Your brain cannot tell the difference between what you perceive in your imagination vs. what you perceive in the real world!

For example; if you think of something that tends to cause you alot of stress (like giving a speech to a crowd), then your brain begins pumping the chemicals that come automatically with a stress response. If you imagine this stressful activity vividly then the stress response will increase.

In other words, you don't need to be experiencing the stressful event at the moment to be experiencing the stress that goes along with it...your brain acts as if your imagination/visualization is the same as reality.

To use this natural brain response to your imagination, to your advantage all you have to do is choose what you want to imagine and then imagine it vividly.

To attain some relief from stress instantly, just imagine a relaxing/peaceful scene vividly and your brain will begin pumping the chemicals that goes with that state of mind. So you will relax without having to take a trip to the beach (or whatever relaxing activity you are imagining).

How can you use this for long-term stress management?

Keeping in mind that your brain percieves relaity and your imagination as the same, lets look at how we can use this in dealing with the daily stressors in our lives. To do this lets take a look at an experience a friend of mine related to me about applying a positive outlook to a stressful situation.

I was traveling from in New York City on a hot rainy day. The subway tracks in Manhattan had flooded so the trains were barely running. Here I was standing in an extremely hot and humid underground station, sweating so much I thought I would melt. I noticed that several individuals around me were getting angry and frustrated. Which led to some complaining. The more they complained the more frustrated they got.

In the heat, surrounded by stressed people I realized that I was getting frustrated as well. So I thought of something that I enjoy doing and would be doing in the very near future. In this case it was sitting on my computer and working on some tunes. I took a deep breath and imagined sitting on my computer in my air-conditioned room working on my music. I accepted the delay as inevitable but all is fine. I let a smile fill my body. That broke the stress.

Next, I knew I had to change my outlook on the present situation. I realized I could start thinking of tunes right away. This way I could use the train delays to my advantage to get ahead in my work. By this time I was excited and humming to myself as I stood in the heat waiting for the next stuffed train.

In the above case my friend used his imagination to alter his reaction to an experience that is normally considered stressful.

Using your imagination you can create a better internal experience for yourself irrespective of external circumstances.

Also read using mental imagery for stress relief.

The purpose of visualization is to enable you to quickly clear mental stress, tension, and anxious thinking. The visualization can be used when feeling stressed and is particularly useful when your mind is racing with fearful, anxious thinking.

This visualization process, when practiced frequently, is very effective for eliminating deep-seated mental anxieties or intrusive thoughts.

To gain maximum benefit, the exercise must be carried out for longer then 10 minutes at a time, as anything shorter will not bring noticeable results.
There is no right or wrong way to carry out the visualization. Be intuitive with it and do not feel you are unable to carry it out if you feel you are not very good at seeing mental imagery. As long as your attention is on the exercise, you will gain benefit.

It is best to do this exercise in a quiet place where you won't be disturbed, and then when you are more practiced you will be able to get the same positive results in a busier environment such as the workplace. You should notice a calming effect on your state of mind along with a sensation of mental release and relaxation.

Either sitting or standing, close your eyes and move your attention to your breath. To become aware of your breathing, place one hand on your upper chest and one on your stomach. Take a breath and let your stomach swell forward as you breathe in and fall back gently as you breathe out. Take the same depth of breath each time and try to get a steady rhythm going.

Your hand on your chest should have little or no movement. Again, try to take the same depth of breath each time you breathe in. This is called Diaphragmatic Breathing.

When you feel comfortable with this technique, try to slow your breathing rate down by instituting a short pause after you have breathed out and before you breathe in again. Initially, it may feel as though you are not getting enough air in, but with regular practice this slower rate will soon start to feel comfortable.

It is often helpful to develop a cycle where you count to three when you breathe in, pause, and then count to three when you breathe out (or 2, or 4-whatever is comfortable for you). This will also help you focus on your breathing without any other thoughts coming into your mind.

If you are aware of other thoughts entering your mind, just let them go and bring your attention back to counting and breathing. Continue doing this for a few minutes. (If you practice this, you will begin to strengthen the Diaphragmatic Muscle, and it will start to work normally-leaving you with a nice relaxed feeling all the time.)

Here is a video you can use to practice breathing rhythmically...

...Now move your attention to your feet. Try to really feel your feet. See if you can feel each toe. Picture the base of your feet and visualize roots growing slowly out through your soles and down into the earth. The roots are growing with quickening pace and are reaching deep into the soil of the earth. You are now rooted firmly to the earth and feel stable like a large oak or redwood tree.
Stay with this feeling of grounded safety and security for a few moments. Once you have created a strong feeling or impression of being grounded like a tree, visualize a cloud of bright light forming way above you. A bolt of lightning from the luminous cloud hits the crown of your head, and that ignites a band of bright white light descending slowly from your head all the way down your body, over your legs, and out past your toes.

