Ever have one of those days where it seems every thing is going wrong?

Take a few moments to step back from every challenging situation, catch your breath and calm yourself down. Remaining calm helps reduce stress from building into an unmanageable monster.

Here are  7 Tips to Calm Yourself Down and Reduce Stress …

1.  Breathe

Take 10 long deep breaths. You have probably heard this all of your life – the trick is to breather properly. You want to take a long slow deep breath in so that your stomach rises, not your chest. Next, breathe out just as slowly while your stomach descends. As you breathe in, gradually count from 1 to 10. As you breathe out, count down from 10 to 1 at the same pace. Concentrate on your breaths as you count, releasing any thoughts as they come. This is an excellent method to calm yourself down and reduce stress, regardless of where you are. It can be done sitting or standing and in front of anyone. People around you will probably not even realize what you are doing.

2.  Reframe

Reframing is the mental act of stepping back and looking at the situation from a different point of view. We all have had times where we see a person loose it at a restaurant, grocery store or other public place. I once witnessed a man having a full melt-down because the waitress served him peas instead of corn. Yet, we all have times where we become just as stressed over something trivial. Is it the end of the world if your husband is late for dinner, little Johnny puts treats in your grocery basket, if you make a mistake in your checkbook or if your boss disciplines you? Put yourself in the situation as an observer and see how it looks different. Ask yourself “On a scale of 1 to 10, how does this matter in the bigger picture of my life and my well-being?” Looking at things differently opens you up to see opportunities instead of challenges, compassion in place of anger and strengths instead of weaknesses.  To quote Wayne Dyer “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

3.  Self Talk

Be aware of what you are telling yourself and change what you are saying. Instead of telling yourself “I’m going to be fired” after your boss reprimands you, say “That was a good lesson for me to learn, and I will do better next time.” Instead of saying my husband is late because he doesn’t like being around me or he wants a divorce, remind yourself what a great guy he is and think of all the ways he shows you he loves you. Tell yourself that you are loving, worthy and capable and are ok just the way you are. Self talk can go a long way to help calm yourself down and reduce stress, because your self talk is what created the stress in the first place.

4.  Anchor

To be able to use this method to calm yourself down and reduce stress – you need to be prepared. When you feel calm and happy choose a physical action to “anchor” the peaceful emotion. This can be as something as simple as touching your ear, placing your hand over your heart or on your knee. Practice this anchoring technique as often as possible when things are going well. When you begin to feel yourself becoming stressed, use the anchoring action to help yourself calm down.

5.  Get Away

If possible take a walk, go to they gym, ride your bicycle or take in a movie. It is especially important to take breaks and get away if you are becoming stressed at work. A quick walk around the building coupled with breathing in fresh air can do wonders for your mental state. Sunlight is a natural mood booster and can be a great way to lift your spirits. The same applies at home if you feel a heated argument with your spouse on the horizon or if your children are fighting and not listening to you.

6.  Indulge

If you are at work or a public place, listen to some soothing music. Put a couple soothing songs on your phone or mp3 player that have a calming affect on you. Other ways to indulge to calm yourself down and reduce stress includes reading a book, taking a bubble bath, getting a massage or having a glass of wine.

7.  Meditate

When you begin to feel overwhelmed take a few minutes to go to a quiet place and meditate – even 2 or 3 minutes can do wonders to reduce stress! When meditating focus on clearing your thoughts, by focusing on your breathing, an object or a certain word, like wellbeing or calm. You can also use guided tapes or music designed for meditation. To remain calm and prevent stress, meditate every day.

Starting a Meditative Practice

Want to know what the hardest part of meditation is? Here’s a hint: It has nothing to do with meditation at all!

The hardest part is simply making the time to meditate. Once you believe in its power and see its results, you won’t let anything get in the way of you and your peaceful practice. It might be tough in the beginning, but stay with it! It’ll be well worth the effort.

Make a goal for yourself and evaluate your progress as you go. Commit to at least weekly meditations for four weeks. After this time, evaluate whether the meditation has made a positive difference your life.

These meditation tips will help you in your quest for obtaining inner peace:

1. Choose a time to meditate. Find a good time for you to meditate. You can start with shorter sessions in the beginning, but generally you should shoot for between 30 minutes to an hour during each session. Right when you get up or before you go to bed are good times to practice.

* Make meditation a priority for yourself just like you would for everything else that’s important in your life.

2. Keep an elevated posture. If you slouch, you won’t be in a good position for meditation and you’re more likely to feel like falling asleep. Elevate your posture and you’ll feel more open to the world. Relax in a crossed legged or other comfortable sitting position and rest your hands in your lap.

3. Focus on your breath. Your main goal is to keep your attention on your breath as you breathe in and breathe out. It may help to say a mantra and visualize breathing in good energy and letting out the bad energy with each cycle.

* Breathe at a pace that’s comfortable for you. Work toward deep, long breaths.

4. Acknowledge your thoughts. You want to remain fully present while you’re meditating, and there’s no doubt that thoughts are going to enter your mind while you’re trying to concentrate.

* Don’t be frustrated by these thoughts, but at the same time don’t let thoughts take your attention completely away. Acknowledge your thoughts and then bring your focus back to your breath.

5. Fight the urge to sleep. Many people complain of the urge to sleep during meditation sessions, mainly because it’s relaxing and you’re meditating during early morning or late evening hours. Try to remain awake with focus and good posture.

6. Maintain your practice. After you discover the many benefits of meditating, it will most likely become a part of you forever. You may not have time to do this every day, but it’s important to keep up with regular meditation sessions.

