have enough exposure in its applied portions. My area of interest was in Human Cognitions, and to know if that can be attributed...sad to say I could not get enough data to be able to say something about my hypothesis. I made one such inventory that was found 'Ok' by my manager. I was an intern in HR then, completing a project work.

It would be nice to have someone who can share something on preparing and administering such inventories.

Regards,
Thesysthing
Dr. Jogeshwar mahanta
Dear Fritzie,

Namaskar.

Absolutely, there was no need to apologize. Communication gaps do occur, but a person's intention is important. Your intention is crystal clear. So let us go ahead. In the next post of yours, the expression "stress-free" is most important. Please stick to it.

In the next post, I shall elaborate on my ideas.

Regards,
Jogeshwar.
Dr. Jogeshwar mahanta
Dear friends,

Namaskar.

Regarding psychometry, you will have no problem. Whenever you require assistance, please feel free to ask me.

Regards,
Jogeshwar
thesysthink
Dear Dr. Jogeshwar,

Thank you for your reply. I have exposure in the areas of model-based estimation and forecasting restricted to the field of Economic analysis only. I studied psychometrics as an option but haven't tried standardization of tests. To be honest, my work area doesn't permit such experimentations (there is no scope, but I wish to learn it).

I would be extremely grateful if you could discuss how you would standardize or work on the measurement aspect while working on a new inventory. I have experience in the administration of inventories, although my knowledge on it is very basic (I have studied Psychophysics and Experimental psychology but not Psychometrics).

If you could provide a sample inventory, it would be of great help. 😊

Regards,
Thesysthink
Dr. Jogeshwar mahanta
Dear the systhink,

I believe that if a psychologist is knowledgeable in experimental psychology and psychometry, they can transition to any area. As you are aware, experimental psychology and psychometry do not necessarily have different approaches. However, the common steps I previously mentioned in another thread are outlined below.

As our focus is on stress, I recommend having a stress inventory. There are various stress measurements available, but I currently use the Dato Stress Inventory, which is very user-friendly. Please visit www.dato-leadership-institute.com to request a free inventory from Dr. Dato, who will send it to you via email.

Regards,

Jogeshwar

I am pleased to hear that you are developing a new questionnaire. Once it is finalized, I hope you will share it for others to use. Assuming you are familiar with psychometry and questionnaire construction, I am providing the steps below.

Step 1 - Collection of Content

Engage with approximately 50 individuals from your potential study population. Provide them with a blank sheet of paper and ask them to write three positive and three negative statements related to the questionnaire theme. Gather all the papers, even if some participants do not provide all six statements.

Step 2 - Preparation of the Preliminary Questionnaire

Transform the collected statements into question format. Ensure that all questions are direct, easily understood by participants, concise, unambiguous, and designed to elicit the desired responses. Typically, questionnaires include yes and no options. Aim to have between 100 and 150 questions in this preliminary questionnaire. Clearly state your request to participants before presenting the questions.

Step 3 - Collection of Data for Standardization

Administer the questionnaire to a substantial sample size and collect responses. While there is no specific standardization sample size requirement, my experience indicates that stability in statistical values is achieved with sample sizes exceeding 200.

Step 4 - Item Variance

Tabulate response frequencies for each response category per item. If there are two response categories, determine the probabilities for each category (referred to as p and q). The product of p and q gives the item variance, typically ranging from 0 to 0.25. For multiple response categories, calculate quartile deviation to assess dispersion.

Step 5 - First Selection of Items

Decide on the number of questions to retain in the final questionnaire. Begin selecting questions, starting with the highest values. It is advisable to select slightly more questions than the desired final count, as some questions may be eliminated in the next step. Steps 4 and 5 aim to achieve a normal distribution of sample scores.

Step 6 - Tentative Scoring Direction and Internal Consistency

Determine the scoring direction for responses (e.g., assigning higher values to certain responses). Calculate a tentative score for each response and compute item-total correlations. Adjust the scoring direction for questions showing negative correlations, ensuring consistency with the construct being measured. Continue selecting questions based on correlations until reaching the predetermined number for the final questionnaire.

For enhanced internal consistency, consider conducting factor analysis instead of Step 6.

Step 7 - Distribution and Norms

Obtain the distribution of test scores, usually following a normal distribution pattern. Establish percentile norms based on the distribution.

Step 8 - Establishing Questionnaire Reliability

Step 9 - Establishing Questionnaire Validity

Feel free to seek clarification on any aspect.

Regards,

Jogeshwar
thesysthink
Dear Dr. Jogeshwar,

Sincere thanks for your insights; I am really helped.

I practiced up to step 6, as suggested by your methodology, experiencing some problems in establishing norms, reliability, and validity.

Can you please suggest a textbook on Psychometrics? I have read something similar (related to Econometrics, Heteroscedastic distributions). I was trying to manipulate it using matrix notations but could not make much use of it. Perhaps I may need to use a completely different methodology (i.e., translating the model into matrix notation, estimating the parameters on GLS, and then proceed). I have strong reasons to think Psychology hates Mathematics!

Can I still administer a test without having norms, reliability, and validity? (Will it be considered a scientific test?)

If I could make head or tail of this inventory, I shall surely put it on citeHR. It's actually the 'Human Incognition Profiling Inventory.' Needless to say, one single inventory cannot attribute Human Incognitions. I wanted to map it under different stress situations. (The idea originally came into my mind when I was working on an Exit Interview Project during my summer Internship.)

In my humble opinion, perhaps we can map incognitions if not using inventories, maybe using projectives.

We would like to hear something from you on projective tests as well!

Regards,

Thesysthink
Dr. Jogeshwar mahanta
RESTING
“My current dictum for myself in this regard is " Life as a challenge cross it and life as a bed of roses explore it".”
Dear thesysthink
Namaskar.
The above quote is from my message dated the 27th May, 2005 in the thread “attitude is everything”. It is under cloud now. So I am resting till the cloud is over, if at all as Ram and Lxman had to wait on Rishyamuka mountains due to clouds and rains during their quest for abducted Sita.
Please carry on. Wish you all the best.
Regards,
jogeshwar
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