Stress Management Techniques is about Saying YES To Life

Most Stress Management Techniques is about letting go of the internal resistance to the external events of life.

Most of us have our own idea of how we want our days, months, years and ultimately our lives to turn out. But we also know that our lives don’t always turn out that way.

In addition, we allow our minds to worry and stress about these future events and when they don’t turn out the way we want, we get angry, irritated, frustrated and depressed.

In short, we resist life internally...we say NO to life. And when you say NO to life, not even the best stress management techniques will help you!

You will ALWAYS have problems...

In a previous article I wrote about the fact that everyone always have 83 problems and that the biggest problem is the 84th one...thinking that we shouldn’t have problems.

This 84th problem is the cause a lot of stress and negative emotions. And if you can somehow grasp this 84th problem you would not need any more stress management techniques.

We’ve all been brought up in a world where we hold the perception that it is our external circumstances (events, people and situations) that determine our mood.

We think that if we can somehow get things to turn out the way that we want them, we will be fine...and that our job is to "make" those things and people turn out and act the way we want them to...and if we can’t then something is "wrong"

The reality is that external events, people or situations CANNOT irritate, frustrate or anger us. We choose our internal response to those external circumstances.

Saying NO to life...

The moment you experience negative tension and an emotion that is not positive or neutral, you are saying NO to life...and life will very soon say NO back.

Our emotions is our guide that warns us when we are saying NO to life. It is easy to feel these NO moments in life. It comes in the form of general anxiety, irritation, frustration, anger and boredom.

So whenever you feel these emotions, don’t resist them. Rather welcome them and become aware of their messages that are screaming out, “Hello, you are saying NO to life.”

Saying YES to life...

Saying YES to life is NOT about somehow manipulating everything to turn out the way that you want it to be. Saying YES is about not resisting what "is" at this moment. It is about not judging what life is giving you right now...It is about surrendering to this moment.

In order to say YES to life, you need to be extremely aware of your emotions as they happen. The moment you feel the tension and negativity building up inside of you, become aware of it.

If you can do that, you’re 80% there in terms of turning a NO life into a YES life.

Here is a couple of stress management techniques to turn a NO into a YES when you feel the tension building:

• Being aware of this resistance is 80% of the battle won (excuse the pun)

• Take a couple of deep conscious breaths (This is the basis of most stress management techniques)

• Feel the tension in your body (especially the neck and shoulder area) and focus on relaxing your whole body.

• Don’t beat your self up if you can’t let go. It might add further resistance if you struggle to say YES at any particular moment. Rather congratulate yourself for recognizing it!

• Use this Stop-Think-Choose tool to help you further in saying YES to life.

Non-Resistance Doesn’t Mean Non-Action

Did I hear you say, that you can’t just sit back and do nothing about your problems and challenges?

Saying YES to life doesn’t mean non-action. To the contrary. You can still act EXTERNALLY, without resisting life INTERNALLY. We are talking here about internal resistance.

You can still do or say whatever you have to do or say. The only difference is that when you say YES to life, you act and speak out of a position of not resisting life internally.

Saying YES to life is about what’s happening inside of you. Your actions are just the external manifestations of what’s happening on the inside! So the best stress management techniques is to say YES to life!

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