The single major cause of emotional suffering and stress in our lives comes from the accumulated habitual emotional reactions to life events that we acquire through unconscious learning. We become victims of recurrent negative thoughts and patterns of emotional reactivity that operate automatically in the mind, and that operate outside the sphere of conscious choice. We become prisoners of our habitual thinking and suffer accordingly. Therefore, it stands to reason that if we want to reduce our level of emotional stress and suffering, we must learn new strategies to counteract and neutralize our conditioned habitual reactivity, and regain freedom and choice in how to respond to the demands of life.

Mindfulness Meditation Therapy teaches you how to work with your habitual reactivity through a series of exercises designed to help you recognize reactivity and then defuse this reactivity through mindfulness. Mindfulness is empowering, restoring freedom and choice, while creating the right inner space that allows emotions to unfold and resolve at the core level. Mindfulness training stops you from being the victim of conditioned stress reactions, and puts you back in the driving seat, allowing you to control how you want to feel, rather than simply falling under the spell of your habitual reactivity. The approach is relatively easy to learn and can be communicated very well through email correspondence and webcam sessions.

Stress

It is 8am and you wake up after a difficult night’s sleep only to discover that the alarm didn’t go off. This makes you very agitated as you realize that you will be late for work and your boss told you off for being late only last week. You tumble out of bed and rush down stairs for breakfast. No coffee. You become flustered at the prospect of starting the day without coffee, and you lose your temper with your partner for forgetting to turn on the coffee maker. Then you feel guilty about being angry, and that weighs heavily on your mind as you climb into your car. The car won’t start. Now you are furious, because you recently paid a lot of money to have the car serviced. Being late, you hit rush hour and have to deal with all the frustrations of slow traffic, which increases your stress level to boiling point. Things are made even worse when a car cuts in front of you, and you explode with anger and yell at the driver. The driver turns out to be an old lady, and you feel embarrassed and guilty for your inappropriate reactions. Eventually you make it to the office, but there is nowhere to park, since you are late and you become even more dejected. Exhausted, you finally make it to the office, sit down at your work and begin a day doing a job that you don’t enjoy in an environment that you hate and with people who do not seem to appreciate how hard you try. The boss says he wants to see you and panic sets in.

Does this sound familiar?

For much of the time we live as slaves to the negative habitual emotional reactions of agitation, disappointment, frustration, anger, guilt, stress, anxiety and fear. The emotional suffering is not caused by being late or the difficult drive to work. These may be a source of pain, but are not sufficient to cause mental suffering. Suffering is always a product of the way we react to such events and these subjective reactions are something that we have learned unconsciously. As the saying goes,

“Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.”

We learn to react with anger and disappointment when things don’t go our way, in exactly the same way that we learn to be happy when our expectations are fulfilled. This is an important point, because although we cannot have complete control over external events, we can control how we react to them. If you remain attached to your reactions, then you will suffer as long as those attachments remain in place. This is what mindfulness is all about: learning to recognize your reactions and then responding to each of them with mindfulness, and through that process of touching each reaction with mindfulness, you learn to let go of your subjective reactions.

Mindfulness is something that we are all familiar with at some level. We learn to be mindful when painting a picture or doing any activity that requires concentration. If we are wise, we will practice mindfulness when listening to our spouse or friend. We all know how important it is to listen with an open mind and be completely present. If you are not present, and lost in your own thoughts or lost in your own impulse to try and fix things, then your partner will probably feel that you are not listening, and communication will suffer. Being mindful, means being aware of what is happening right now, in the present moment. This means recognizing all that happens in the subjective world of your own reactions, as well as in the objective world of experience. In order to be fully present, you must be mindful of both internal and external events.

In our usual unaware and unmindful state, we let our thoughts and emotions run wild, like unsupervised children, and this leads to confusion, disorder and emotional stress. Developing the skill of mindfulness means that we stop, look and listen to what is going on in the mind. We teach ourselves to recognize a thought when it arises and to see an emotional reaction when it arises. This is learning to recognize the contents of the mind and to respond to it with mindfulness. Now this is immensely important, because in that brief moment of mindful recognition there arises a moment of choice, before we become lost in the thought or emotional reaction. In mindfulness practice, we learn to recognize this interval and cultivate it so that it becomes longer in duration and stronger. With practice, we gain a completely different perception, and see the contents of the mind as objects, like the children in the classroom. We begin to see that we do not have to react, that we do not have to be dragged into reactivity by the thoughts or by the emotions that arise in the mind. We can learn to say, “Thanks, but no thanks. I choose not to react right now.” This is a completely different scenario than our usual impulsive reactivity, where we are compelled to react according to whatever content happens to arise in the mind.

