My Mood Magnet Stays Black
I have had some life experiences in the past month or so that have caused me to experience more stress in my life. Oddly enough, around the same time my stress reached a peak, my job was having stress management sessions for everyone at work.
When I arrived at work a few Mondays ago, there was an Essi Systems Stress Map booklet on my 
desk. We were supposed to go through the questions and then plot our stress map (see mine on the left). Then later on in the week, we met for two hour, group sessions with a health and wellness counselor.
While some grinned ignorantly and made light of the whole thing afterwards, I appreciated the efforts. You never know when someone needs something like that.
So, in that session, they taught us how to breathe, assess our stress levels, and do something about stress. The session ended with a thirty minute relaxation CD that was supposed to take us to a peaceful lake. They also gave us CDs of this relaxation vacation, as well.
After the CD, the counselor had us hold our mood magnets and see if the colors changed. Most of use had tried them at the beginning of the session and they stayed black. But you could see that most people’s at least changed to green after the session. So, since then, I check mine every once in a while and it stays black, which is stressed. 
I have used the relaxation CD a couple of times since the session (it was recommended that we use it once a day for thirty days), and I have found that my mood magnet changes color when i am done. The problem is that I don’t have thirty minutes every day to do this. So, I have looked for quicker fixes.
Here are some of the things that I have found:
ARTICLES
Robert Cooper’s Instant Calming Sequence (ICS)
On the Job 5-Minute Stress Busters
Four Ways to Relax Yourself in Five Minutes or Less
Stress Relief in Five Minutes (or less)
Stress Relief: Relaxation Practices that Reduce Stress
Alternate Breathing For Relaxation and Stress Management
SITES
http://five-minutestressrelief.com/
BOOKS
Five Good Minutes: 100 Morning Practices To Help You Stay Calm & Focused All Day Long
Quiet Mind: One-Minute Retreats from a Busy World
I cannot vouch for any of these methods. The ones that I have used have made me feel more calm and relaxed, but, generally, my mood magnet still stays black. We all know those things are not scientifically accurate anyway, though. Still, it makes you think about your state and health and makes you be more conscious.
On a side note, I read a press release recently about the possible stress relieving effects of playing World of Warcraft. I am going to use this is my excuse for staying up an extra three hours questing last night. LOL
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