Pep Up Your Self Esteem!

A lot of people do not get anywhere in life in spite of seeming to have everything going for them in life. So what is it that truly sets apart the average man from the extraordinary human being? The answer is short and simple - the real secret of success lies in self-esteem. Thinking is being. Believe it or not, merely working to develop a heightened sense of self-esteem can help bestow success on your life!

Pessimism and lack of self-confidence only causes more anxiety and tension, leading to failure in all tasks you ever take up. Once you break out of your vicious cycle of self-doubt, you develop great self-confidence, which automatically makes you virtually unstoppable in any field you intend to pursue! All of us are born with tremendous potential in a particular field. We all deserve to taste the sweet flavor of success due to us in this lifetime and it is our duty to go after that success!

Now, where do we get started with this quest for success? Everything in this Universe is right within us. Remember, in this cosmos, the macro is the micro. Hence, if we desire love and respect from other people, we must learn to love and respect ourselves first and foremost. There is definitely at least one thing we do not really like about ourselves. So what can be done about it? We can follow either of two routes here - change that thing we dislike about ourselves or just learn to accept and love ourselves the way we are.

• Accept yourself
Of course, there are certain things you just cannot change. For example, if your problem is overweight, you have many options to try and lose it. But if you feel inferior because you may not be good-looking enough, you need to get over it by changing your own thinking. Concentrate on some other aspect of yourself that shines forth in the social circuit. If you have ready wit or a great sense of humor for instance, show it off in public and you will be amazed at how soon you become the most popular person at any party!

• Be well-heeled
The whole world loves an elegant dresser. This does not mean that you immediately need to hit those hi-fi designer boutiques in your locality. Merely taking a bit more trouble to look and smell good goes a long way to creating the first good impression. Make sure to keep the hair clean and well-styled, wear neatly ironed clothes and always wear a hint of pleasant perfume. Further, maintaining an erect posture and smiling countenance will, by itself, create a feeling of well-being for you.

• Give and thou shalt receive!
Give in plenty - complements, that is! Keeping to yourself all the time in a work or social environment never ever pays. It is easy to win others' hearts by just being nice to them. Make it a habit to comment positively about people and acknowledge their pluses. Complementing others will allow them to open up to you and return the favor. Hearing others saying good things about you in turn, works wonders on your self-confidence.

• Work on your minuses
Know what your weak points are and systematically work on them. For instance, if you are shy and reticent by nature, do something about it. You could maybe join a personality development course or a public speaking course. This will help you get out of your self-imposed shell and mingle around freely with others. Make direct eye contact with the other party and smile more often - that in itself will project an image of utter self-confidence and control.

• Negate that fear complex
Most people withdraw into themselves for the sheer fear of societal rejection. If this is the case with you, learn to deal with that fear and negate it altogether, so it stops affecting your life. The most important thing here is to start enjoying who and what we do. If you have stage fright, go face a huge audience. You may be left shaking for the first couple of minutes, but you will be pleasantly surprised to see how quickly that silly phobia melts away! Counteract this thing called fear and show it who the boss is! Soon enough, you will feel your confidence levels rising and feel right on top of the world!

Snap out of that under-confidence and open your life up to a wonderful new world of immense opportunities. Increase your self-esteem and see how life changes for the better for you!

Click here to know how auto-suggestion can help pep up your self esteem!
Click here for useful tips and information on positive thinking.

Tips to Effectively Manage Stress

Life today is filled with various kinds of stresses and strains. All of us are trying to cope up with one or the other kind of stress. While most of us manage to keep our chin up and swim through our personal sea of troubles, there are those among us who simply succumb to it and fall prey to the petty issues of life.

The presence of stress and tension robs us of our natural vitality and enthusiasm for life, rendering us dull and grumpy, far reducing our levels of efficiency in all aspects of our life. If we want to start leading a truly happy life, we first need to free our mind of all that accumulated tension. For the body to remain healthy, we first need to control our mind. A healthy mind alone gives rise to a healthy body. We will never be able to achieve our goal until and unless we learn to relax and let go of our own bondage of negativity.

