BREATHE DEEPLY: EXHALE AND RELAX

Abdominal breathing is a very simple but effective relaxation technique.

It involves taking a deep breath through your nose until you feel your abdomen rising and then exhaling completely until your abdomen falls.

Take several deep breaths and you will begin to feel relaxed as it slows your racing heart and calms your raging emotions enabling you to think clearly and perform efficiently under pressure.

Abdominal breathing is also a very convenient relaxation technique as it is discrete and can be done anywhere.

Therefore breathe deeply in deep traffic jams or when facing deadlines or dead in the middle of disagreements.

I believe that part of the reason that exercising and crying and laughing help people who are stressed feel better is because they all involve deep abdominal breathing therefore take deep breaths wherever and whenever stress strikes.

Adapted from Rules of Relaxation by Dr. Miriam Kinai © 2007. For more information click here.

Relaxation Tuesday: What is your favorite relaxation technique?

SEEK THE LORD IN AN EMERGENCY

The first thing that you should do when you are faced by any stressful situation, even if it is an emergency, is to seek the Lord and inquire from Him what you should do about it. Pray and ask Him to fill you with the wisdom and understanding that His Spirit gives so that you may know the right thing to do regardless of whether your stressful situation is due to your health failing, your family fighting or your finances floundering.

Seek the Lord first and don’t be wise in your own eyes and imagine that you know it all. (Proverbs 3:7) Learn from King Jehoshaphat who first sought the Lord’s direction when they were attacked by several armies including those of the Moabites and Ammonites. He did not first order his army to prepare for war even though one of their cities had already being captured. He first sought the Lord to find out what they were to do about their urgent stressful situation. (2 Chronicles 20:1-4)

Therefore, do not rush to make any decision, speak hastily or hurry to do whatever you think may be the right thing to do at that particular time. Call on the Lord first for He urges us to call Him and He will answer us and reveal to us things we could never have figured out on our own. (Jeremiah 33:3) So call Him even in an emergency for those fresh insights will enable you to make more constructive decisions.

Adapted from Managing Stress with the Word of God by Dr. Miriam Kinai (C) 2006. For more info click here.

Managing Stress Monday: Have you ever called on the Lord in an emergency and received timely insights?

CHRISTIAN STRESS MANAGEMENT

Consulting God is the first step of Christian stress management. Prayerfully seek His advice for He urges you to call on Him and He will show you great things which you did not know (Jeremiah 33:3) and these insights will help you discern the right course of action.

The second step of Christian stress management is opening your heart and life to Christ. He is knocking on your heart’s door (Revelation 3:20) so invite Him in so that He can help you manage your present stressful situation and unknown future.

Trusting Jesus is the third step of Christian stress management. It is a crucial step because it frees your mind from the oppression of worry enabling you to have peace of mind. So put all your trust in Jesus even if people have betrayed you for God is not a man that He should lie to you (Numbers 23:19).  

The fourth step of Christian stress management is renewing your mind with the Word of God. Read your Bible everyday and meditate on positive Scriptures to neutralize the negative thoughts that may be lurking in your mind so that you can know God’s perfect will for you in your situation. (Romans 12:2)

After transforming yourself by overhauling your mind with positive Scriptures, the fifth step of Christian stress management is positioning yourself. This means placing yourself in the most advantageous place and doing the best that you can with your limited resources. Learn from the beggar in Acts 3 who was positioned daily at the Temple gate called Beautiful to ask for alms and find your own Beautiful strategic place to work from.

The sixth step of Christian stress management is resting in the Lord and waiting patiently for Him (Psalm 37:7) to do for you what you cannot do for yourself as you continue working from your Beautiful strategic position.  As you wait on Him incorporate medically proven relaxation techniques into your lifestyle to reduce your chances of developing stress related illnesses. You can start with abdominal breathing as it is the easiest way to counter the body’s stress response. To do this, lie down and take a deep breath through your nose until you feel your abdomen rising and then exhale completely until it falls. Repeat several times and you will begin to relax.

In addition, eat a balanced diet and restrict your caffeine intake from coffee, tea and medication as it can aggravate the nervousness, palpitations, and sleeplessness you may already be experiencing as a result of your stressful situation.    

The seventh and final step of Christian stress management is obeying God when He shows you what you should do to manage your stressful situation definitively. Learn from the widow in 2 Kings 4 and obey His instructions even if you don’t understand how they will resolve your stressful situation for she obeyed the man of God Elisha and borrowed as he had instructed her even though she was already drowning in debt and her obedience enabled her rise above her financial crisis.

Adapted from Managing Stress with the Word of God by Dr Miriam Kinai © 2006. For more info click here.

FORGIVE AND FORGET

Forgive the people who are stressing you so that you can reduce the tension in your life. Forgive those who have hurt you so that you can stop hurting and heal. Refer them to God in prayer so that you can release them from your mind and unbind the the bitterness that has been tethering them to your heart.

Forgive and let them go for you cannot move forward with your life if you are still bogged down by betrayals from way back and distant disappointments. Forgive them so that you can leave past pains in your past, where they belong, as you cannot change the past.

Forgive and then forgetting those things which are behind, reach forward to those which are ahead (Philippians 3:13) so that you can move forward into your future unencumbered.

If the wounds they inflicted on you is still sore and raw, ask God to put His healing Balm on them. If you need to see justice done, forgive them so that you can pursue the case objectively. If earthly justice is denied or cannot be attained, appeal to the High Court in Heaven for God is a God of Justice and He will balance the scales of justice on your behalf.


Adapted from Rules of Relaxation by Dr. Miriam Kinai (C) 2007.


Relaxation Tuesday: Have you ever relaxed after you released those who had hurt you? 


Christian Stress Management

SUNDAY, THE HOLY DAY AND HOLIDAY TO MANAGE STRESS

In Exodus 20: 8-11 God tells us:
1. To remember the Sabbath
2. To keep it holy
3. To rest from work

Therefore, make Sunday a holy day.
Dedicate Sunday to God and make it sacred by going to church in the morning and engaging in restful activities in the afternoon and you will be obeying God's commandment as well as recovering from the detrimental effects of the past work week's stress.

In addition, make your Sunday a work holiday .
Slow down on Sundays and don't run around trying to complete office work or housework. Take a breather from the demands and obligations of your job or business for even God Himself rested on the 7th day after working for 6 days.

If you have a heavy workload, work hard during the week, so that you can rest softly on the weekend. If you must work on Sundays, then dedicate another day to the Lord as your holy day and holiday so that He may renew your spirit.

Note also that God says that this weekly holy day and holiday should be for your sons and daughters, male and female servants, your cattle and any stranger within your gates. Therefore, as you rest and recover, let your your children, employees, income generating animals such as dairy cattle and visitors living in your house also rest.

As a result, you will notice increased profit margins due to the abundant Deuteronomy 28 blessings for obeying God, increase productivity and less sick offs from well rested workers.


Adapted from Rules of Relaxation by Dr. Miriam Kinai (C) 2007. For more info click here.