Stress Reduction Assignment # 6

My Technique for stress reduction is listening to classical music or something soothing like Jazz. This past spring I took a class called Music Appreciation and this class exposes you to various types of music. I was really surprised how much I liked the classical portion of the class. When I am stressed and in the car I can tune the dial to a classical station and I just turned up the sound and let the music wrap around me. I clear my mind of negative thoughts and the things that I am stressed about and take deep steady even breaths. If I am at home I turn my tv on to the music channel and choose a classical station to listen to. I sit down at the kitchen table and again focus on the music and take in deep steady breaths. Usually after about  minutes I feel calmer and happier inside. The stress just leaves my body and a calmness comes over me and I feel an emotional peace set in. Sometimes I change this routine up and drive to the beach and walk for about an hour. I like to take my shoes off and walk in the water  or I will just walk on the strand. Being able to be that close to the ocean just calms me down right away. I feel the stress leave me and again this calming, relaxing feeling takes the stress away. I think that me being able to identify when I am stressed, and having these techniques really is helpful for me it allows me to take my mind off what I am stressed about and allows me to just center myself internally and create a calm, peaceful feeling for myself. I have come to rely on these techniques and I use them over and over again to help me de-stress.