What we learn during Mindfulness Meditation Therapy is to make a fundamental shift in our identity from being identified with the contents of our mind, to being the knowing of the contents of our mind. Anger, disappointment, frustration, anxiety arise, but now we don’t identify with this content; we simply say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” and remain mindful, observing and knowing what is present, but without the further reactivity that simply makes things worse. This is learning to see that we are not the same as our thoughts, but that we are actually much bigger than any of the thoughts, emotions or negative beliefs that arise. Our essential nature is as the container of all this content, the conscious space that contains; the pure knowing itself. This fundamental shift from being our thoughts to being the knowing of our thoughts is the most important first step on the path of inner transformation, and mindfulness is an excellent tool for cultivating this new state of being.

Mindfulness Meditation

We can practice mindfulness throughout the day in all our activities: in our physical actions; when speaking; and most importantly of all, the activities of our mind. This is cultivating mindfulness of body, speech and mind. What we are learning through mindfulness is to be more present for all these activities, whilst also learning to be mindful of any impulse to react to any activities involving body, speech and mind.

Set yourself a task. Challenge yourself to be mindful when talking to a friend or colleague. Besides learning to be mindful of these activities, also look closely for any impulses to react emotionally. Look for anything that causes agitation and pulls you off balance. Recognize these reactions and respond to them with mindfulness.

It’s also good to set aside 15-30 minutes each day to practice mindfulness meditation. Not having to deal with lots of distractions and demands can give you time to really work on your mindfulness skills. Mindfulness meditation means turning your attention inwards to examine the mind in detail and in depth. The more familiar you become with all the activities, impulses and habitual reactivity that constitute the mind, the less control they will have over you, and the more freedom you will experience. It is always what you don’t see that does you the most harm, and mindfulness meditation is learning to see exactly what is present in the mind. When we become cut off, or dissociated, from our inner emotions, they will control us. The purpose of mindfulness meditation is to reconnect with these inner parts that clearly needs our attention and care.

Take a few minutes to relax and then close the eyes and go inside and get in touch with that inner stillness that lies just beneath the surface when we let go of thinking and reacting. Spend the first part of your meditation session residing in this inner stillness and watch for the arising of thoughts, worries and other mental objects, which will inevitably arise. Greet each thought, feeling or impulse. Acknowledge it and then gently let go of it and return your attention back to the still center. You my notice sounds, sensations in the body, or other physical sensations. Note each sense object as it enters your field of consciousness and then respond by gently letting go. In this way you cultivate the inner place of pure knowing that is still, tranquil and not reactive. This inner state of composure and stability is called samadhi, and as we develop samadhi, we develop a very powerful inner resource and strength that helps us maintain balance and prevents us from becoming reactive. After we have developed the felt-sense of this inner center of stillness, then we can proceed to the more difficult step of investigating our patterns of emotional reactivity.

Imagine a scenario – past, present or future – that you know is a hot bed of reactivity. Perhaps a recent argument with a spouse, or something that you are worrying about, or some topic that creates anxiety and stress in your life.

Now practice learning to recognize any emotional impulses that arise and try to pull you off balance into thinking or becoming upset or agitated. Learn to recognize each mental object, each thought, feeling and impulse, and respond to each with mindfulness and just see it as it is. When you respond with mindfulness in this way, then in each moment of mindful-contact, you are also spontaneously letting go of the impulse to react. Notice how, each moment of mindfulness returns you to that inner stillness and inner calmness that is not identified with the reactive content of the mind.

This is not an easy process, and it will take time to develop, but what could be more important than learning not to react; of developing inner freedom and choice; of cultivating the inner strength and stability of mind in the midst of the chaos of our lives? If you make the effort, you can develop the skill of mindfulness, and it will grow exponentially as you begin to experience the benefits of not being the victim of the ups and downs of life. Every response of mindfulness strengthens the mind; every reaction based on unawareness weakens the mind. Mindfulness energizes our being; reactivity drains the mind and spirit. Mindfulness makes us more compassionate; reactivity makes us more violent.

