Author: Elizabeth Stanfill

  • How To Destress Yourself; The Second Step

    Hello there my friend.

    In my last two posts, How to Destress Yourself; The First Step and The First Step Continued,  I discussed, in detail, how we must begin the process of destressing yourself.  Basically, these posts are about awareness of yourself and your stressful habits.

    In this post, I would love to discuss The Second Step to Destress Yourself and that is THE DESIRE TO CREATE HAPPINESS, ENERGY, AND VITALITY.

    If you are unhappy with your life, your work, your body, your finances, your relationships, your energy level, and/or anything else that is a major influence In your life then YOU MUST WANT SOMETHING MORE!!!

    If you want a better life, YOU MUST DEMAND IT!

    If you want a better job, company, or career, YOU MUST CLAIM IT!

    If you want better health, YOU MUST SEARCH FOR IT!

    If you want better finances, YOU MUST CRAVE IT!

    If you want better relationships, YOU MUST REQUIRE IT!

    If you want more energy, YOU MUST DESIRE IT!

    If you want anything, YOU MUST SEEK IT!

    YOU GOT THE POWER!!! 

    Can you feel the power in the words?  SEEK IT!  DESIRE IT!  REQUIRE IT!  CRAVE IT!  SEARCH FOR IT!  CLAIM IT!  DEMAND IT! 

    Try this!  Imagine yourself, in your unhappiness, three years from now, 10 years from now, and then 20 years from now.

    Then, Imagine yourself in the constant state of never ending goal setting with happiness, energy, and vitality, living the life you dream of three years from now, 10 years from now, and then 20 years from now.

    JUST DO IT!  IMAGINE IT!

    You don’t have to know how your going to get it, just yet, just learn to DESIRE IT!  And then, follow my posts and we will create happiness, energy, and vitality, together!

    Have a great day and don’t forget to have fun and be playful!

    Elizabeth

  • How To Destress Yourself; The First Step Cont…

    From the last post, How To Destress Yourself; The First Step, you should have looked at the stressful habits, or characteristic, and determined which ones you are sustaining.  When you discover which stressful trait you are maintaining then you have begun the awareness, which is the first step to destress yourself.

    So, now that you know your stressful habits what do you do with them.

    Well, I will tell you.  You must learn to eliminate your stressful characteristic and replace it with the successful practice, which is the opposite behavior.

    STRESSFUL HABIT VS. SUCCESSFUL PRACTICE (AKA OPPOSITE BEHAVIORS)

    Angry vs Peaceful

    Irritable vs Easy Going

    Frustrated vs Composed

    Sad vs Happy

    Anxious vs Relaxed

    Uptight vs Calm

    Drinking vs Sober

    Smoking vs Nonsmoker

    Over Eating vs Eating for Energy

    Reacting to situations with doubt, fear, and worry vs having confidence, faith, and hope

    Being closed minded (unteachable) vs being open minded (teachable)

    Being apathetic and indifferent about others and self vs being loving and caring towards others and self

    Having a racing mind vs having a quiet mind

    Having very negative thoughts vs having very positive thoughts

    Experiencing negative emotions vs experiencing positive emotions

    Being very critical vs being very complimentary

    Mastering doubt vs mastering faith in life, others, and self

    Getting offended easily vs being more understanding towards people’s imperfections

    Not intentionally setting goals vs Never Ending Goal Setting

    Looking at what is wrong vs looking at what is right

    Too serious about life vs having fun and being playful

    Accepting illness vs eliminating illness

    The awareness is knowing your stressful habits, discovering the opposite, successful behavior, and setting the goal to eliminate the bad and replace it with the good.

    This is the first step to destress yourself.

    I hope that this is helpful.

    Have a great day and don’t forget to have fun and be playful.

    Elizabeth

  • How To Destress Yourself; The First Step

    The very first step to Destress Yourself is creating awareness.
    The most stressed out people I know (and believe me when I say I know some seriously stressed out people. I am not trying to be unkind, it’s just the nature of my business) are the one’s who say, “I am not stressed.” 
    These individuals, even though they say that they are not stressed, are always either angry, irritable, frustrated, sad, anxious, uptight, drinking, smoking, eating, and especially unhappy (to just name a few).   
    Besides the moods mentioned above, these individuals have several things in common but the number one thing they have in common is the lack of awareness.
    Some other very mutual characteristics that they display are:
    They live their life with habitual stressful habits of reacting to situations with doubt, fear, and worry.
    They are very closed minded (in other words, they know everything so they are unwilling to learn anything new or listen and learn about their weaknesses so that they may improve their lives).
    They are very apathetic and indifferent about others and themselves.
    They have a racing mind.
    They have very negative thoughts.
    They experience very negative emotions.
    They are very critical of life, others, and themselves.
    They are masters of doubt in life, with others, and with themselves (which means they have no faith in life, others, or themselves).
    They get offended easily.
    They do not intentionally plan goals.
    Everything always goes wrong (in their eyes).
    And they are too serious about life.
    Oh ya, and I guarantee they have at least one illness (stress is the number one cause of every illness).
    How do I know all of this?  Well, I have taught, and teach, thousands of people to destress and these are the most common traits that have been derived through a survey I have (and still do) administered.
    So, back to the first step to destress yourself.  If you would like to destress yourself, in other words create happiness, energy, vitality, and true joy in your life, you must become aware of what is causing your stress. 
    You, my friend, are causing your stress due to the reactions, that are frequently habitual, to your situations.  Your habits of reacting are causing your unhappiness.  And if you disagree with me then you can remain in your unawareness (aka ignorance). 

