A little bit of stress can be helpful - it sharpens focus, stimulates creativity and growth, and even boosts motivation.

A lot of stress is unhealthy - it results in a whole host of physical, mental and emotional health problems. Stress has been referred to as the ‘silent killer’ since it can cause heart disease, high blood pressure, chest pains, depression and anxiety.

Scientific study has pointed to correlations between stress and the top six causes of death in America - cancer, lung problems, heart disease, liver cirrhosis, accidents and suicide.

According to Palmer, 1989, stress is the “psychological, physiological and behavioural response by an individual when they perceive a lack of equilibrium between the demands placed upon them and their ability to meet those demands, which, over a period of time, leads to ill-health.”

In short, stress is the way we respond to a challenge or demand. Everyone experiences stress and it can be triggered by a huge range of events - from small hassles to major life changes.

Stress caused by normal life challenges is okay - as long as we don’t allow it to become chronic. The trick is to learn how to relax and let go of tension when it is not serving us.

How do we do that?

In the same way, we have a stress response, we also have a relaxation response. According to the NIH’s National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, when our relaxation response engages our breathing slows, blood pressure decreases and we use less oxygen.

More info on that here: https://nccih.nih.gov/health/stress/relaxation.htm
 

Stress caused by normal life challenges is okay - as long as we don’t allow it to become chronic. The trick is to learn how to relax and let go of tension when it is not serving us.

 
Unfortunately, there isn’t a blanket ‘one size fits all’ prescription when it comes to stress relief. What works to trigger the relaxation response for one person won’t necessarily work for another, and the methods you employ at home may not be appropriate at work.

Therefore, it’s important to have a variety of stress relief tools and relaxation techniques at your disposal. That way, when chronic stress does rear its ugly head, you’ll have a strategy ready that works effectively in your current circumstances.
 

It’s important to have a variety of stress relief tools and relaxation techniques at your disposal.

 
To help you find which methods work for you, we’ve collated some great strategies. Try them all and you’ll no doubt identify the quickest and easiest ways to reduce stress and trigger your relaxation response.
 

STRATEGY 1: BREATHE

When we’re stressed, adrenaline gets pumped throughout the body, our heart rate increases and we breathe fast and shallow. According to Harvard Medical School, a few deep belly breaths are all we need to reset the system.
 

 
As little as a few minutes of long, slow, deep breaths can energise the body, improve brain function and lighten the load it felt like you were carrying before you began breathing.

Following the breathing exercise, it can also be helpful to shake off the excess energy stress often leaves in your body - shake it out, jog down the hall, jump up and down, dance.
 

As little as a few minutes of long, slow, deep breaths can energise the body, improve brain function and lighten the load it felt like you were carrying before you began breathing.

STRATEGY 2: GET STILL

“When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself.  When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world.”  Eckhart Tolle

There is nothing like ‘just being’. It’s a fantastic way to centre and relax yourself and can be particularly great during busy, stressful times because you only need fifteen minutes. It often brings with it desperately needed perspective.

Paul Blackburn, founder of Quantum Orange and personal development expert, wrote a book titled Beyond Success. Here’s an excerpt on stillness from that title…

“Stillness is a close relative of mindfulness, though we don’t have to focus consciously on the moment – it’s a method of just being. Silence is often a critical aspect of any practice involving stillness. This almost simultaneously defies definitive description and is stunningly simple."

For example, many people visit our home and express how beautiful it is. Yet when pressed they are unable to answer exactly what it is that has struck them.

Of course, it’s not the house itself – it’s the 250 acres of native Australian bush surrounding it that hits them. Standing in the middle of a paddock that appears to be endless, timeless and serenely, silently, still can have a profound effect on someone used to traffic noise, streetlights and the frenetic need to do something, whatever that might be. The impact is even greater on those who visit on a clear night and see the Milky Way in the sky.
 

 
We can lose our connection to our spirit by being away from nature too long, but even people that are lucky enough to live in magical environments can let them become familiar and fail to notice them at all. Strange as it may sound, this trap is one I have fallen into more times than I care to mention, so now I grow veggies in a patch out the back. Tending the garden drags me out there when I think I don’t have time and causes me to slow down and connect with what I call the Great Spirit. Watering, weeding and wondering can’t be rushed. Sometimes I think growing the veggies does me more good than eating them.

I have two other favourite ways to practice stillness.

The first is that now and then I take the dog up into the top paddock (15-minute walk), light a fire, boil the billy, and make and drink a cup of tea. The time required to gather the firewood, get it cranked up and then boil the water is enough to slow me down and lower the pressures of the day to the correct level. Drinking the tea without burning my mouth can’t be rushed either.

This kind of contemplative time revives, refreshes and renews. I take the dog because it can’t talk and loves me just as I am. It’s happy and eager to go wherever I decide, and coming back home is as big an adventure as leaving. This kind of companionship might be ruined with words.
 

This kind of contemplative time revives, refreshes and renews.

 
The second is that I keep a Zen (kind of) calendar on the bedside table. One of my children usually gives me one for Christmas. It is designed to display one day at a time, and I rip yesterday’s off each morning to look at today's. Each page has a short piece of wisdom written on it, in addition to the date.

On arising from bed, I like to grab the top one, read it, and then contemplate the message of the day for a few moments before heading off to the shower. It usually takes less than a couple of minutes, but it sets up the entire bathroom-thinking time to run along a sequence inspired by that original insight. It’s much better than dwelling on how many jobs there are on today’s schedule and winding up on the day before it has even started. Not only is it a better way to start the day – because I travel inwards instead of into the future – but it also means I turn up for breakfast in less of a rush and much more at peace.

I should add that these two little routines have provided me with tremendous insight because my most inspired thoughts turn up during this still time.”

What does stillness look like for you?

Only you can answer that. Suffice it to say you need to find at least three ways you can practice stillness that really do it for you.

Remember - stillness does not necessarily mean being physically stationary. Stillness happens when you are experiencing harmony with yourself and the world around you. It can be discovered any time there is total, uninhibited participation in the current moment.
 

Stillness happens when you are experiencing harmony with yourself and the world around you. It can be discovered any time there is total, uninhibited participation in the current moment.