ManifestingWellBeing.com

Walking

Walking, especially with a focused mind, is wonderful for reducing stress. A good way to begin is by focusing while you walk, for a short length of time, such as 5 to 10 minutes. During this time you may focus on your breath, the sound of your footsteps, or the image of yourself achieving a goal that you want to accomplish.

Sitting Quietly and Breathing

If you are not able to get outside to walk, sitting quietly and focusing on your breathing is helpful. At first begin with a few minutes and then gradually increase the length of time up to 30 minutes. As you sit quietly you may simply focus on the inhalation and exhalation of your breath as it flows in and out of your body. You may want to try counting your breaths to help you stay focused. For example you might say to yourself as you breathe in, “in one, two, three” and then as you breathe out, “out one, two, three.”

Write Down Those Thoughts

Another exercise for times when you are worried, stressed, and overwhelmed by a list of things you need to do, is to write everything that is swirling in your head down on paper. Then pick one manageable thing to do, which once it is complete, will help you to feel better. Once this item is accomplished, focus on this good feeling of completion and acknowledge yourself for what you have done, instead of dwelling on what you have not done.

Deb Barnett, Ph.D. www.ManifestingWellBeing.com 

 “Manifesting Well Being for Health and Success”

Ed Diener, Ph.D. is one of the most well respected researchers in the field of positive psychology. As a member of the International Positive Psychology Association, this summer I had the good fortune of hearing Dr. Diener speak during a teleclass about his new book,  Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth  which he co-wrote with his son, Robert Biswas-Diener. During his call Dr. Diener’s shared information from his new book. This included an overview of the benefits of being happy. Some of these include:

Social Benefits – happy people are likely to be more social, self-confident and warm

Work Success – happy people tend to be rated more highly by their supervisors, perform better on the job and make more money.

Health and Longevity- happy people have a stronger immune system and in a study of nuns, the happier nuns lived longer than the less happy nuns

Societal Benefits -happy people tend to volunteer more, be more peaceful and more cooperative.

For a delightful interview of Ed Diener and his son Robert Biswas-Diener by writer Gretchen Rubin, see Gretchen’s blog post of her Happiness interview with Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener

Gretchen is writing a book called The Happiness Project which will be published in late 2009.

One of the benefits of EFT is that it is beneficial for healing and soothing a vast array of conditions and symptoms. This is what one woman had to say after tapping on concerns about her weight:

“You are amazing, your facilitation of tapping is amazing, and I get it. . . .After our session I made a phone call to a friend to share how wonderful you are AND [to share] some of the experience of tapping . . . Two hours after our session I felt the full weight of my body like I never felt it before BUT there was no debasing dialogue going on, no critical self ranting about ‘I really should be blah, blah, blah.’  AMAZING.”   

-K.L. New Hampshire.

Often what keeps us “stuck” and prevents us from being clear is our own internal dialogue that we have going on inside our head. It is as if the there is an inner critic or judge that comments on everything we say, think or do. This just compounds whatever physical or emotional challenge we are facing, makes us feel worse, and pulls us down. By using EFT, that internal struggle or chatter is often quieted. The internal fight ceases as we come into alignment energetically and become clear. This is the place in which healing occurs and new possibilities are available that were previously out of reach.

Please post your comments on some of the techniques that you have used for quieting the internal struggle. Do you have a particular affirmation or phrase that you have used?

Deborah Barnett, Ph.D.

www.ManifestingWellBeing.com   www.DeborahBarnett.com