    Shew, that is harsh.  It is harsh and it is true.  The truth hurts!

    Look at the characteristics above and just notice if you have any of these behaviors.  If you do, especially if you have more than a few, you have just created awareness and that is the first step to destressing yourself. 
    How can you find the solution to the problem if you do not know the problem?  Now that you know the problem, we can work on a solution, together.
    Take the first step and create some awareness as to what is causing your stress so that you may destress yourself.
    Have a great day and don’t forget to have fun and be playful.


  • Destress With Success!!!

    Who is the most successful person you know?
    If you could pick one person, who you think is the most successful person in the world, who would you pick?
    I would pick my Mom, and I will tell you why, in a minute.
    Now that you have chosen someone, why do you think that they are successful?  What makes them successful in your eyes?
    Is it because they make more money than anyone?
    Is it because they have more things than anyone else you know?
    Is it because they have the career that you would love?
    This is a great question to ask yourself because you may evaluate what success is for you.  When we know how we define success we then know what we want to work towards. 
    What does success have to do with ‘destressing yourself’?  Well, I’ll tell you.
    One of the reasons that you may be unhappy is because you do not think that you are successful.  When we are unhappy, we are stressed.
    If you are unhappy because you think that you are unsuccessful then it would make sense to set goals to obtain what you define as success.
    When we feel successful we then feel destressed.  It helps us with stress relief.
    So, make a list of all the things or characteristics, that the successful person has, and set some goals to work towards your success.
    Make sense?
    The reason I picked my Mom is because she is the most loving, kind, giving, and forgiving person I know.  Her only intention is to help.  If anyone ever gets mad at or offended by my Mommy it is because they did, or do, not like the way she is trying to love, or give, or help, or forgive, and that is just plain silly.
    So, success, to me, is being loving, kind, giving, and forgiving, which, by the way, is one great formula for happiness.
    So, destress yourself with success. 


  • What Are Your Stressful Habits?


    What is your stressful habit?

    Do you know?

    Do you have doubt in yourself and the future?

    Do you have fear about certain things?

    What do you worry about?

    If you have doubt, fear, or worry, this kind of reaction, is causing stress.

    Maybe you worry how you are going to pay the bills. Maybe you worry about if you will make it in school, or get a job. Maybe you worry about your health or beauty. Maybe you worry about your family. Maybe you worry about your relationship.

    Our thoughts of doubt, fear, or worry cause us stress and therefore, these reactions are our stressful habits. Whatever we worry about specifically, is our stressor.

    What is a stressor? A stressor is whatever stresses us out.

    Everyone’s stressor is different. While finances may stress one person out, health may stress another.


    So, how do we discover our stressful habits? My first suggestion is to notice what you have doubt, fear, or worry over. Then, know that it is our reaction to this particular stressor that causes our stress.

    When I was a young, single Mother, I use to worry about my bills, all the time.  I didn’t make very much money, I always paid my bills, but I lived pay check to pay check and I had very little money.  This worry consumed me so much that I would cry at night and be on my knees praying to the Lord in the midst of severe anxiety, over money.

    My stressful habits were that I worried about money, I had no hope or faith in myself, and I let this worry consume me.

    In order to change these stressful habits, I needed to know that whatever happened, I could handle it.  The doubt, fear, and worry came from a thought process of the inability to handle what may come my way and lack of faith in myself to create a better future.  In other words, I didn’t see how things were going to get better but they did.  I went to school, got my degrees, and made more money, he he he…I can giggle now but boy was I consumed back then.

    My stressor was finances, or lack of, and my stressful habits were the way I thought about my situation, and the actions, or lack of, that I took towards a better future.  


    In order to discover and eliminate our stressful habits we must discover what stresses us out, what our defeating thought process is about that particular stressor, create solutions to our dilemmas, and change our mind and actions to more positive and productive ones.  Most of all, we must know that we can handle it because we don’t really have a choice.  Actually, we do have a choice, we can choose to believe we can handle it or we can choose to believe that we can’t handle it.

