A CHAMPION'S GUIDE TO XI COMMON PROBLEMS
Written by Leonardo Delizo, PhD, MSBA
PART IV HOW TO RELAX TENSION
1. Uptight. Do not permit yourself to be drawn up taut. Imagine yourself to be a tightly-drawn rubberband. Now let go and snap back to normal. In your thinking contrast down-easy with uptight.
2. Minute. Scatter one-minute quiet periods throughout the day. Just stand still for a moment. Spend a minute thinking about God. Take one-minute looks at the hills or clouds. See how many such moments you can accumulate in a day.
3. Breathe. When you feel stress coming on, take a deep breath, then exhale. Do it again. Do it a third time. Deep breathing, in and out, tends to exhale tension.
4. Leaf. Sit for a moment in an easy chair. Put your head against the back, extend your feet. Raise your hands and allow them to fall limply on your knees like a wet leaf on a log. What is more relaxed than a wet leaf on a log?
5. Visualize. Take a moment to visualize the most peaceful and beautiful place you have ever been in your life. Return to it now by the magic of memory and savor one again the healing effect it has on you. Take a memory trip to some beautiful valley or sea beach or flower-stewn meadow.
6. Peace. Conceive of the peace of God that passes understanding now touching your mind and every part of your physical being. Feel it permeating deeply into your spirit. Affirm aloud: “The peace of God is changing my tension into relaxation.”
7. Drain. Consciously and deliberately drain out of your mind every agitated, unnerving, tensed-up thought. See these thoughts as flowing out of your mental apparatus, out-out-out. Let them go, now.
8. Words. Practice the healing therapy of words. Not harsh and strident words, but mellifluous, melodic, peaceful words. Say them slowly, extracting from them their deepest essence. Say words such as tranquility, serenity, quietness, restfulness.
9. Quiet. A ten-minute quiet time everyday can be a powerful antidote to tension. In the quiet time read a poem, a passage of Scripture, pray, and meditate. If this procedure is repeated day after day, it will undermine tension.
10. Repeat. Daily and nightly repeat three times, aloud if possible, the following relaxing statements: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee” (Isa. 26:3); “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28); and “Peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
Source: Norman Vincent Peale
Written by Leonardo Delizo, PhD, MSBA
PART IV HOW TO RELAX TENSION
1. Uptight. Do not permit yourself to be drawn up taut. Imagine yourself to be a tightly-drawn rubberband. Now let go and snap back to normal. In your thinking contrast down-easy with uptight.
2. Minute. Scatter one-minute quiet periods throughout the day. Just stand still for a moment. Spend a minute thinking about God. Take one-minute looks at the hills or clouds. See how many such moments you can accumulate in a day.
3. Breathe. When you feel stress coming on, take a deep breath, then exhale. Do it again. Do it a third time. Deep breathing, in and out, tends to exhale tension.
4. Leaf. Sit for a moment in an easy chair. Put your head against the back, extend your feet. Raise your hands and allow them to fall limply on your knees like a wet leaf on a log. What is more relaxed than a wet leaf on a log?
5. Visualize. Take a moment to visualize the most peaceful and beautiful place you have ever been in your life. Return to it now by the magic of memory and savor one again the healing effect it has on you. Take a memory trip to some beautiful valley or sea beach or flower-stewn meadow.
6. Peace. Conceive of the peace of God that passes understanding now touching your mind and every part of your physical being. Feel it permeating deeply into your spirit. Affirm aloud: “The peace of God is changing my tension into relaxation.”
7. Drain. Consciously and deliberately drain out of your mind every agitated, unnerving, tensed-up thought. See these thoughts as flowing out of your mental apparatus, out-out-out. Let them go, now.
8. Words. Practice the healing therapy of words. Not harsh and strident words, but mellifluous, melodic, peaceful words. Say them slowly, extracting from them their deepest essence. Say words such as tranquility, serenity, quietness, restfulness.
9. Quiet. A ten-minute quiet time everyday can be a powerful antidote to tension. In the quiet time read a poem, a passage of Scripture, pray, and meditate. If this procedure is repeated day after day, it will undermine tension.
10. Repeat. Daily and nightly repeat three times, aloud if possible, the following relaxing statements: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee” (Isa. 26:3); “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28); and “Peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
Source: Norman Vincent Peale
