Adam Gordon (Editor) - 365 Ways to Beat Stress: How to Release Anxiety and Truly Relax: How to Relax & Find Perfect Calm

365 Ways to Beat Stress

General Editor: Watkins Media Ltd

First published as 1001 Ways to Relax in the United Kingdom and

Ireland in 2002.

This revised edition published in 2019 by

Watkins, an imprint of Watkins Media Limited

Unit 11, Shepperton House

89-93 Shepperton Road

London N1 3DF

Copyright Watkins 2003, 2010, 2019

Text copyright Watkins 2003, 2010, 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data:

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78678-214-4

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Typeset in Cera Pro and Cardenio Modern

Printed and bound in China

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Just as it takes all kinds of people to make our world so various and so beautiful, so too it takes many forms of relaxation to create rest and renewal at each level of our being and in each area of our lives.

I have to confess that when we first set out to think about 365 Ways to Beat Stress, the thought occurred to me, This is absurd, theres no way there are 365 ways to engage with stress. However, it wasnt long before I realized there are probably tens of thousands of ways. And all of these methods differ from each other in time, place and depth by which I mean that there is a vast difference between, on the one hand, relaxing for a few minutes in order to free ourselves from the physical and mental tensions that we accumulate in the average day; and, on the other hand, years of practising the deepest forms of spiritual relaxation, in the manner recommended by the sages and the saints. And there is an equally huge gap between relaxation that relieves a few stressful symptoms and ways that reach deep inside the soul and heal the core causes of our spiritual discomforts.

During the process of creating and gathering material for this compendium of tools, tips and techniques, I have been reminded time and time again how the simplest of changes at the level of our thoughts, perceptions and actions can release us from our anxieties. I believe that what makes this little book a special companion is that it truly contains remedies, rescues and exercises for almost every commonplace situation and any moment of our waking lives. From the home to the workplace, from early morning to late evening, from our relationships with others to our very important relationship with ourselves, you will find literally hundreds of ideas to experiment with.

Many years of researching stress and helping others to understand, manage and prevent this totally curable condition have brought home to us here at Watkins the overwhelming fact that everyone has different needs at different times. Thats why, in this mini-compendium, youll find methods that address the tensions in your body, techniques to deal with sadness, guilt and other disturbing emotions, visualizations to help you transform old patterns of negative thinking, and meditations to give you access to the deepest dimensions of spirit. For it is, of course, deep in the soul that we will always find the most natural and eternal calm.

There are many ways to use this little book. You could spend a week or two working through a specific section, trying out the most relevant techniques and noting down others to experiment with some time in the future. You could focus on one area of your life that is not as relaxed as you would like it to be, and you could work with the contents pages to find specific ways to help you change. Alternatively, you could dip in and out, and enjoy the delights of serendipity as you give yourself the gift of a new way to relax every day. And if you decide to do one of the most relaxing things in life, which is to give a gift to a friend, then why not become what you might call a benevolent adviser by pointing out to the person who will be fortunate enough to receive this book from you the three numbered exercises that you recommend they read first, simply because you sense that this is what would help them most.

Dont be fooled by the obvious simplicity of some of the suggestions. You may be surprised to discover how the smallest of actions can trigger the greatest rewards. And dont miss one of the underlying threads of the book: the reminder that ultimately being comes before doing in the lexicon of relaxation. True, everything you do will have an effect on your state of being; but more importantly, when you learn to create your state of being, when you can establish peace in your heart, invoke love in your relationships and donate happiness to everyone around you, then you will know that your spirit is as relaxed and as joyful as it can ever be.

We live in tense, turbulent and, for many people, unrelaxing times of that reality there is no doubt. But we can easily avoid adding to the turbulence. In fact, we can become one of those people for whom the world has a great need: those who can stay calm in a crisis, cool in the midst of chaos, and focused on the positive when all around are inclined to reinforce the negative. If we can stay relaxed and calm, this helps others to do the same. If we can always respond with a positive note, we help others stay in tune with the symphony of life. If we can keep seeing life through optimistic eyes, we can brighten someone elses day in a single second! In all these ways we do much more than maintain a calm state of being within ourselves: we radiate outward an extremely positive energy, and in so doing we serve the world.

WAKING WELL

001...005

STARTING THE DAY

006...012

BREAKFAST

013...016

LOOKING AHEAD

017...022

OFF TO WORK

023...028

WAKING WELL

WAKE UP NATURALLY, without an alarm clock, at least once a week if you can. This will help you reconnect with your bodily cycles (or circadian rhythms, to use the scientific term). Note that going to bed an hour earlier will not necessarily bring forward your natural waking time by an hour you may find that you lie awake, worrying that you cant sleep. If your circadian rhythms make you a night owl at heart, go with the flow and have a weekend lie-in when you need one. If youre a lark, spring out of bed when the time seems right you may find theres time before breakfast to do some worthwhile meditation.

DRAW INSIGHTS FROM DREAMS in the morning while they are still fresh. We cannot confirm the truth of dream symbolism, as the unconscious runs no helpline. But if, in a spirit of adventure, we start to explore possible meanings of dreams, we can usually arrive intuitively at constructive insights, which heighten self-awareness and feed into our subsequent tranquillity.

IMMEDIATELY ON WAKING, think how you can give joy to at least one person today. These are the words of the nineteenth-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche a surprising person to have come up with such an uplifting thought, as he is more often associated with deeply sceptical, angst-ridden philosophy.

ENJOY THE SYMPHONY OF NOISE