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The Joy of Stress Exercises

Stress can actually be a constructive response to life's obstacles. It physically prepares you to meet the challenges you encounter by inducing a state which offers you a temporary physical edge and hyper perceptual awareness. But stress is meant to be short-lived; it's meant to be followed immediately by a period of relaxation. It's when the stressful state is prolonged, when we bottle up and hold onto tense energy, that stress becomes draining and destructive. Stress therapist and humorist Loretta LaRoche advocates the use of humor and positive thinking to diffuse stress energy and regain renewed energy.

  1. Watch Your Language

    • Be mindful of your inner dialogue. In one of her lecture specials Loretta quotes author Joseph Jaworski to drive home the power of words. "We do not describe the world we see. We see the world we describe." So watch your language. Don't say it or think it if you don't want to feel it. You're the one who is creating your life experience. You create the stress you feel and you create the joy you feel through the power of your intention. But you can use words to change your intention.

    Fake It 'Til You Make It

    • "Fake 'til you make it" basically means to act the part you want to play both in thought and expression. Stop looking for the change you want and be the change you want. If it feels unnatural at first, don't worry about it. Keep up the pretense until it starts to feel natural; until it starts to feel real. Remember, you write the script of your life experience. So rather than use your words and thoughts to blow something out of proportion in a negative or pessimistic way, use your words and thoughts to exaggerate a joyful outlook. Change your intention. Smile more, laugh more. Keep practicing this "new you" until it becomes "so you."

    Parody Yourself

    • Don't take everything so seriously, or so personally. Learn to laugh at yourself. It's not a matter of putting yourself down, but rather of honoring the fact that you can truly be funny sometimes. Loretta is quoted as saying, "I'm always reminding people that the one constants you can count on is that things happen---and usually when you're not in the mood for them."

      Let's say you're on your way to work, you're running late but you left something you need for work at home so you turn around and go back. You dash into the house, grab what you need and as you start back to your car you realize that you've set your keys down someplace but you can't remember where. You're practically tearing your hair out looking for them. Finally you decide to retrace your steps. You walk all the way out to the car then come back up the walkway, and before you even get back in the house you see your keys still hanging where you left them in the door lock. Duh! Now you have a choice. You could laugh at how silly that was of you and tease away all that tension you'd been amassing because you're running late, or you could allow yourself to grow even more stressed out in this situation by berating yourself for being so absentminded. Pretend you're a comedian. Look for the humor in all your circumstances.

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