    Believe you and me, we can handle it.

    So, lets start there, knowing we can handle it, no matter what.

    Have fun and be playful!

    Thank you for all of the emails. I am grateful for you.

    Elizabeth Stanfill
    destressyourself.com

    [email protected]

  • Destress Yourself; Meditation Tele Class Reminder


    Hello there and Happy Happy Friday!
    If you would like to learn about meditation and how to meditate, check out our FREE Tele Class on Meditation, this Saturday.

    This is the first class, of three, that will teach you habits that will help you quiet and focus your mind, change your stressful habits, and accomplish the life you REALLY want.

    There are only 150 lines available and so it is a first come, first serve basis.  However, the audio will be available in our store soon after.

    Free Meditation Tele Class 9:30 a.m. (12:30 Eastern), Saturday, February 13, 2010.

    Dial in number 1-213-289-0500

    Access Code 205256#

    MEET YOU THERE!

    Have a wonderful weekend!!!

    Don’t forget to have fun and be playful.

    Please email me if you have any questions, I would love to hear from you.

    If you have not, please add me as a friend on facebook, Elizabeth M. Stanfill.

    Elizabeth Stanfill
    destressyourself.com
    destressyourself.blogspot.com
    661-877-7800
    [email protected]

  • Destress Yourself By Focusing On Solutions


    Hello, and welcome to my destress yourself blog!

    One of the reasons we become so stressed and overwhelmed is because we are worried about a particular problem or situation, we become obsessed about it, and we are unable to think of anything else.

    There are many reasons why we do this but, instead of thinking why, we must evolve our way of thinking and become solution focused. In order to become solution focused, we must figure out the best solution and make it a goal.

    When we figure out a solution and create a goal we can replace our incessant worry with solution focused behavior.

    Here are three easy steps to creating a goal.

    1. Decide on a solution to your problem, in other words, figure out a solution to your stress.

    2. Write the solution down as a goal.

    3. Focus on this goal diligently and effortlessly by replacing your obsession of worry with an obsession for this goal.

    One of the greatest things that we can do for ourselves, when we become overwhelmed and stressed out, is we can focus on our goals. By focusing on our goals we create a habit of solution focus thinking rather than our focus on worry. And this, my friend, is truly destressing yourself.

    Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to figure out solutions to your problems and turn them into goals.

    If you would like to learn more about solution focused thinking and setting goals, check out our FREE Tele Classes this month on meditation, affirmations, and visualization, these habits will help you accomplish any goal you set your mind to with comfort and ease.  Also, you can purchase the ‘How to Destress Yourself‘ downloadable audio. This program will show you a step by step process on how to destress yourself.

    If you have any questions or comments, please email me [email protected] or comment below.

    Have a great week and don’t forget to have fun and be playful.

    Until next post…

    Elizabeth

    download our free mp3 audio available on our homepage, learning to relax.

  • Destress Yourself By Creating The Relaxation Response

    One of my last posts, I discussed How To Destress Yourself by understanding a little about the stress response.

    In today’s post, I would like to discuss How to Destress Yourself by explaining the relaxation response.

    The relaxation response is the ability of being in tune with your mind and body in a way that you are able to relax at any time and any where.  In order to do this, you must learn how to relax.

    I do not know too many people who actually know how to relax, except my clients of course.  People are in such a hurry with their busy schedules they tend to develop the Hurry Up Disease.  The hurry up disease is the state of being in a hurry, not because we are actually in a hurry but, because it is a habit that we have developed by filling our schedules and/or by being unconscious through out our day. 

    When we are unconscious, through out our day, we tend to generate a racing mind without focus, and tension in our bodies.  I call this living life on auto pilot. 

    When we learn to relax, our mind tends to be quiet and focused, and we are more inclined to be in tune with the tension in our neck, shoulders, and back, so that we may, literally, loosen up.

    So, how do we learn to relax.  I am sure you have heard the wonderful quote, “Practice makes perfect!”  Well, in order to learn to relax, so that we may implement the relaxation response, we must practice, every day.

    THE RELAXATION RESPONSE IS A HABIT, JUST LIKE THE STRESS RESPONSE.  Sorry, about the yelling, I just wanted to make a point, LOL!

    The very best time to practice is right before you go to bed, so that you may have a deep, restful sleep, and wake up energized the next day.

    Practicing to relax, every night, will allow you to become so good at relaxing, you can become an expert.  When you are an expert, at relaxing, you can take advantage of the relaxation response, any time and any where.  Thus, being in tune to your mind, body, and when you activate the stress response, so that you may take it easy.

    If you would like to learn a step by step process, on how to relax, check out our FREE audio Learning To Relax on our home page or purchase our Deep Relaxation Audio in our store

    Do yourself a favor, learn how to destress yourself by implementing the relaxation response.