As the band of light passes over you, feel it clearing your mental state. It is illuminating your mind and clearing any disturbing or stressful thoughts that you may have been thinking about. Repeat this image four or five times until you feel a sense of clearing and release from any anxious thinking.

In finishing, see yourself standing under a large, luminescent waterfall. The water is radiant and bubbling with vitality and life. As you stand under the waterfall, you can feel the water run over every inch of your body, soothing you and instilling within you a sense of deep calm.

Try to taste the water. Open your mouth and let it run into your mouth, refreshing you. Hear it as it bounces off the ground around you. The water is life itself and it is washing away stress and worry from your mind and body. After a moment, open your eyes.
Try to use all of your senses when carrying out the visualization. To make the pictures in your mind as real as possible, use your senses of touch, taste, and hearing. Feel the water trickle down your body; hear the sound it makes as it splashes over you.

The more realistic the imagined scenarios, the more benefit you will gain.

Many people report very beneficial and soothing results from using these simple visualizations frequently. The mind is much like a muscle in that, in order to relax, it needs to regularly release what it is holding onto.

You can use any situation or location that will help calm you. We liken this to "finding your happy place". Maybe you feel relaxed in a swimming pool or on the beach. Imagine yourself there. Just make sure wherever you go in your mind is a place where you can be calm and rested.

By visualizing the different situations, you are allowing your mind to release. It is like sending a message to your brain that when you close your eyes and begin this process it is time for letting go of anything that it has been mentally holding onto, including anxious thinking.

In order to train your mind how to let go of the stress, it is important to practice this daily. With practice, you can learn to release all stress within minutes of starting the exercise. Your daily practice should take place before going to bed, as that will enable you to sleep more soundly.
Many people do not do these visualizations in the bedroom but some other room before going to bed. That way, when they enter the bedroom and close the door, they are leaving the mental stress and anxious thinking behind them. Just be sure you have the opportunity to totally concentrate on your mental images.

Visualization as a tool for dealing with mental stress is very effective. If such visualization is carried out properly, you can reach a deep feeling of inner calm. This technique probably will not work in helping to end an anxiety attack, but it can help that attack from beginning. It is a very powerful support tool for ridding yourself of general anxiety sensations.

Visualization is simply a tool you can use to overcome anxious thoughts and feelings.

The following video will help you relax and repeat white light suggestions and affirmations...

Meditation is probably the most powerful & effective method we know of for stress management. It has been on the cover of Time Magazine , the film director David Lynch promotes transcendental meditation and Dr. Herbert Benson has made a name for himself with three meditative techniques that invoke "the relaxation response".

You can learn meditation just about everywhere nowadays. Everything from breathing techniques to machines for bio-feedback can help you learn to meditate.

Using the alpha meditation training recordings you can go into a meditative state that would normally take weeks, maybe months of practice. In fact, the sound technology used for the meditation training recordings on this page use the same sound technology touted by holosync.com as the key to "meditating deeper than a Zen Monk" (this site is not affiliated with holosync)

About Meditation and Brainwaves

Researchers have discovered that certain brain wave frequencies correspond to different levels of activity. You can read more about it in another article by Time Magazine called "Alpha Wave of The Future".

Beta 14-30Hz Alert - You tend to do waking activities at this frequency

Alpha 7-14 Hz - Relaxed with Alert Attention - A Basic Meditative State

Theta 4-7 Hz - Deep meditative state- most people fall asleep in theta.

Delta 0.5-4 Hz - Deep sleep

The following meditation training track has a background frequency of about 10 Hz. This is to help train you to enter an Alpha state AT WILL enabling you to manage stress easily.

Benefits of Alpha

Helps the body and mind relax very quickly.
Enhances creativity.
Enhances learning.
It helps synchronize your left and right hemispheres bringing more of your brain 'on-line', making this very good for deep thinking.
With some practice you can enter and use Alpha whenever you like.
Alpha helps create an overall healthy state of mind and body.

Note: Do not operate any machinery when listening to these meditation tracks as they are meant to relax you. You will hear the sound of bells towards the end of the track to let you know that the meditation session is finished. The bells ring twice on both tracks. Once to let you know the track it about to end and then a short gap so you can mentally prepare yourself. The finally bells signals the end of the track.

To learn more visit Meditation Training for Stress Management