What exactly is relaxation?

Relaxation is not about stopping all activity and shirking work. Quite on the contrary, it is about getting rid of all the negative energies within you, thereby optimizing your energies to get the most possible success and happiness out of your life. Relaxation is all about understanding and accepting the various challenges thrown at you, with a balanced outlook, without getting upset at the slightest provocation.

You can get your life back on track by employing various methods of relaxation, some of which are discussed in detail below:

• Meditation
Meditation, which is about mental control and exercising the mind to remain still, is indeed one of the best ways to manage stress. While meditation does not help in changing life circumstances, what is does is to teach you enough mind control to tackle difficult and unexpected events in your life. This ancient relaxation technique, practically a way of life with the people of the Indian sub-continent and the whole of the Orient, is a method of focusing oneself on the 'Higher Self', thus remaining unruffled by mundane, day-to-day events of life.

Meditation is best performed in complete silence, controlling breathing patterns in a certain prescribed method.

• Relaxation by way of visualization
You can effectively use projected mental images to ease your way out of mental and physical stress. Practicing visualization techniques for relaxation helps bestow tremendous peace on the mind. For instance, if you feel stressed out at work and are dying for a break, you could close your eyes and picture yourself watching a glorious waterfront sunset at some exotic destination. It will immediately relax your mind and put it to rest at least for the time being!

• Progressive relaxation
With this technique, you can achieve total relaxation by consciously tensing and releasing your muscles one by one, giving your body a sense of complete ease and comfort. This technique is especially useful to tackle several types of common aches and pains.

• Biofeedback
Biofeedback is a recent and much-debated technique to achieve relaxation, which requires you to observe and formally record your mind-body responses with the help of certain medical equipment. While there are many who swear by this method, there are an equal number of other experts who do not at all recommend this technique of mind control.

The above are only a handful of techniques you can employ for relaxation. Here is a word of caution. Do visit your healthcare professional before you choose any one method. There are some mental control techniques that require you to get a clean health chit from your doctor, especially if you are suffering from some medical disorder. Some techniques might actually end up changing your physiology in some way if taken to the extreme. So always be moderate in your approach and go slow and steady with your progress.

Click here to learn more about relaxation and stress management techniques.

Click here to for interesting information and tips on positive thinking.

Some Great Tips For Stress Reduction

All of us are inevitably faced with stress and stressful situations at some point of our lives or the other. So how do we go about dealing with them? It is true that one cannot run off from life's everyday problems. But there are definitely ways and means by which we can change our own attitudes and tackle issues in ways that do not cause us any strain.

Stress can be dangerous, as it actually ends up impacting our health in a very negative way. One sees many people falling ill and maybe even dying of stress and stress-related problems today. Hence, if you wish to live the full life that you indeed deserve to live, you could do very well to follow some of the stress-reduction tips listed out below:

Meditation
Meditation is known to induce a feeling of calm and dramatically reduce stress levels. Take time out for yourself everyday, at least about a half hour or so, seat yourself comfortably in a silent place where you will be totally undisturbed, turn on soft music if you so wish and then start meditating. Learn to appreciate the silence around you and internalize your thoughts towards the peace that lies within you. You might find your mind running amuck initially, but by and by, you will feel the peace and the sense of quiet overtake your mind, finally soothing it and healing it from within.

Exercise
Exercise is one of the best ways to reduce stress, depression and other negative factors affecting us. Regular, moderate exercise boosts the immune system, improves blood circulation and generally bestows a feeling of energy and well-being. More advanced exercises such as dance or aerobics can literally get your whole system into gear, making you feel right at the top of the world, keeping you smiling all day long!

Music therapy
Music works wonders to relieve one of stress. In fact, it has been medically proven that certain types of melodies can actually heal the mind, quiet it down and give the listener immense peace and calm. There are many musicians all over the world trying to do more research on this subject. The Internet is filled with many types of music, especially meant to relax the mind and free it of its immense stress.