    Until next post, don’t forget to have fun and be playful.

    Elizabeth

  • FREE Learning To Relax Audio

    Hey everyone,

    I just posted my last Teleclass, Learning To Relax, for FREE at destressyourself.com.

    Check it out, you can listen now or right click to download it to your computer.

    I hope you enjoy….

    Elizabeth

  • Destress Yourself With Faith In Yourself

    Do you believe in yourself and that you can accomplish your goals?

    Isn’t that a great question?

    Well, do you?

    Do you have faith in your self?

    A stressful habit we may have, at times, is lack of faith in ourselves.  This is a stressful habit because we worry about if we will accomplish what we set out to achieve.  This worry causes stress.

    Destress Yourself with faith in yourself!

    Believe that you can obtain any goal that you set your heart and mind on.

    I know the power within you.  You can achieve all that you want.  How do I know this?  I know this because you are successful. 

    If you have made it this far in life, you are successful.

    Look at all the things you have accomplished thus far.  Look at the relationships you have made, look at the jobs/careers you have or had, and look at all your success so far.

    You are capable of doing anything you set your heart and mind to.

    If you are having a hard time with faith in yourself, then do this exercise.

    List all of your accomplishments and milestones in your life.  Include Elementary School, Jr. High School, High School, sports, arts, music, relationships, vacations, careers, and purchases.  I guarantee if you make this list it will remind you how great you are and how great you continue to be.

    Sometimes, as we get older, we stop setting goals, and then we become stagnant.  This may be happening to you and that may increase your doubt in yourself.  In other words, that may be the cause of low self-confidence.

    Remember all the goals you have set and accomplished so far in you life.  This will increase faith in yourself.

    Destress Yourself by having faith in yourself and that you can accomplish your goals.  When you do this you will discover what you can create in your life.

    When you Destress Yourself, you change your thoughts, feelings, and actions which changes your attitude about life for the better.  You gain a much more positive attitude about life.

    You change your thoughts, feelings, actions, and attitude from stressful to successful.

    IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY, SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!

    If you are not living life with happiness, energy, joy, and vitality, something must be don.

    You can learn to be happy by Destressing Yourself and I can show you how, for free!

    First, subscribe to this blog via rss feed or via email, right there in the right side column.

    Second, go to destressyourself.com, and sign up for our free weekly newsletter.  This newsletter will give you solutions to your stress.

    Third, download all of our free audio mp3’s, in our store.

    Do these things my friend and learn what permanent stress relief truly is.

    Thank you for visiting my blog.

    I hope that this is helpful.

    Until next post…don’t forget to have fun and be playful.

    Elizabeth

  • Destress Yourself With A Positive Attitude

    “A positive attitude”

    A positive attitude increases our happiness, energy, and vitality. Attitude is everything! When we have a positive attitude we see things that are good in our lives, we feel grateful for what we have, and we are in a good mood.

    How do you destress yourself with a positive attitude? Or better yet, how does a positive attitude increase our happiness, energy, and vitality? When we think positive, we think of the good things in our life, and that makes us feel good. When we feel good, we are happy, we have energy, and we have vitality.

    Yes, our attitude can increase or decrease our happiness, energy, and vitality.

    But you already knew that!

    We have control over our attitude because we have control over our thoughts. Although, this is not something they teach us as we grow up. When I say, “they” I mean our parents and our teachers. Teachers meaning, school teachers, our friends, and our mentors.

    I would jump for joy if we implemented, in our school system, how we can have control over our thoughts. We are the only thinkers of our thoughts, and learning to think what we want to is a habit that can be formed.

    Just as the habit of our minds being on autopilot has been learned over 20, 30, 40, or more years (depending how old you are).

    For many, many years, I have been teaching stress management and I meet a lot of people that believe they have a positive attitude. After working with many of these individuals, they discover that they may not be as positive as they think.

    Finding out how positive we are, or are not, is very important to managing our stress. People with a positive attitude have less stress and people with a negative attitude have higher levels of stress.

    How do you know if you have a positive attitude?

    Let me ask you some questions to help you determine if you do.

    1. Do you wake up grateful for your life and another day or do you wake up dreading the day and what you have to do?

    2. Are you grateful for what you have, all day or do you complain and discuss what could be better in your life?

    3. Do you express daily to the people you love, how grateful you are for them or do you forget?

    4. Do you believe you can accomplish your goals or do you have doubt in having a better life than you have now?

    5. Do you think of what you want and focus forward or do you do the same ole thing over and over again everyday?

    6. Do you enjoy your work or do you have discontent for your job/career?

    7. Do you enjoy the people you are with or do you get irritated by something or someone else?

    8. Do you enjoy the places that you are at or do you have your mind on something or someone else?

    9. Do you have faith in yourself that you can make more money or do you fear that life will always be “this way”?

    10. Do you think of the things that are great in your life or do you wish that things could be better?

    11. Do you look for opportunities in your obstacles or do you label things as “this is bad”?

    12. Do you believe that life is working for you and your good or do you believe you have bad luck?

    13. Do you have fun and are you playful or are you serious all the time?

    The first part of the question indicates a positive attitude and the second part of the question indicates a negative attitude.

