I found the best treatment for stress after a hike through the desert.
But, wait! Everyone already knows that getting out in nature DOES relieve stress. I adamantly recommend daily walks and regular escapes as a means to regroup and reconnect.
But, this treatment is more of a lifetime treatment instead of a quick “take a break and breathe” kind that you do in the middle of your chaotic day.
We recently hiked 4.5 miles through the desert in at the San Tan Mountain Regional Park in Arizona. The hike took us full circle, completely around one of the mountains (and yeah, I know, Colorado folks would say, “that ain’t no mountain!)
Always, as we travel along on our never-ending roadtrip, we look out over plains, and hills, deserts and mountains and feel the longing to BE out there … traipsing over the land like the early settlers, the cowboys, the discoverers and explorers. Yesterday’s hike took us “out there!”
We were far away from the hustle and bustle of city streets, and fast food places and malls. We ventured into the wilderness where mountains surrounded us, saguaros towered over us, desert scrub and rocks adorned our path.
We weren’t stressed, but what happened next led me to discover the best treatment for stress, for all those people, and events and situations that kind of rub against the grain of peace and happiness.
Now, about halfway through the hike, I felt my knee start to complain about the strain it was enduring for the hike. I previously strained it on last week’s hike up Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale, but it had healed quickly – or so I thought. Soon, I began to wonder if I could beg for a ride on one of the horses passing by on the trail.
By the time we got back to the truck, I knew the remainder of my day would be spent resting, icing and elevating my knee. It’s the PRICE treatment recommended for muscle strains and sprains and it’s also the best treatment for stress.
Protect – Rest – Ice – Compression – Elevation
As I was resting and icing and elevating (and sometimes … well, a lot of the time … complaining),
I realized how the PRICE treatment could also be the best treatment for stress in our lives.
The same therapy can be used to heal, relieve
and avoid stress in life.
This is how
to apply
PRICE
when life
gets
stressful
and how
to prevent
the stress
before it
erupts.
Protect:
You have to protect yourself from the stress of the negative energy that exudes from naysayers, whiners and complainers for they can certainly cause injury to your overall well-being.
There will be people who will discourage you, irritate you, even hate you and who will try to squash your desire to be successful and happy. Protect yourself from this negative kind of energy.
Protect yourself by choosing to be surrounded by people who are positive, who love and encourage you, who believe in you.
Rest:
Your mind processes 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day. With all that thinking going on, is it any wonder that we are stressed?
What chance does our heart have to breathe, feel, and experience life when there is a constant flood of thoughts.
The steady flow of thinking is a thick filter between our thoughts and feelings, our head and heart. The constant mental traffic prevents us from seeing clearly, listening deeply, and feeling our well of being. Taking time to nurture the silence of our heart, we begin to be very present, including present with one another. -Bruce Davis
Science has discovered a wide scope of brain wave frequencies in humans, ranging from the very low levels of deep sleep (Delta) to the high level of consciousness (Beta) where we spend most of our waking day.
Many people spend their days in a sustained, agitated, stressful, high frequency Beta state but, it can cause an unhealthy release of stress chemicals, which will, over time, put the body completely out of balance and cause disease.
You need to rest your mind, slow down to the lower level of frequencies of Theta and Alpha.
Resting your mind is done through meditation.
You don’t have to trek to India, shave your head and sit in a cave 23 hours a day to meditate. Just find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed and sit in silence, breathing in and out deeply. As you do, your brain wave frequencies will slow down.
Meditation is healing rest for your mind.
Ice:
Life is going to throw some curve balls at you – it’s inevitable.
It is stressful dealing with uncomfortable and irritating situations, people and circumstances. How you react will either aggravate or alleviate the stress.
Just chill.
It’s your reaction that will aggravate or alleviate the stress caused by crisis and disappointments or the pain of hurtful comments. Reacting with anger, worry, fear, jealousy or doubt feeds the negative energy monster.
Reacting with love expands and attracts joy, peace, equanimity and happiness.
Let go. Let go of the need to be right. Let go of the need to be in control. Let go of the need to figure it all out. Put it on ice.
Compression:
For a muscle sprain, you wrap an elastic bandage around the injury to help reduce swelling to restrict the flow of liquid to the sprain.
Compression can be applied to reduce the “swelling” of overextending yourself in any area of your life.
It’s so very easy to take on too much because there is so much you CAN do, WANT to do, and it’s ALL good. But what happens when you take on too much? You get overwhelmed, exhausted, confused and stressed.
That’s when it’s time for compression. Compress it all down to DO what you enjoy doing. Let go of all the rest. Focus on doing one or two things well instead of trying to be the expert of everything. Forget about what others expect you to be or to do. Do what fills your heart with joy.
Compression: simplifying to decompress.
Elevate:
I’ve been elevating my knee for a few days to reduce the amount of blood flow to the injured area. Too much blood can put undue pressure on the injury, slowing the healing process. The key is to have the injured area above my heart level.
Stress in life puts undue pressure on your well-being. It can fill your mind with depression, anxiety, worthlessness and the whole gamut of negative emotions that will sabotage everything you attempt to do. You have to find a way to elevate your mind.
The best way is to do this is to read books that will help you learn how to navigate through life with a positive attitude and beliefs that serve you instead of destroy you.
Be a lifelong student, never stop learning about the miraculous biology of your brain and your body, about the immense Universal power that is within you to be, do and have all that you desire.
Read daily. Read 15 minutes at a time from several different books to expand and elevate your mind.
You can also elevate your mind by attending webinars or live events to learn from personal development leaders, which puts you in an environment where you are surrounded by people who support and love you. (See “Protect” above.)
PRICE. It’s working great for my knee sprain.
It’s also the best treatment for stress in your life.
I’m sure this has triggered additional thoughts and ideas about how the PRICE treatment can be applied to life. I’d love to hear – we’d all love to hear! Leave a comment below!
Trisha Barnes
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