Choose Your Own Adventure

I love good movies. I love getting lost in a good romantic comedy, getting excited by a good psychological thriller, seeing new truths with a good drama, or laughing myself silly with a good comedy. (The operative term here is 'good'; bad movies can be torture!) But one thing that all good movies have in common for me is that they can be great for stress relief.

This is because they can be completely immersive. They can take me out of my stressed state of mind and create a different emotional state: light-hearted, reverent, loving, and not consumed by the stressors that are plaguing me on a given day. It's a fun 'cheat' to sit back and allow myself to be taken to a better place. (I get the same from reading, but movies can be quicker and shared.)

There are a few stress relief techniques that work the same way a good movie or a good book works--that is, by immersing you in a feeling you'd rather be having. These techniques allow you to change your experience and literally take yourself to a better state of mind, in some cases even creating a new story for yourself. They involve using the mind to alter what's going on in your body--namely, to reverse your stress response. Here are some of them:

• Hypnosis
  Using hypnosis, either with a hypnotherapist or through self hypnosis, can help you feel like you are experiencing something else, and can allow your body to react accordingly. Unlike what you see in stage shows, when you're under hypnosis, you are in control and aware of what you're experiencing, and will not bark like a dog (unless you really want to)! Learn how to use self hypnosis for stress relief.
• Guided Imagery
  Using guided imagery can feel like you're in your own movie. The cool twist is that you can fee much less stressed, and can tap unto your unconscious mind to find answers to questions you have in your life. Learn more about using guided imagery.

• Visualizations
  Visualizations work much the same way guided imagery does, but can be done less formally, in less time, among other minor differences. Visualizations are used by athletes to improve performance, and can be used by you to reduce stress. Here is a very simple visualization exercise to try.