    I am going to be brave and say, if you pick even one or two, of the second part of the question, chances are, you are more negative than you think.

    Ayayaye!

    That was brave.

    If you disagree, bring it! Bring it to the comments below.

    If you would like to learn how to destress yourself with a positive attitude, check out our Destress Your Attitude audio mp3.

    I hope and pray that this is helpful…

    Until next post, don’t forget to have fun and be playful!

    Elizabeth

  • Destress Yourself By Discovering Stressful Habits

    You can destress yourself by discovering stressful habits.

    What is a stressful habit? A stressful habit is typically a reaction that we have to certain situations.

    For example, if something “bad” happens like we get laid off, or we discover we have an illness, or we are having problems with a family member, or we are in trouble financially we may react with doubt and fear.

    We have doubt that we can recover and fear that we won’t be able to handle it. This way of thinking is just a habit, and a stressful habit.

    When I was in my twenties and making very little money, I use to worry and have anxiety over it.

    To me, this is just a habit of reacting, and a stressful habit of reacting.

    Now, that I have had plenty of human behavior education and I am a stress specialist, when something “bad” happens I react with faith and confidence.

    Why do I react with faith and confidence?

    Because I know that will make me feel better and get me motivated.

    This way of reacting is just a habit, and a successful habit.

    So, in order to destress yourself, it is important that we look at our habitual ways of reacting with doubt, fear, and worry.

    When we have trials in life, it is for our good. How do I know this? Well, the scriptures tell me so.

    In addition, this is how we get better at reacting, from learning from our trials, and from our stress.

    Anger, frustration, irritability, sadness, moodiness, and unhappiness are all reactions, and habitual stressful reactions. We can overcome anger, frustration, irritability, sadness, moodiness, and unhappiness it just takes some commitment, commitment to yourself, and commitment to change and improve yourself.

    Let’s destress together by discovering our stressful habits and making them into successful practices.

    Give me a call, email me, or stop by our store and download our Destress Yourself Teleclass, which will help you discover your stressful habits and turn them into successful practices.

    Or purchase our Setting Goals To Destress Yourself audio mp3.

    I am so very grateful for you!

    Have a great week and don’t forget to have fun and be playful.

    Elizabeth

  • Setting Goals To Destress Yourself

    Last Saturday, January 2, 2009, we had our Setting Goals To Destress Yourself teleclass and it was a blast!

    That was the first teleclass I have hosted in a long time and I forgot how fun they are.  My favorite part is all of the emails after the class.  I love the way people freely email me with questions or comments.  Often times I get a disagreement or two and that promotes excellent discussions.

    The teleclass included dialogue about stress (as usual), stressful habits vs. successful habits, success and happiness, and setting goals to destress yourself.  There was exploration about possible fears and self-defeating thoughts.  We did an exercise that established stressful habits, fears, self-defeating thoughts, and turned them into self-winning thoughts.  And with the new self-winning thoughts, we turned them into affirmations.

    Affirmations are just reminders and I always encourage folks to create and say affirmations.  I do this because it helps us remember to follow through with our goals.  The affirmations are the self-winning thoughts that are ultimately our goals to Destress.

    At the end of the class I shared a self-assessment of six different categories that play a huge role, in our lives,  with stress relief. 

    I just love this stuff! 

    The class is available now, in our store, or you can find it by following this link.  Although the actual teleclass is free, there is a small fee of $6.96 for the audio.

    Please join us for our next teleclass, Destress Your Attitude, on Saturday, January 16, 2009.  No need to sign up for this, you can get all of the info here.  And if you would like an email reminder, you may want to sign up for our free weekly newsletter, on our home page, here.     

    Have a great day, week, and year.

    Until next post, don’t forget to have fun and be playful!!!

    Elizabeth

  • How to Destress

    In order to learn how to destress we must know what stress is.

    What is stress?  There are three elements of stress and they include a stressor, a reaction to the stressor, and then the stress response.

    A stressor can be a person, thing, situation, or activity that may cause an individual to develop stress.  For example, death, dying, divorce, or devastation.  Some other stressors may consist of work, school, a relationship, bills, weight, health, or the economy.

    When we experience a stressor we react and our reactions include our thoughts, feelings, and actions which in turn triggers the stress response.  The stress response is the well known fight or flight response.

