Stress Management Techniques

People often, ask me why am I always so positive, upbeat and enthusiastic. People that actually know me never just ask how am I doing; they always ask “How fantastic are you today Clint.” And then there are some who say you can’t possibly be that positive and happy all the time. My response is simply. “Yes I can watch me.” There is one story I always tell and several techniques I use that can help you never have another bad day in your life.  

First, the story I always tell for why I’m so positive and happy all the time starts with something I learned many years ago from an old Japanese WWII soldier called “The Secret to everlasting happiness.” This Japanese soldier had been stationed on the island of Okinawa Japan during the U.S. invasion but was not captured nor rescued or told when the war ended. As far as he was concerned the war was still going on. He would sneak down into the city of Naha and steal food and cloths and go back to his hideout.

More than 40 years later, he was still hiding in the mountains. And in 1985 when I was stationed their while in the Marines I ran into him by accident during a training exercise when he started shooting at my unit. We only had blanks, so when we realized someone had real bullets we left, called the MP’s and they finally captured him. During the interrogation everyone wondered why he was so happy, positive enthusiastic and of course hungry. When he was asked why he was so happy, after being left and forgotten up in these mountains for more than 40 years he smiled and said “I happy because I know secret to ever lasting happiness”.  

Now being a Marine and having served around Sailor for many years my first thought was “B_ _ _ S_ _ _.” I would have been mad as hell if the Marines had left and forgot about me for only 40 minutes. We then asked him what was this secret? He again smiled and said, “I can only share secret if you first take a solemn vow to apply and use the secret for the rest of your life.”  At this point I’m standing in the back thinking “Give me a break”. So you can tell I had a bad attitude before learning the secret. We all took this vow and he told us the secret. And ever since then I have used this secret every day and now I’m positive and happy all the time. 

Keep reading if you want the secret. 

Along with the secret I use these stress management techniques on a regular basis. In fact some time two or three times a day. Some of these can be used for immediate stress management and some are for long term management of stress.  

The first technique I used every morning right after applying the secret to everlasting happiness is Mediation. Meditation is used to train the mind to be relaxed and free of all the chatter that goes on throughout the day. But this morning mediation is not just any kind of meditation I do what is called “Transcendental mediation. To learn more about Transcendental Mediation watch this YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfIqvZLIZz8

The second technique I used though out the day anytime I feel the need to relax is call diaphragmatic breathing. This technique can be used to almost immediately reduce the stress of the moment. It is base on the scientific research conducted by Herbert Benson, MD and described in his national best seller “The Relaxation Response” To learn more about this technique watch the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSgZqxAaYQU

Oh before I forget send me an email saying you vow to apply and use the “Secret to Everlasting Happiness” every day for the rest of your life and I’ll send you the secret he gave us.