Stretch Yourself

Heart Guide for Lesson 1:
The Spiritual Roots of Disease

Practical stress-reducing steps: What are some steps you can take to reduce stress in your life? This eCourse is intended to help you convert emotional stress back into the peace of Christ through faith and prayer, but there are many practical ways to de-stress as well. Although these 'secondary' measures don't uproot the emotional/spiritual causes of stress, they do prune back the weedy growth!

Consider these steps that others have found helpful, then add the ones that you will actually do to the second list.

Laughter — this beautifully breaks the grip of negative emotions and restores a saner perspective.

Loving — pets, children, anyone and anything you can (in a right way!)

Nature — get out and drink in the beauty and grace of our Creator's world.

Deep, relaxed breathing — letting out stress; taking in peace.

Stretching, tensing and relaxing your muscle groups from head to toe.

Imagining a relaxing scene — like walking along a beach or lying in sunshine.

Meditation — focused awareness, interactive and directed toward the Lord

Prayer — casting your cares on Him because He cares for you; sharing the day’s burdens

Massage and hugging — healthy, legitimate forms of receiving and giving human touch.

Aerobic exercise — brisk walking, cycling, swimming, jumping with reasonable intensity

Daily quiet time all to yourself, with little or nothing to do but relax.

Music still hath charms — playing gentle music, watching wholesome videos, reading good books.

Sleep — we need between seven to nine hours of sleep a night and more on the weekends.

Things I could stop doing:          
          (activities to eliminate, expectations to pare down).

1) _____________________________________
2) _____________________________________
3) _____________________________________

Things I could start doing:
         (to relax stress away, to burn it off, to forget about it).

1) _____________________________________
2) _____________________________________
3) _____________________________________

Return to The Spiritual Roots of Disease: Head to Heart Guide for more ways to go deeper into these truths or stay 'on course' by going to the...