    The foundation of our reaction, that causes the fight or flight response, begins with a thought that we may not be able to handle this particular stressor.  After every thought comes a feeling.  If we think that we will not be able to handle this particular stressor, we will feel doubt, fear, worry, or maybe even anxiety.  These thoughts, feelings, and the actions that follow, trigger the fight or flight, aka the stress, response.

    When the stress response is initiated, results from the stress follow.  The results may be emotional, mental, physical, or spiritual.

    So, back to “How to Destress.”  Now that we know what stress is we can easily learn How to Destress.

    To truly destress yourself is to discover how to react to stressors with more confidence, faith, and hope.  Remember the thought that we may not be able to handle this stressor?  Well, we must look at the situation and ask ourselves, “if the worst were to happen, could I handle it?”  The answer?  A resounding “YES!”

    No matter what happens, you can handle it.  Learn to react with this thought, no matter what the stressor is, and you will learn How to Destress.

    For more information on how to Destress Yourself, please sign up for our free weekly newsletter here.

    Hope this is helpful!!!

    Until next post, don’t forget to have fun and be playful!!!

    Any questions or concerns, email me at [email protected]

    or comment below.

    Elizabeth

  • Ways To Destress Yourself, Right Now!

    Destress Yourself By Discovering Stressful Habits
    [Self-Improvement:Stress-Management] What is a stressful habit? A stressful habit is typically a reaction that we have to certain situations.

    Three Things to Do to De-Stress Yourself
    [Self-Improvement:Stress-Management] There is something very important I would like to share with you and that is three things that we can do, right now, to begin the journey to “de-stress yourself”. Take Responsibility for our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

    How to Destress Yourself in a Minute
    [Self-Improvement:Stress-Management] There have been many conversations about the current global stress level and sometimes this causes minor anxiety among certain persons. It is my wish to share a way that we can destress ourselves in about a minute in order to help with minor anxiety levels.

    De-Stress Yourself by Never Ending Goal Setting
    [Health-and-Fitness:Mental-Health] Did you know that if you don’t have goals you are in the constant state of going nowhere? Do you get up everyday, get ready for work or school, get home, watch TV, eat dinner, watch more TV, go to bed, and do it all over again? Life is a learning experience and one of the things we can learn is never ending goal setting.

    How to De-Stress Yourself With an Open Mind
    [Self-Improvement:Stress-Management] After many years of teaching stress management, listening to peoples’ stress related problems, and compiling information related to stress, it is my conclusion that the number one sign of stress is denial. A sign is what the observer can see and a symptom is what the individual describes. Therefore, if the number one sign of stress is denial then the number one key to de-stress yourself is the ability to have an open mind. When we have an open mind we are teachable and willing to learn from others.

    De-Stress Yourself With Daily Deep Relaxation Meditation
    [Health-and-Fitness:Meditation] When it comes to Meditation we must have an open mind and make a commitment if we want change in our lives. When people think of meditation they often think of religion or they think of it as a waste of time. But meditation is the ultimate skill of patience, which gives peace and calm to our minds, bodies, and then to our lives.

  • How to Destress Yourself

    De-Stress Yourself With Meditation For The Beginner
    [Health-and-Fitness:Meditation] These are six suggestions for successful meditation practice for the beginner. Prepare yourself physically. Prepare yourself physically by doing Yoga or stretches before you begin Meditation.

    Destress Yourself With Meditation
    [Self-Improvement:Stress-Management] Meditation is one of the greatest exercises we can do for our mind. Many people do not participate in this practice because they view meditation as a religious tradition or they are unaware of the benefits of meditation. In order to convince the individuals that are opposed to meditation we must look at the benefits. Before we discuss the benefits let us keep an open mind to possibilities in our own life that we may learn and improve our current circumstances.

    Seven Keys To Destress Yourself With Basic Stress Management
    [Self-Improvement:Stress-Management] After studying years of stress management and developing my program destress yourself I have come to the conclusion that there are seven keys to destress yourself with basic stress management. What is basic stress management? Well, it consists of the basic actions we can do to enhance our ability to manage our stress.

  • Hello and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

    Today is the day that I used to spend with my Grandparents, every year.  My Grandpa passed away about 30 years ago and my Grandma passed in January 2006.  God please rest both of their souls.

    Today is a sad day for me because I am not at their house this year, and haven’t been for the past 4 years.  But, today is also a happy day because for the last couple of years I have been at my brother’s house, and today I will be again, with my Parents.  It has become a new tradition and I love it!

    My brother has nine kids and it is fun, fun, fun at their house.  My sister-in-law is one of my favorites and I love love love my nephews and nieces, so that makes it all the better.

    Thanksgiving is the time of year we are suppose to reflect and think about what we are grateful for.  Although I do not believe that we should create a holiday so people can think of what they are thankful for, people really do reflect.  I think it has to do with the name.  If we called it Pilgrim’s Day, we probably wouldn’t reflect.