Aromatherapy
Many people also believe that aromatherapy helps them reduce stress levels. Certain types of soothing smells trigger certain chemical reactions in the brain, which in turn, acts to ease the mind of its worries and cares. This method is not at all expensive and has the potential of helping you out immensely. Do give it a try.

The above are only some tips to reduce stress. There are many, many other ways you can think of to cut down the tensions in your life. The key to improving the quality of your life is to learn to take life with the proverbial pinch of salt and not get too upset with its day-to-day problems and issues. Don't worry, be happy!

Click here to know more about meditation.

Click here for useful tips and information on positive thinking.

Simple Ways to Deal With Stress

It is well known that all of us are affected by stressful situations in our life. But while some are able to look objectively at the situation and take it easy, most of us get easily ruffled and start reacting negatively to it. Improper management of stress is what leads to tension and the consequent onset of several health problems later in our lives.

It might take several years for the ill-effects of this tension to show up, but when it does, it usually blows out of all proportion and results in some or the other serious illness, possibly even endangering life itself! Sadly, we begin to realize our mistake too late - only after our health has taken that steep nose-dive. But do you know there is actually a very easy way to grow out of your miseries and start living a happy, healthy life?

It is the most natural thing for us, as human beings, to be happy and cheerful. Unfortunately, though, most of us get so caught up in everyday troubles that we hardly take the trouble to recognize that fount of happiness within us. Here are some ways we can get back to living that happy, peaceful life we richly deserve to live:

1. Stop taking life so seriously. Instead, learn to enjoy your journey in this lifetime. Life is filled with numerous experiences, some bitter, some sweet. Learn to take things in your stride and treat each day as a lesson in the class of life, as an opportunity to learn and grow more. Remember, you only live once, so learn to have fun!
2. Learn to eat right. Certain types of food give rise to certain reactions in our body. While eating a balanced diet including all kinds of food can pep you up almost instantly, the wrong kind of food can prove to be counter-productive for you. Cut down salty, sugary and fried foods. Also reduce caffeine intake. Consume your food slowly, chewing each bite well before taking it in. Setting right the digestive system will set your energy clock ticking away happily!
3. Keep active - that alone is enough to dust away the layers of negativity and depression you probably have been accumulating for years now! Hit the gym, go cycling, swimming or just take a brisk walk. You will be surprised at how soon you start feeling much better. You do not need to pump iron all day to feel good about yourself. Moderate exercise is more than enough to work its magic on you!
4. Get adequate sleep each night. Sleeplessness leads to many health problems, some of which can get alarmingly serious later on. A good night's sleep heals like nothing else can! If you just cannot manage to get good enough sleep, do visit your healthcare professional and take his advice on the further course of action to be taken.
5. Have some faith in God and develop a spiritual outlook in life. If He puts you through it, He will also see you through it. Nothing is permanent, and that includes problems - they are bound to leave you someday soon!
   

Stress is a common factor with all of us. Our happiness quotient depends on how well we handle those worries and cares. Follow the above steps and you will soon see how easy it is to lead a healthy, happy life!

Click here to listen to soothing Reiki Music

Click here for useful tips and information on positive thinking.

How Stress Negatively Impacts Health

Strangely enough, life is as complicated today as it is simple! Though our everyday tasks have been made easier, thanks to numerous electronic and other gadgets, factors like stress and tension are on the steady rise. Traveling during rush hour traffic, stress in the office environment, tending to mundane household problems, children's needs and so on, can actually add to your mental load. The result? Too much accumulated tensions that actually take their toll on your general health.

Is stress really THAT harmful to health?

The answer is yes. Any kind of worry can have alarmingly negative side effects on both your mind and body. The worst thing here is that you may not realize it immediately, as some of them tend to impact you much later in your life. The most common symptoms of this type of PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are heightened pulse rate and blood pressure. In fact, irrespective of whether we realize it or not, many of our health problems can be directly related to the impact of various kinds of worries and tensions present in our lives. Now let us try and understand how exactly stress can adversely affect our lives:

General health
Some chronic conditions like high blood pressure and high blood sugar, which are also potentially life-taking, are usually linked to overweight and a bad lifestyle. But there is one thing you have to know here - these problems arise due to stress as well! Why, mental tension may well be the main contributor for this condition.

