3. Learn diaphramatic breathing

Often called seven eleven breathing, this simple technique is easy to learn, and can be used anytime. The two steps that make this work are; breathing in to a count of seven, and breathing out to a count of eleven.

The numbers are somewhat unimportant so long as the out breath is longer than the in breath.

The reason for making the out breath last longer than the in breath is that inhalation has been shown to trigger the sympathetic nervous system (arousal) and exhalation shown to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system (the relaxation response).

By breathing out more slowly than breathing in, you strengthen the relaxation response over the arousal response.

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If you are currently suffering from long term stress, or even if stress has just started to affect your life, here are six easy ways that you can use to reduce the effects of stress.

These suggestions and ideas for reducing stress need to be practiced daily if you want to get maximum benefit. Many people find that they have to make changes to their lifestyle to reduce their daily stress. If you are not convinced of this then start keeping a simple diary of how stressed you are on a daily basis – write down a number between 1 and 10, where 1 is completely calm and 10 is very stressed. Notice how your stress levels can reduce as you introduce some of these simple techniques into your life.

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The Hypnosis Downloads site offers a training DVD for therapists which teaches how to use the fast phobia cure, and gives a demonstration with a man who has a phobia of snakes. Click here for details and a short video excerpt of the DVD. All of the mp3 downloads on the Hypnosis Downloads site feature the use of the fast phobia cure plus guided visualization / hypnosis for the relief of phobias – the list below shows all of their current phobia related mp3 titles:

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Fast phobia cure

The fast phobia cure is the name given to a technique originally developed by the psychotherapist Milton Erikson and later developed by Richard Bandler and John Grindler. The technique was first described in the book “Frogs into Princes”. This technique has also been called the Rewind technique and the VK technique (VK is an acronym for Visual Kinesthetic)

The technique involves desensitising memories of when the phobic stimulus has been distressing. The procedure usually uses hypnosis to help the person to relax (although this is not always necessary). The traumatic memories are then played on a movie or television screen with various distortions. For example, the memories could be played in fast forward or fast rewind, or in black and white, and even with different sound. This allows the brain to restore the memory with less emotion.

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A phobia is an anxiety reaction triggered by an internal or external stimulus which causes the body’s “fight or flight” response to activate. Phobias are extremely common, and can range in intensity from person to person. Often people can become phobic of non-threatening things which makes them appear irrational.

A phobia is different from a fear of something. It is natural to be frightened if being attacked by a dog, or being in a car crash, but not terrified at the thought of these things happening. Phobias can take over a persons life, restricting normal activities in order to avoid the object of the phobia.

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