The choice is yours: responsiveness or reactivity; mindfulness or suffering. Good luck!

Dr Peter Strong offers personalized online instruction in Mindfulness Meditation as well as online Mindfulness Psychotherapy for working with difficult emotions such as anxiety and depression, trauma and phobias. “I will be happy to work with you through email correspondence or webcam sessions.” Visit MindfulnessMeditationTherapy.com.

Peter Strong, PhD is a scientist and Buddhist Psychotherapist, based in Boulder, Colorado, who specializes in the study of mindfulness and its application in Mindfulness Psychotherapy. He uses Mindfulness-based Psychotherapy in combination with NLP to help individuals overcome the root causes of anxiety, depression, phobias, grief and post-traumatic stress (PTSD). He also teaches mindfulness techniques to couples to help them overcome habitual patterns of reactivity and interpersonal conflict.
Besides face-to-face therapy sessions, he offers Online Psychotherapy and Counseling, in which he teaches clients specific strategies for working with specific issues. He also teaches Mindfulness Meditation through email correspondence.
Peter also offers teaching seminars to groups, and companies with an interest in stress management. Visit http://www.mindfulnessmeditationtherapy.com
Email enquiries welcome.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/online-mindfulness-meditation-therapy-for-stress-management-1474235.html

Stress is all around and with the fast-paced life that individuals live these days, tension is part of life. In fact, individuals are so accustomed it that they deal with it as a normal everyday occurrence but tension, when not handled the right way, can lead to all forms of health troubles, particular of which is heart problems. This is peculiarly true with people who have had family history of heart troubles. Stress management is all the same, really easy to do when you try, so if you bear in mind to prevent it from happening, you can in reality live a stress-free life or at the very minimum, be able to cope with it simply because let’s face it, dealing with tension is stressful on it’s own. You don’t actually need to go to elaborate lengths to free the stress – you can eliminate it by avoiding its occurrence in the first place. Read some more and you may just stop those creases from turning up.

Tension is so usual these days that its expected by everyone, so its advisable that you prepare yourself for the big issues and let go of the smaller, minor ones. You will only be able to do this if you keep your life organized because simply searching for your lost pen in the office can create tension, not to note, cause you to lose your concentration. Don’t allow that to take place, so keep your things organized and it will ensure you are more ready to handle the bigger issues. It is not true that imaginative juices only appear when we are in a hurry, it’s just they come out at those periods because we are driven to think. With enough self-control, we can certainly think of creative constructs without straining ourselves for lack of time and by starting quickly it will also ensure that you won’t have to hurry when you are working on a job. You will be able to take some time and actually consider what you are going to do to it and this will not only prevent you from getting too tense, but, also permit you to develop great imaginative work.

Stress levels will rarely affect you if you are ready for it, health-wise. You see, when you are healthy and is full of vitality, you are just about protected from the effects of stress such as the reduction of energy levels, nerves and sometimes, even heart problems. This will only be achieved by living healthily through eating the right sorts of food and having the requisite sleep each day. If you feel that you are already nearing your breaking point, don’t be a martyr and take time out because this will do you a lot of good as it will assist you recharge and de-stress yourself. If you are too engaged, don’t postpone it as it will make the tension grow within you until you get too worried to even produce anything. it i for this reason employers give holiday time so that individuals can take a period to relax and recover their previous energy levels, and creative selves.

John has been writing articles for several years.
Visit his latest website:
Baby Furniture Warehouse.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/stress-management-tips-we-can-all-use-them-1461935.html

Therapeutic Gardening is an ideal stress buster in these busy and demanding times we find ourselves in. It is easy to let stress take over your life.  From career, to family, to health, to money, to any and everything in between, most people feel like there simply isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done.

Stress is bad enough in itself, but stress can also cause real physical and emotional harm if it is allowed to go unchecked. There are many drugs and medications that are designed to reduce stress, but is putting extra drugs and chemicals in your system really the best way to balance things out? There is a better way to reduce stress in your life.