Hormones
Stress and tension is actually capable of attacking the hormonal system of the body. Adrenaline is a major hormone that controls the body's response to danger. When the body senses lurking danger, this hormone sets it running into full action, pumping blood faster, activating the brain to work sharper and so on. Of course, adrenaline comes of great use when necessary. But if one is expected to respond this way every single day, it can prove to be fatal. High blood pressure is always related to heart attacks, seizures, strokes and other dangerous conditions.

Mental health
As we all know, the direct impact of stress is on the mind. During periods of trouble, we forget to remain happy and positive, lose our patience, get crabby and snappy at all and sundry! In extreme cases, chronic worry can cause tremendous mood swings, severely damaging all our relationships, be they personal or professional. Hence, the mental impact can actually end up getting a lot more serious than the physical aspect.

Now that you know how truly dangerous stress can get on your health, you need to take measures to safeguard yourself from it. Be aware of how you feel, learn to get in touch with yourself by way of meditation, yoga and so on and most of all, smile, in the knowledge that 'this too shall pass'!

Click here for interesting information on stress management, tension reduction and much more.

Do visit Inner Power Positive for interesting information, articles and products for all-round wellness.

Learn to Develop Trust in Your Relationships

It cannot be said enough that trust is the anchor in any and every relationship that we maintain in our lives. The said relationship may manifest in the form of a friendship, business, family or even love - whatever it might be, the most fundamental aspect to that relationship has to be trust in and respect for each other. You must understand that, for any relationship to work out and blossom further, you have to constantly work at maintaining and strengthening that 'trust' factor.

Any relationship finally breaks down if there is extreme lack of trust in it. No matter how hard you try, that bond will never be able to flourish completely without both parties perfectly understanding and accepting each other's motives. Not placing enough trust means that there exists a lot of worry and doubt in that association.

Of course, it sometimes gets difficult to totally trust someone, especially if you have been hurt in some way in a past relationship of some kind. So how do you unlearn your conditioning from all those previous unfortunate experiences and learn to get back that trusting quality you once possessed?

Accept and trust yourself
To unlearn all the negative patterns of thought you have developed through the years, you have to first learn to let go of the past. Forgive yourself and others for all mistakes committed and all the misunderstandings that have come in the way. Acknowledge your mistakes and accept yourself for what you are. All of us have our negatives, some which we simply have to learn to live with.

Learn to trust yourself and your own capabilities. You will only be able to shed your distrusting attitude if you first learn to accept, trust and love yourself. Remember, the macro is the micro. The external world, for us, is only a manifestation of our internal selves. If we continue to be positive, we will have positive experiences in our own lives.

Learn to let go of the past
Learning to let go is a major step towards shedding that over-watchful attitude of yours. This step is most essential if you are experiencing an alarming amount of turbulence in your relationship with your partner or spouse. It happens very often that small day-to-day skirmishes over some truly silly reasons finally snowball out of all proportion and create an irreparable rift between both parties concerned.

Learn to take it easy and talk with the person concerned and express your feelings and thoughts openly. Also, do not keep an "account" of anything. Let the bygones be bygones - leave alone the past and focus on building a better tomorrow with your relationship.

Of course, it has to be noted here that a relationship just will not work out right if one is trying to take undue advantage of the other. If you are being the victim in such a situation, the only way out for you would be to discontinue meeting that particular person and walk out of that relationship altogether.

In conclusion, you should understand that any relationship never completely works out unless there is a complete, 100% trust between both you and the other person involved. So learn to stop doubting people's motives and learn to place trust in each and every one of your relationships, starting today!

Click here for useful tips on love, marriage, relationships and more.

Click here for useful tips and information on all aspects of positive thinking.