Managing Stress - The First Defense To Manage Stress - Breathing

The first defense against unhealthy responses to stress is not Tylenol, Motrin... but instead deep breathing. Caution, if you suffer from panic - anxiety and or agoraphobia, this technique is not recommended until after the symptoms are history. This is because breathing techniques require internal focusing which is not recommended for anxiety sufferers. For them external relaxation techniques are recommended - see the resource box.

In response to stress, it is normal that our breathing is immediately affected. It becomes shallow and upper chest which is actually part of the defense mechanism. Even that a sigh is usually a tense upper chest unhealthy breadth.

We generally make three basic mistakes in breathing:
Were so consumed with our appearance that we learn to hold in our stomachs which greatly limits our breathing to the upper chest.
Then when we do take a deep breadth, we force our lungs to expand against our chest putting chest muscles in spasm. This can create chest and back pain.
Some of us lift our shoulders to take in that deep breadth. It's called "clavicle breathing" and it contributes to neck and headache.

Life is about stress and as we adapt to higher and higher levels of stress from one year to the next, our normal breathing becomes tense. Even as we sleep, we may breathe in a tense manner. The tense breathing also starves the body of much needed oxygen, affects our posture, and blocks our Chakras--the natural flow of energy through our bodies.

No matter what the physical health problem--headaches, neckaches, muscle pain... (all direct effects of stress), or disease such as cancer, heart disease... it's important to address breathing (except for anxiety sufferers as previously noted). The problem is that no one makes any money from deep breathing. No drugs are required so you will not hear an announcement on the radio, "Remember to do your stress reduction deep breathing exercise!"

Look for times during the day when you are feeling stressed, under pressure, in a rush, defensive, tense... It's during these times that instead of tensing as you normally would, that you instead remember to do your stress relief deep breathing.

And all you have to do to engage your first defense against stress is to consciously become aware of your breathing. Then shift from your upper chest tense breathing consciously to an abdominal breath.

How to take an abdominal breadththe first defense against stress:
Let your stomach and abdomen relax.
Breathe down through your chest into your stomach.
Let your stomach expand outward.
Let your chest expand slightly at the end of the breadth.

As you exhale:
Pull your stomach inward.
Expel all the air up through your chest.

If you can hear yourself breathe, you are breathing too fast. Ten to twelve breaths per minute is find. If you feel your shoulders lifting as you inhale, it is a tense breadth. Just let your shoulders be loose and limp as you inhale and exhale. Let your arms hang from your shoulder like rope.

If you have the time, take a class in Yoga breathing to get in some serious breathing. Yoga will provide many healthful benefits.

When to do your deep breathing: Make a list of times during the day when it would be appropriate to take advantage of the deep breathing stress management technique such as:
Whenever you're at a red light.
As youre waiting for your computer to load a program or shut down.
Before answering the phone or making a phone call.
As you listen to someone conversing with you.
Before eating or drinking.
Before entering a building or an office.
Whenever you notice yourself feeling stressed.
Whenever you can remember to take a deep breadth.

Remember, no one makes money on deep breathing so you will not hear an announcer on the radio reminding you to take your deep breadth exercise to manage stress.

See the resource box for a ready made cd for Abdominal Breathing with four different deep breathing exercises (including one to help reduce hyperventilation).

Richard Kuhns B.S.Ch.E NGH certified makes it easy to manage stress with http://www.dstressdoc.com breadth management techniques that also reduce hyperventilation. He is a is a prominent figure in the field of stress management and personal change. He is the creative force behind the best selling http://www.DStressDoc.com hypnosis self help cd's and a specialist with http://www.PanicBusters.com

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Six Branches of Yoga

Yoga is an ancient tradition from the Eastern world, and these oldest practitioners tended to look at yoga as a tree with six branches. What all six have in common are the asanas (the physical positions and movements), Pranayama (the structured breathing or breath control), meditation and a strong moral code.

1. Hatha Yoga

In Indian, "ha" means sun and "tha" means moon. Hatha yoga refers to these twin energy channels in the body. Its goal is to prepare the body for the more pure state of meditation to come in the 2nd branch. Hatha yoga was brought to us by an Indian yogi attempting to purify the body to make it fit for higher meditation. Western yoga is almost completely the Hatha yoga branch, and Westerners find mental and physical comfort in the first branch alone.

2. Raja Yoga

Raja and Hatha Yoga are highly interrelated. Raja means "royal" in Indian, and in the royal tradition, this branch of yoga has eight included branches as follows:

- niyama - self discipline - asana - positions - pranayama - breath control - pratyahara - sensory deprivation - dharana - meditation - samadhi - ecstasy

Raja yoga is often practiced by religious leaders and monastery dwellers. However, anyone can find benefits in the practice of raja yoga.

3. Karma Yoga

The basic teaching of karma yoga is that what we do and how we behave today will influence our happiness and fulfilment in the future, or a future lifetime. Understanding this cosmic principle helps us to create our current environment with love and positivity in order to forestall negativity in our future. Practitioners of karma yoga lead a life of selfless devotion and service to those less fortunate.

4. Bhakti Yoga

Bhakti is a Sanskrit term meaning love of God and mankind. Practice of bhakti involves controlling and channeling emotions and having tolerance for all who come into our lives.

5. Jnana Yoga

Jnana yoga is the branch of the intellect. Practitioners pursue scholarly paths, usually those of yoga masters or other spiritual traditions. In our Western religious culture, the Jnana yoga practitioner may be likened to the Jesuit priest, the Kabala scholars or Benedictine monks.

6. Tantra Yoga

Tantra yoga prioritizes ritual as the best way to experience the divine. The Sanskrit word tantra translates to weave or loom. Rituals in everyday life lead to a recognition of the divine in everyday life which leads, in turn, to a reverent attitude in everyday actions.

Tantra yoga is the most misunderstood of the six branches. The ancient book, "The Kama Sutra" is a well-known example of this misunderstanding of the real goal of tantra yoga. It is a book of sexual positions and techniques, and in Westernized yoga tradition, tantra yoga has become associated almost exclusively with these published sexual practices. Worldwide, however, most schools teaching this branch of yoga recommend celibacy.

When finally understood by Westerners, tantra's ritualizations of everyday events appeal to them. Western civilizations tend to make rituals of everyday events anyway - births, deaths, weddings, going to church, forming clubs, and all the many various ceremonies and celebrations commonly held are all tightly related to tantra yoga rituals.

One of the best things about the six branches of yoga is that you are not limited to just one, or to a series. You can pick and choose what you want to practice when. Follow your own path using yoga as your toolbox.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Yoga

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