    Personally, I have made it a daily habit (every morning, noon, night, and in between) of considering what I am grateful for.

    As I was traveling to my destination yesterday, I contemplated on what I am thankful for, besides the everyday stuff like the air I breath, the eyes I see with, the legs I walk on, my possessions, my home, family, and friends I get to hug.  And here is what I came up with.

    I AM GRATEFUL FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO ONLY CALL ME WHEN THEY NEED ME.

    The reason I thought of this was because I have certain friends and brothers that call me for specific things.  They never call because I they miss me, they wonder how I am doing, or because they want to hang out with me but they call when they need me to do something for them or they have problems and they need my help.

    Now let me finish before you start making statements about my statements (giggle).

    Okay, I am grateful for them because it reminds me that my love and my willingness to help are unconditional.  When I give I do not expect or need something in return or I do not give because they give to me.  My belief that to love and give is not a bargain, it is free.

    I AM GRATEFUL FOR MY MOM AND HER NEED TO CONTROL MY EVERY MOVE.

    As I grew up, my Mom and I fought, all the time, until I was about 35 (ten years ago).  Well, it tapered off when I was 35 and slowly decreased to nearly not even an argument.

    The reason we fought was because she was/is always telling me what to do from what to wear, how to wear it, how to wear my make up, how to drive, what route to take, what to say, how to say it, how to raise my son, and just how to be. 

    You are probably asking why on earth would you be grateful for that?  I am grateful for that because her incessant need to do this does not disturb me a bit.  What use to drive me nuts (the kind of nuts that I never wanted to be around her and/or I would constantly badger her), now is my acceptance and love for the way she is.

    This is huge for me!  I am so very grateful for her and the way she is and the way I am because it helps me realize, it takes two.  I was getting angry and fighting with her because of her constant instruction (I called it nagging) and when I was able to change and start reacting differently, or not reacting, we have become best friends.

    I have become the type of person, with my Mom, that doesn’t have to hate her until she acts the way I want her to act.  My love is unconditional, meaning I do not need her to act a certain way toward me for me to love her.

    Looking at these two points, that I am grateful for, really helps me see how far I have come.  I have always preached that, “If we are unhappy then we have to do something about it.”  It is so true and I also have always preached that, “We are in charge of and responsible for our thoughts, feelings, actions, and attitudes.”

    What I want is to give love and support unconditionally.  This is important to me because I don’t want to expect anything in return.  Many people say this, I probably did too, and don’t really mean it or don’t do it.

    I want to be like Jesus!  He loved and gave to those in need.  He did not give to those who only gave to him, and I am grateful for those people (My Mom, brothers, friends, and strangers)  who give me the opportunity to be Christ like in my behavior.

    Oh yeah,

    I AM GRATEFUL FOR JESUS AND THE LOVE HE OFFERS YOU, MY FAMILY, AND ME!

    AND

    I AM GRATEFUL FOR HEAVENLY FATHER AND THE LOVE HE GIVES YOU, MY FAMILY, AND ME!

    HAPPY HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND GOD BLESS AMERICA THE LAND OF THE BRAVE AND THE HOME OF THE FREE!!!

    HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING AND DON’T FORGET TO HAVE FUN AND BE PLAYFUL.

    ELIZABETH

  • Work With Me One On One To Destress Yourself

    If you are stressed and would like to work with me please email me at [email protected] or call 661-877-7800.  My programs are inexpensive and personally suited to your specific needs.  This is not therapy, it is a step by step educational  process that I take you through in order to Destress Yourself.

    ABOUT DESTRESS YOURSELF DOT COM & ME

    If you are suicidal please call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or 911.

    I hope to hear from you because if you are stressed I know I can help.

    Have a wonderful day and don’t forget to have fun and be playful…

    Elizabeth

  • Assessing Habits

    When we think of habits we often think of food, cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs. We can also add caffeine, shopping, and sex to that list. These are obvious habits that we are well aware of and know the consequences if we continue.

    Another habit that may be evaluated is our emotions. When we are presented with a stressful situation it may be a habit to feel fear or worry.

    Some people may even react to stressful situations with anger, frustration, or irritability. These emotions are the cause of our stress. For example, when we are working on the car or working on the house and the job gets difficult we may get angry, frustrated, or irritable. Sound familiar? This is a habit that we have of reacting to certain situations and it is the source of our stress.

    Another example may be, when we have something big that brakes down like a car, washer or dryer, air conditioner, or a water heater and we don’t have the money to pay for it we may feel fear or worry. This is another habit that we may have of reacting to circumstances that is the culprit of our stress.

    When we become aware of our habitual reactions of our emotions we can take responsibility and change these habits for the better. If we get angry or irritable often, we may have created habits of anger and irritability, which can be changed through education.