Meditation will help you keep a peaceful perspective on life and can tell you a lot of things about your true self. You can use it to relax, motivate, or energize you, depending on your purpose for each session. As you get more experienced with meditation, a more joyful and peaceful life will be yours!

In fact, you can overcome these issues with a few simple techniques!

First, acknowledge that you must take time for yourself. Being all things to all people isn’t realistic, and neither is doing everything and solving all problems or concerns in one day. No one should expect that of you! If they do, you must recognize that it’s not healthy, and you must do what’s right and best for you. Your health and happiness could depend on it.

Ways to Calm Your Mind

Meditation and prayer are two of the biggest ways to calm a restless mind, but they aren’t the only things you can do. There are many other choices to help you feel better and live a stress-free life. You might also consider:

* Volunteering or focusing on helping others
* Exercising
* Listening to music
* Using your mind for joyous pursuits that interest you
* Playing with children or pets

Everyone has different things they enjoy in life, and you should find yours and practice them when you start to feel stressed or your thoughts try to run away from you. Avoid letting your thoughts talk you out of your dreams. Your dreams are yours; embrace them!

Being busy is not the problem when it comes to your mind. Being busy with things that aggravate you and make you feel down is the problem. Instead of dwelling on things that upset you, deal with them, let them go, and move on to things that you enjoy. You can do this with your thoughts, just like you would with a physical task in the workplace or at home.

Lower Your Stress Levels Each Day

Stress begins in your mind as thoughts, but it can manifest itself physically. You may feel tense, anxious, uneasy, angry, or have aches and pains you can’t really find a cause for. If stress continues all the time and becomes chronic, your health could be compromised.

You can let stress go and feel good every day.

Try these strategies to lower your stress:

1. Focus on what matters to you. What’s important in your life? Be proactive about your goals and priorities. When you’re working toward something that you want, it makes you feel good about yourself and your future.

2. Find both physical and mental ways to release your stress. Releasing your stress every day keeps it from building up inside you. Make the conscious choice to start each day fresh, without the stress from the day before.

* What relaxes you? Music? Hobbies? Spending time with your family? Enjoy a healthy dose of relaxation every day.

* Get as much exercise as possible. Exercise refreshes your body with a surge of oxygen and releases endorphins, the “feel good” hormone. Even if there’s no time for an exercise session, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park far away from the building so you can walk, and play with your kids or pets.

3. Practice these strategies consistently. Work on releasing your stress every day, even on days when you don’t feel as much stress, so it won’t be a struggle when you really need it. When you’re feeling good, it’s natural to forget about letting stress go, but it’s important to avoid getting complacent.

* Keep practicing and improving, even when you feel great!

Whichever techniques you choose to calm your mind and lower your levels of stress, ensure it’s the right fit for you and your lifestyle. Only you know what you really need and what makes you feel safe and at peace.

If you practice this peacefulness each day, it won’t be long before you start to feel calmer, even in situations where you would have previously been over the edge. Your thoughts will be clearer, instead of jumbled and racing. Physically, you’ll feel stronger, too, because your body will be free from the affliction of stress and anxiety.

You may have seen comedy shows or skits where someone is practicing meditation. The person was probably sitting on the floor cross legged, eggs closed and “ohm”ing.

A second person was near by making snide remarks or imitating them. This is one of the reasons why many people used to look upon meditation as being funny, ridiculous or just plain odd. Thinking this could reduce stress was unthought of.

Over the years we have learned that mediation offers a lot of benefits. It’s commonly used to help us reduce stress, and live longer, happier healthier lives.

How does meditation help us reduce stress?

• It helps focus the mind on something that is deeply and spiritually rooted.
• By focusing on one thing you are forced to forget the stressors in your life
• You filter out sights and sounds that my stress you when you close your eyes and sit in a quiet room
• Chemicals present in your body actually change making you more relaxed and peaceful
• Meditation helps repair physical and mental damage caused by stress

The relaxing benefits from above are only the short term benefits. You are relaxed during and after mediating by filtering out stress that you have already experienced.

The REAL benefit of meditation is the long term affect.

When you make mediation part of your daily routine it can actually balance the levels of hormones and other stress related chemicals on a day-to-day basis – even when you’re not meditating. The result is that you will remain more peaceful and less stressed during your long day. Therefore to reduce stress before it starts, you’ll want to set aside a time each day to meditate.

Unlike yoga, meditation requires no special physical skills. Although it does require mental skills. Here’s how to get started …

• Find a quiet room and sit in a comfortable position. Any position that makes you feel comfortable where you can relax.
• Close your eyes and begin to relax your muscles. Focus on each muscle – tense it a little, then let it relax – mentally saying “relax”. You can either begin at your feet and end at your head or vice-versa.
• Take deep breaths in and out while you repeat your mantra. Your mantra can be anything that you choose “I am happy, healthy and wealthy” “Ohmmm” or just repeating the number one. If you are religious you can chant a prayer or something else related to your beliefs.
• When your mind begins to wander (it will – and it’s normal) just refocus on your mantra

To gain all the benefits and reduce stress you’ll want each meditation session to last 15 to 20 minutes.

Regularly practicing mediation trains your mind and your body to be more relaxed, peaceful and focused. You’ll reduce stress and gain mental focus.

Awakening Prologue by Centerpointe is a unique program using  Binural Beats that allows you to synchronize your brainwaves to achieve a desired state.  It’s TRULY Amazing!  Just pop in a CD, put on your headphones and you’ll reach a Deep Meditation state very quickly while you reduce stress and gain energy.