Harmony4Life client testimony

"It really helped me to know I could remember that sense of deep relaxation, to step back for a few minutes and focus on what is really important and what are just distractions (via coaching). I slept really well that night and felt so much calmer the day after the session of hypnotherapy for stress.  I still feel able to cope with the demands and prioritisation better than the weeks leading up to the session."

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Find out if you may benefit from Harmony4Life's Stress Management Programme, or coaching/ hypnotherapy, by completing the FREE Harmony4Life Stress Assessment.

Please note if you downloaded the Psychological Self Assessment Package from the previous newsletter you will already have this assessment.

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If you find any of the following tips useful please forward the link to this page to someone else who can benefit, by copying and pasting the link into an e-mail.

1. Rate your stress

Create a scale for your stress from 0 to 100% using the below ‘Stress continuum’.  When you rate your stress this means you view it more objectively and increase self awareness so that you can more easily overcome stress. 

Stress continuum

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      0        1        10      20      30      40      50      60      70      80      90      100

    Lying on a sunny beach                                                                                        Bereavement

If your stress ratings are mostly between 20% and 40% this is fairly normal.  Any ratings above 40% should be considered an indicator to take action to ensure stress does not get the better of you.

2. Acknowledge your stress signals

Increase your self awareness and note down your stress signals, e.g. gritting/ grinding your teeth, painful neck and shoulder muscles, irritability, feelings of panic, difficulty focusing on work, etc (see ‘Signs of stress’ list in Appendix B for more).  Make a mental check every hour or so to identify any signs.  If you notice any, acknowledge these by saying "I'm feeling stressed".  Simply acknowledging your stress delays the build up of stress and can be just what you need to then reduce and overcome stress. 

3. Breathe

Try to set yourself cues to take diaphragmatic breaths over the course of a day, e.g. take three diaphragmatic breaths before work, three at lunch time and three before you go to sleep.  Alternatively to help incorporate your breathing into your daily routine, you can use the Diaphragmatic Breathing MP3 when you wake up and/ or before you go to sleep.  Please note that this track is included as a bonus in the Harmony4Life Progressive Relaxation Programme.

4. Check your posture

Stress can result in a cycle of stress-poor posture-stress; however you can combat this by being more conscious of your posture.  If you feel your stress levels are rising, check your posture regularly.  "Slumping restricts breathing and reduces blood and oxygen flow to the brain, adding to muscle tension and magnifying feelings of panic and helplessness" explains Dr. Robert Cooper, Ph.D., the San Francisco co-author of The Power of 5, a book of five-second and five-minute health tips. 

It’s important to sit and stand as straight as possible; straightening your spine will increase oxygen levels in your blood, circulation and reduce muscular tension.  Imagine a thread attached to the crown of your head, just like a puppet on a string you can allow this to pull you straight up.  Each time you do this you will increase your relaxation.  

5. Use affirmations

Repeat affirmations to yourself twice a day, whilst imagining what you would see, hear and feel.  This should only take 10-20 seconds, approximately two minutes per day for results that are very powerful.  Frequent exposure to affirmations affects the subconscious mind, which in turn will reshape and affect the way you think, act and behave and even the events and circumstances you experience. 

I release stress in positive ways.

For more information on affirmations or Harmony4Life Affirmation MP3s/ written affirmations click here.

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