Office Stress Training - Ohms and Aahs

Sometimes there are days when I wake up and already feel behind.  It is a very unpleasant feeling.  Rushed, anxious, slightly nervous for no apparent reason, it is as though the stress fairy visited me right before I woke up.  I would think all of the stress training I receive in my meditation training would grant me immunity to this feeling.  It doesn't.

Over time I’ve collected some practical techniques that can reduce stress in about a minute.  Some of these stress relief techniques are meditation inspired.  Other stress management ideas have become from reading about and applying things that work for other people.

I’ve found that after  all of this stress training there is a particular action that gets the stress levels lightened for me in about a minute.  Exclaiming a loud sound followed by a few deep breaths will ease anxiety every time.

It is interesting to me that this method works as well as it does.  I am always hesitant and usually uncomfortable whenever a workshop group I am attending wants to do some sort of singing, chanting, or anything else that involves something vocal.  It was puzzling because I am not shy by any means.

A breakthrough on realizing the power of a few loud chants or ohms came after a week at the Monroe Institute.  Part of their process involves resonant tuning.  Resonant tuning means that you are using sound vibration energy to raise your overall energy.  This raised energy level increases the effectiveness of anything you are attempting to do.

For the Monroe Institute’s purposes, it was about exploring human consciousness.  I have found that resonant tuning, or in layman’s turns “loud sounds followed by breathing”, can be applied to relieving stress as well.

The process is straight-forward and simple.  There are two prerequisites.  You will want to be in a place where The process is straight-forward and simple.  There are two prerequisites.  You will want to be in a place where you are alone or you don’t mind being heard by someone else.  The second is that you are willing to really apply some intensity to the few exhales where you are emitting some noise.

When you have found your spot for stress training, get yourself comfortable.  Close your eyes so that you are not distracted by the outside world.  Take a few deep breaths to center yourself.
 
Now take a deep, full exhale.  A full exhale is when you let your body complete the exhale rather than over-riding your breathing consciously and cutting it short.   Then allow a long deep inhale.  Not like you are trying to hold your breath.  Take a breath that expands your belly and raises your chest.

Itt is time to let out some noise.  The first time you perform this stress relief exercise, experiment with which sound works for you.  The most important element of your noise is that you give it attention, intention, and effort.   When I let some noise out, it causes my dog to look at me nervously.

Here are some sample noises to let out:
1.    Ohmmmmmm
2.    Ahhhhh-ooooooo-mmmmmmmmm
3.    Eeeeeeee-iiiiiiiiiiiiiii-oooooooooooo-mmmmmmmmmmmm
4.    Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
5.    Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As you can see, this is not difficult at all.  You can also try having your mouth closed so it creates a vibratory effect in the back of your throat and into your jawbone.
 
My personal favorite is to start with my mouth open with a loud, intense, and very weird sounding “ahhh”.  Then I turn it into an “oooohhhh”.  It ends with “mmmm”, and my mouth  close near the end. 

So the whole thing looks like “ahhhhhhhooooooooohhhhhmmmmmmmmmm”.

Do your sound-making of choice for 3-10 inhale/exhale cycles.  Then just breath in and out without making the noise.  Feel more relaxed?  I always do.

Stress training does not have to be rocket science.  Not much in life, other than rocket science, needs to be rocket science actually.  This breath and sound exercise will help you reduce stress immediately.