One of the best and most tried and sure ways for reducing stress is by completely taking your mind off the problems in front of you. Some people like to listen to music, others exercise in the gym, some meditate but I find spending time outdoors in the garden is an ideal way of reducing stress. Though it may sound intimidating, gardening has occurred in every culture in one form or another throughout history. Therapeutic gardening will help you to clear your mind and relax, and you will be amazed at how the stress seems to just melt away!

Begin each therapeutic gardening session by reducing distractions, noise, and interruptions. Give yourself the time and space you need. Find a manageable task (don’t be too ambitious), wear loose and comfortable clothing. Relax and take several deep breathes. Then get started. Try to mentally focus on one peaceful word, thought, or image while you are gardening. Clear your head, and let your muscles loosen up, therapeutic gardening is physically good for you as well as being mentally nourishing.

Don’t worry about what is going on around you. Relax and enjoy the peace that your therapeutic gardening brings to you.  When you feel more relaxed and less stressed you may feel it a good time to stop. The chouice is always yours, don’t make it into a chore.

Stretch and exhale deeply and go and have a cup of tea and a biscuit. You have earned it! Therapeutic gardening is a great way to relax, and will do more to improve your health and reduce stress than any drug, and the only side effect is a calmer healthier life as a result of your improved mood! Good Luck!

For more info go to http://www.therapeuticgardening.info. Mike Matthews

Click here http://www.therapeuticgardening.info.info for more in depth information and help on the subject of garden fountains.
Mike Matthews

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/exercise-your-way-to-stress-reduction-by-therapeutic-gardening-1388752.html

Hypnotherapy London helps you avoid the somatization and the negative effects of stress on your health by incorporating relaxation techniques, the reactivation of the natural mechanisms of stress management, assertiveness, by adopting a healthier living mode and with the help of integration techniques of time management and problem resolution.

The stress management program you can get from hypnotherapy London can be done by using the traditional techniques of hypnosis as well as Ericksonian hypnosis.

It has two levels of intervention and it will be adapted to the particularities of each person:

• intervention at the conscious level with hypnotherapy London
• identification of means of action on the causes of stress and resources,
• reactivation of the natural system of stress reduction, learning techniques of immediate reduction of stress (relaxation, visualization).

The unconscious level intervention:

• Treatment effects of stress (fatigue, headache, anxiety, depression, somatization different, problems with memory or concentration, etc..) with hypnotherapy London
• change the perceptions of the internal readjustment of the way of seeing the world,
• acquisition and increase internal resources: self-confidence, self esteem, assertiveness, etc..).

From a psychological perspective, the one that the hypnosis London deals with, stress appears as the result of a gap between the requirements or expectations that are perceived and our perception of the resources we have to meet these requirements, these expectations.

Today it is known that excessive stress and long-term causes of disturbances that can become serious.

The signs of stress that can convince you to seek help with hypnotherapy London are: constant fatigue, mood changes frequently, changes in appetite or sleep, or colds. All these indicate that the body is under severe stress.

The damage may be physical (asthma, headaches or backaches, digestive disorders, skin eruptions), psychological (confusion, irritability, loss of concentration and memory, anxiety, depression), or behavioral (changes in appetite, increased consumption of alcohol and tobacco, of impatience and even violence).

The stress also has an action on the defense mechanisms of the body, the immune resources. Studies show that highly stressed individuals have a significant decrease in blood lymphocytes, cells responsible for producing antibodies.

From the first signs of fatigue, it is important to respond and take measures to control the situation. Making an appointment to a hypnosis London cabinet could be of great help.

The stressful situations in everyday life are:

• the lack of power or influence on a  person’s life, excessive pressure in the work of the constraints of time and / or complexity of tasks, rigidity or repetition of the routine work
• the individuals do not know how the hierarchy evaluates your work, not knowing what is expected of you, working extended hours or  hours which limit your social life
• bullying and other forms of harassment, periods of organizational change, promotion or no promotion
• bereavement, family member illness, separation from a partner
• the behavior of children, family conflicts and other social problems.

All these can be avoided or eased with the help of the hypnotherapy London, that can help you manage stress efficiently.

Have you been feeling stressed? Check Hypnosis London? to find the solution. Hypnotherapy London? might be the right solution for you!

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/managing-stress-and-negative-emotions-with-hypnosis-london-1364556.html