There are several people I would like to acknowledge and express my gratitude to for significantly contributing to this book.
I would like to thank all of my spiritual teachers who have encouraged and helped me to understand my true nature. I met various teachers in India whose teachings had a direct influence on me. Many thanks to Osho, Gangagi, Poonjaji and to all the seekers I met on my path. While in Thailand, I spent a great deal of time at a monastery called Wat Po on the island of Koh Phanghan. I would like to thank Steve and Rosemary for their teachings of Buddhist meditations. I am also grateful for my yoga teachers who have shared their knowledge of timeless spiritual principles. There have been many, and a special acknowledgement to Madhava Daddario Ravi Singh and the Sivananda Yoga Center of New York and San Francisco.
I thank Richard Bandler and John Grinder for their knowledge and insights in the development of NLP, which serves as the basis of so much of the contents of this book. I also thank all of my NLP teachers in New York CitySteven Leeds, Kevin Creedon, Mary Vanderwart; and my NLP teachers in Santa CruzRobert Dilts and Judith DeLozier.
I am grateful to my parents and friends, especially Gary Dear and Evi Krasnow, who were encouraging and supportive while I wrote this book on stress reduction techniques. Aspecial thanks to Ginny Dustin for her help with the graphic design illustrations and the cover design.
I thank the publishers, the visionary team at Crown House Publishing Ltd, for seeing the value in this project. Most of all, I express my gratitude to Michael Hall for his expertise in co-writing this book. His contribution has been overwhelming and immense.
After finishing college, my goal was to study meditation and relaxation techniques, while simultaneously traveling the world. In following my desire to learn from the best teachers around the globe, between jobs, I visited seventy countries on six continents. Depending on the country, I absorbed myself in different ways into the culture and studied their relaxation techniques. I noticed that many teachers used relaxation techniques that were developed hundreds of years ago. Many of the programs I participated in required extensive training, sitting in uncomfortable positions for long periods of times, chanting various mantras, and following certain religious philosophies. These earlier techniques worked for societies with more time on their hands. While I found these techniques effective, I did not find them practical for the fast-paced environment of the modern office and our busy lifestyles.
Today, our lifestyle requires that we move quickly. It requires that we employ coping techniques while staying centered during stressful situations. During my travels, I learned that we cannot control the world around us, but that we can control our reaction to events. For these reasons, I have formulated these highly effective, simple, fast and easy methods of relaxation. In this particular format, you learn how to actually fly into a powerful and resourceful state of calm. Once you learn the process, and begin to habituate it, you can then truly experience instant relaxation.
New York City,
New York
January 2000
I first met Debra at a Meta-states Training in New York City and immediately recognised both her special expertise in the area of relaxation, and her passion for it. She knew all about the ins-and-outs of relaxationwhat it looked like, sounded like, felt like, etc. And in terms of State management (the subject of the Meta-states training), she really knew how to access her own state of inner calm that allowed her to stay focused and clear. She also knew how to coach others into the same experience.
The area of mutual interestNLP and State managementlead us to begin collaborating about a book. In the months that followed, Debra provided me with an entire manuscript on the subject. In fact, for the most part, you have that manuscript in the following pages. Through our talking and e-mailing, we decided to title it Instant Relaxation.
In the following pages, I have added some explanation sections and some touches here and there to the training of Stress Management that Debra has studied and presented over the past ten years with businesses and in personal consultations. You will find a work that explains, shows and coaches you how to develop your own ability to Fly Into a Calm anywhere and anytime you choose.
Debra wrote an entire text before I ever got involved. Her exercises and ideas on the Relaxed Core State arose from the actual handson experience of coaching clients through the process of relaxation in the context of their daily stresses. Her skill truly lies in the development of these exercises. Now you can also receive her coaching as you read and practice. Doing this program will enable you to easily learn to access states of inner calm and peace.
I became involved in this out of my strong belief in State management , and in using the neuro-linguistics approach (NLP) to access our most empowering states. The neuro part refers to using our neurology to its fullest potential. You will find that being aware of your breath and posture affects your state tremendously. Linguistics refers to our use of language and the languages of the mind to powerfully effect our states.
So now, through Debras years of study and practice, you receive the benefit of the following direct, simple, and easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions. This means that you have in your hands a truly hands-on,