Question:
How do you reduce stress?
Terry
Response:
Stress is directly connected to the symptoms of Parkinson’s. When relaxed and care free, symptoms are minimal or nonexistent.
There are a variety of possibilities for reducing stress. They best way to approach the goal is on a moment to moment basis.
1. Exercise. Many people tell me that when they feel anxious or are worried, exercise does the trick beautifully.
2. Meditate. Be quite and still for a minute. Focus on your breath. I am not talking here about a big deal. One minute will do during the moment when you need it. I have just finished a series of interviews with people who are experts on meditation for a book with Nancy Welch, Medicine Meditation.
There are many different approaches to meditation. The trick is to find an approach that works for you. Regardless of the method you are drawn to, the idea behind meditation is to still the mind babble which aggravates and inflames the stress.
3. Laugh. This is a simple suggestion, but it works. I post a joke a day on the Parkinsons Recovery member website. Laughing out loud gives an immediate dopamine rush. That is pretty cool if you ask me.
The irony is that you do not even have to think the joke is funny. Laugh out loud and you will get an immediate dopamine rush. The only side effect to laughter is improved health on some level.
4. Try holysnc (which is available from a variety of sources). I have written a review of my ecperience with Holysync with regard to how it reduced my own stress.
This method was created about 80 years ago by Robert Monroe. It consists of sounds that have slightly different frequencies which are sent to the two sides of the brain through headphones.
I personally used this technology for about two years. I listened to tapes for about 30 minutes a day. Very gradually, the little things that stressed me out no longer had any impact whatsoever. I would listen for about a minute and instantly be asleep.
5. Get body work. Cranial sacral body work or energy work can be extremely helpful. There are physical blockages which twist and contort the body’s tissues that are released and removed through gentle body work. Everyone has blockages to one degree or another and, in my opinion, everyone in a body should consider getting body work of one form or another.
I have used many different forms of body work for myself – energy healing, cranial sacral therapy, reiki, healing touch. zen massage, Bowen therapy. I recommend you try some of these wonderful techniques out and see which one your body likes the best.
6. My concluding suggestion is to acknowledge that many stresses are external to us. We are impacted by our parents or children or spouses or partners or money or jobs or the world condition or the economy – you name it. When I feel the external world invading my internal space, I have a mantra which helps me.
“I honor the fate of [my child, my parents, etc.l What do I need now?”
The mantra instantly connects me to myself rather than responding to other external issues. Worrying about other people’s issues is a cleaver way for me to avoid a connection with myself. When I ask myself the question,
“why I am here on the earth?
Much of the stress I carry is instantly released.
Combine the strategies and you get an even bigger result.
© 2009 Parkinsons Recovery