Use Your Heart to De-Stress

Are you doing all the “right” things, but still getting drained by stress overload?

Diet, exercise, meditation and caring friends can all help to reduce stress. But if we don’t have a way to manage and release stress as we experience it, then stress still accumulates in our body, affecting our communications, our decision-making and our health.

Many years ago as a longtime meditator and a psychologist, I pondered this problem. I would often start my day in peace and joy and end my day stressed from work challenges and nerve-wracking people interactions. I couldn’t wait to get back home to my meditation corner to let the stress go and nourish my heart. Somehow sandwiching stress overload between meditating twice a day made it seem “legal” to endure the daily stress hamster wheel – until I just plain got tired of it.

Often, when we find ourselves in chronic or extremely stressful situations, we “go to the heart” to try to see what to do. We try to connect with a deeper intelligence to guide us. I would hear the promptings of my heart to do something different, but it wasn’t until I started using some of the HeartMath tools that I learned how to release a stress reaction in the moment, regain balance, and perceive a more appropriate response to the situation that prevented stress accumulation. What was different about HeartMath tools from other self-help techniques I had used is they rely on connecting with your heart to shift attitude and feeling state. The first step in this transformative process is stress awareness.

“Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one.” –Hans Selye, considered the “Father of Stress Research,” who first applied to the term stress to human attitudes and emotional states.

Next: Learn New Ways to De-Stress

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Samantha S.

2:04PM PDT on Apr 16, 2012

thanks for sharing. i am currently working to become more aware of my stress and eliminate it.

April 16
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Lin M.

10:45AM PST on Dec 26, 2011

Thanks

December 26
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june k.

8:19AM PST on Dec 26, 2011

thanks

KS G.

7:05PM PDT on Sep 16, 2011

Thanks for the article.

September 16
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Past Member .

10:26PM PDT on Sep 2, 2011

September 2
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jane r.

7:00PM PDT on Jul 1, 2011

July 1
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Jennifer C.

7:06PM PDT on Jun 27, 2011

Wonderful! Thanks.

June 27
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Eternal G.

4:55PM PDT on May 31, 2011

Thanks!

May 31
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Sara C.

2:06PM PDT on May 11, 2011

Hi Marjaana,

This is an extensive stress test, so the file is quite large. Some connections will have a have long download.

Sorry about this.

Sara Childre
Institute of HeartMath

Deborah Rozman
HeartMath