Stress in your life can take a measurable toll. In the short term, it takes an immediate effect on your body, but chronic stress puts your health at risk. Your body responds to stress by releasing hormones and boosting your heart and breathing rates. Which is okay, as long as we get our stress under control within a definable time frame. If left untreated, stress can develop into something chronic. This includes symptoms such as irritability, depression, anxiety, heart attack, stroke, nausea, and vomiting. It can also interfere with our sex organs and damage our immune system, which makes us more susceptible to illness and disease.
There are many ways to cope with stress. Regular exercise, connecting with others, yoga, and massages are a few. However, there’s also a Japanese self-relaxation technique that can be done anywhere in 5 minutes.
To give a quick background, each of the fingers in our hand represents a different kind of emotion or feeling.
- The Thumb helps fend off emotions like worry and anxiety.
- The Index finger helps you fight your fears.
- The Middle finger helps control feelings of rage and bitterness.
- The Ring finger aids in fighting melancholy and depression.
- The Pinky helps relieve stress and boosts your optimism and self-esteem.
Here are the steps!
Your goal is to balance all the opposing energy forces in your body. Start this by taking one finger at a time, grasping it with the opposite hand and wrapping every finger around it.
Hold each finger for one to two fingers. Wait until you feel the pulse. This is when you know it’s working.
To aid in relaxation, apply slight pressure to the center of your palm with your opposite thumb and hold for at least one minute.
If you practice this technique every day, your spirit becomes balanced, enabling you to deal with stress much more effectively.
To see these steps in action, check out the following video!
