Quieting the “limbic system”, the emotional part of the brain is useful in conquering any habits linked to emotional triggers. Twenty minutes of meditation twice a day has been the standard prescription for accomplishing this calming effect.\u00a0 I find that most people have been unable\/unwilling to carve this much time out of their day.\u00a0 Plus, there is another way! In 1982, Charles Stroebel discovered that taking 6 seconds to relax in the following way had the same effect.
\nHere are the instructions:
\nThe quieting reflex is used to cope with urgent and emergent stress.\u00a0 The technique needs to be practiced often, the more the better, in order to improve the skills when needed during a stressful time period.\u00a0 The quieting response may be used with eyes closed or open, and at anytime or place.\u00a0 The goal is to have the quieting reflex become an easy to use skill that works.
\nBe aware of what is distressing and irritating.\u00a0 The annoyance is the trigger or cue to begin using the quieting reflex now.
\nSay and repeat the phrase \u201cAlert mind, calm body\u201d to yourself.
\nSmile inwardly with your mouth and your eyes. The inward smile is a feeling and is not obvious to anyone. This \u201csmile\u201d prevents the facial muscles from adopting negative, hostile and stressful expressions.
\nInhale slowly to three. Imagine that the breath comes from down at the bottom of your feet! Let the breathe go slowly\u2026Feel the breath travel back down your legs and out of the bottom of your feet\u2026Allow your face, jaw, tongue and shoulder muscles to relax and become loose and limp.
\nWith practice, the \u201cquieting reflex\u201d will become an \u201cautomatic skill\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Quieting the “limbic system”, the emotional part of the brain is useful in conquering any habits linked to emotional triggers. Twenty minutes of meditation twice a day has been the standard prescription for accomplishing this calming effect.\u00a0 I find that most people have been unable\/unwilling to carve this much time out of their day.\u00a0 Plus, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nancyadlerjones.psychology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nancyadlerjones.psychology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nancyadlerjones.psychology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nancyadlerjones.psychology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nancyadlerjones.psychology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/nancyadlerjones.psychology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nancyadlerjones.psychology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nancyadlerjones.psychology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nancyadlerjones.psychology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}