Running from Bears

(Page 3 of 3)

February/March 2005
By John Titan 
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The first method is to do nothing: Just be aware of what is happening around you at this moment. At first, this may be an alarming idea; in American society it is considered a waste of time to do nothing. But letting go of the urge to fill every minute with activity can help reduce stress. This includes surrendering mental activity — try allowing your thoughts to relax. Think about how relaxed you felt the last time you stopped to watch a sunset or listen to birds singing. Often, taking a few minutes to notice the beauty of nature can help reduce your stress level.

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If doing nothing is too difficult, try to focus on your breathing instead. Weil calls breathing “the doorway to control the autonomic nervous system,” and for good reason. Changing the way you breathe affects which branch of the autonomic nervous system is functioning.

The stress response causes you to have rapid, shallow breath, and even if you were not stressed, you could cause your body to become stressed just by consciously sustaining rapid, shallow breathing. By reversing this process, you can make your body relax. Mimic the parasympathetic mode of breathing by taking deep, slow breaths, and your body will return to its natural state of relaxation.

The beauty of this approach is that you can do it anywhere. Wherever you are, and no matter what problems you have to contend with, you can always choose to slow down just by taking a few deep breaths.

On the other hand, if during the course of a leisurely day, you take a walk through the forest and you do happen upon a bear, spare a split second of gratitude for the usefulness of adrenaline — and then head for the hills.

John Titan is a certified tobacco-treatment specialist and leads numerous workshops on the topics of stress reduction, breathing for relaxation and meditation.

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