    Awareness is the number one key. If we are aware of these negative emotional reactions we can take responsibility and change these emotions to the opposite.

    We can change anger, frustration, or irritability to patience and tolerance.

    We can change doubt, fear, and worry to confidence, security, and hope.

    It is not necessary to get angry, frustrated, or irritable. It is not necessary to have doubt, fear, or worry. We can take control of our reactions.

    Sounds simple but is not necessarily easy. The hard part is the 20, 30, 40, or more years of the tendency to react this way.

    What can we do to destress our negative habits of reacting?

    The first key is awareness. Like an addict we cannot get help unless we think we need help.

    The next step is to talk to an expert on stress management or read a book on stress management.

    Another great way of being aware of our emotions is being aware of our thoughts because it is the thought that we are having that causes our feelings.

    And finally, never ending goal setting of changing our habits. If we want to change behavior that we have had for years it may take some time and hard work. Never ending goal setting is the way to move forward. If we don’t move forward we are stagnant, if we are stagnant our problems get bigger, if our problems get bigger that causes an increase in our stress.

    You can discover your stressful habits by destressing yourself. When you destress yourself you learn to change your stressful thoughts, feelings, actions, and attitudes to more successful thoughts, feelings, actions, and attitudes, which means changing stressful habits into successful practices.

    Begin your journey to destress yourself, with me, for free. Follow this blog via RSS or email, sign up for our free weekly newsletter at destressyourself.com, and download our free stress relief audios in our store. Do this and you will be on your way to destressing yourself.

    Thanks for visiting my blog, and until next post…

    Don’t forget to have fun and be playful, it’s in your nature.

    Elizabeth

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  • Create Faith In Yourself

    How do we create faith in ourselves?

    Excellent question!

    The answer; destress yourself.

    Faith is the confident belief or trust in something.

    I just created that meaning from the top of my head. But, it is true isn’t it? Faith is the confident belief or trust in something. I like that.

    If you have a lot of stress, stress at work, stress at home, stress with finances, stress in your relationships, or just difficulty coping with stress, chances are you do not have faith.

    When I say faith, I mean faith in yourself, faith that things will be okay, or faith that you can handle your stress. What is stress? Stress is the consequences of our thoughts of doubt, fear, and worry. Therefore, the opposite of stress is our consequences from our thoughts of faith or the confident belief or trust in something.

    Let me just clarify that I am, in a general sense, talking about negative, everyday stress which is distress. Although, this can apply to eustress, as well, which is positive stress. But, I am not speaking about cumulative stress (burnout), or critical (incident) stress, at this time. With that said, if you have stress, chances are you have doubt, fear, and worry.

    Stress at work is caused by thoughts of doubt, fear, and worry about work. Stress at home is caused by doubt, fear, and worry about home. Stress with finances is caused by doubt, fear, and worry about finances. Stress in relationships is caused by doubt, fear, and worry about relationships. Difficulty coping with stress is caused by doubt, fear, and worry about outcomes.

    Doubt, fear, and worry are thoughts and they are usually habitual thoughts. What I mean by this is that sometimes, or most of the time, we have a habit of doubt, fear, or worry about our situation. Back to the question, how do we create faith in ourselves?

    We create faith in ourselves by discovering what we want out of life, what our purpose is, and living what we want and living our purpose. For example, I want to enjoy life (this has many meanings to me but I will save it for another post) and my purpose is to help create happiness, energy, and vitality by teaching people to find joy in their lives (destress yourself). If you do not know what you want or what your purpose is you can find out by taking our destress yourself class.

    Living with what we want and our purpose is not a destination, it is a journey. Therefore, we are constantly moving towards what we want by living our purpose. We can create faith in ourselves by finding out what we want, finding out our purpose, and setting goals to obtain this. Working towards this, everyday, will help you find joy and faith in yourself. If you are living in the constant state of going nowhere, doing the same ole thing, living the same ole life, then you may not be creating faith in yourself. But, by moving forward, in life, setting your goals, having a vision, and living your purpose, faith in yourself will come because of the great accomplishments you will make.

    Look back one year ago, three years ago, or even five years ago. Are you doing the same ole thing or are you moving forward in life? How do we create faith? Discover what you want out of life, move towards it, and live it. Discover your purpose, move towards it, and live it. Set goals towards what you want, using your purpose, and keep moving forward, everyday.

    If you don’t know what you want or would like to create faith in yourself, I can help you, for free. When you learn to destress yourself you discover what you want out of life and create faith in yourself. Subscribe to this blog, sign up for our free weekly newsletter at destressyourself.com, and download our free audio mp3’s and you will begin the journey of destressing yourself. You have it in you!

    Hope this is helpful. Until next post… Don’t forget to have fun and be playful, it is in your nature.

    Elizabeth

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