The best way to stay calm when you are under stress is to slow down. But there is a trick to doing it right. It took me years to master this trick but when I did it has come to served me well.
My stress challenges
I am in practice in hypnotherapy and psychotherapy in Encinitas, California and in my profession I have encountered many moments of stress. In fact the burden placed on the shoulders of a responsible and caring therapist can sometimes be pretty heavy. For example, once in a workshop I was conducting one of my clients stood up and told the group he had just written his suicide letter. If it were not for the skill I had learned to slow down during times of stress I might not have reacted in a way that could best help my client. As it turned out I was able to help.
How I learned to slow down
I remember the first day of my practice many years ago when I sat in my very first office waiting for my very first client. I was so nervous. I thought, “Am I really prepared! This person is trusting me to help them. What if I can’t?” I was so stressed out that all my training and confidence temporarily went out the window. That’s when I first began to employ what I am about to share with you.
What I did
I knew that I was in trouble. My new client deserved to have the best of me. I had to do something and I had to do it quickly. But before I tell you my secret I have to ask you a question and then tell you something.
My question to you
Do you believe there is an unseen power with whom you can communicate? Perhaps a universal energy or spiritual being or some intelligent energy that can respond to you?
What I have to tell you
In order to understand and benefit from what I am about to share with you, you have to believe in a higher power or spiritual energy with whom you can talk. If you don’t what I will have to say next will be just a bunch of non-sense words to you.
What I really did
So here I am sitting frozen to my new office chair fearing that I might fail my new client who no doubt is experiencing some kind of suffering. They are willing to take the trip to see me and invest their time and money and most importantly their faith in me to help them. So I am stressed. And then it came to me. No matter how extensive or what quality of my training there is nothing more powerful than the advice of what I knew to be my greatest guide. Call that power what you want. Years later I came to call it my Great Loving Wise Self. That is the part of me that dwells deep inside of me that is great and loving and wise beyond comprehension. So I stilled myself and called inwardly to this power.
What I was told
Instantly I was told that I would be guided in all I asked guidance for. I trusted it and have trusted it for many years now. That day when my new client arrived I kept that awareness and connection to this wonderful energy and was guided in all I said and did with that client. In fact, I found myself saying things that were so profound that I knew they didn’t come from the every day me but from some great source that came through me.
What you can do
You can do this too. You can call out from within yourself for guidance when you are under stress. You can slow yourself down and you can listen to your own Great Loving Wise One.
Learn more
Find out more about how to deal with stress at my website www.wendyhill.com. Watch a video or read a chapter from my book.