Stress Management For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 5

Quieting Your Mind

In This Chapter

Stopping unwanted thoughts

Using imagery to relax

Investigating meditation

Hypnotizing yourself

Your mind is constantly working. Sometimes it races, sometimes it slows, but it rarely stops. Even when you’re sleeping, the wheels are turning. You may be worrying about work, your relationships, your finances, or simply how you’re going to juggle the hundred and one things on your plate. Whatever the source of your worry or distress, you clearly aren’t going to relax until you stop — or at least slow — this mental mayhem.

Consider Matt’s stressful night: Matt is in bed at 11:30, ready and determined to go to sleep. But he well knows that isn’t going to happen. His thinking is just starting to rev up. He’s worried about his job and what he’ll do if that rumored layoff comes through. His credit cards, although not maxed out, are getting there. His relationship with Jenna is losing some steam. Maybe they should take a break for a while. He thinks about yesterday, when his friend Mark told him he wasn’t being a good friend and wasn’t spending ...