Five Great Mental Escapes

Here’s the thing about stress: When you’re in its grip, it’s easy to feel as if you’ll never escape it. Which is why most of us just grit our teeth and push through it, assuming stress is part of life (true) and there’s nothing to be done about it (not true). Here are five easy ways to find a little more peace.

Create calm. Stacy McCarthy, a yoga instructor and creator of the DVD Yoga Body: Lean & Defined Total Body Workout ($19.95;www.yoganamastacy.com) focuses on reassuring objects whenever she needs a mental escape. “I make sure there is always a space on my desk, a sort of ‘quiet’ area, where there’s a favorite picture of my kids or my dog, and I usually have a candle burning or some flowers for a connection to nature,” she says. “When I need to take a break, I focus on those spots and take a deep breath. ”

Go forward. In yoga, forward bends are considered calming. The simple act of doing something physical, no matter what it is, can immediately break the tension of a high-stress moment. McCarthy recommends this seated forward bend to help quiet your mind: Push your chair back from your desk or table and rest both feet flat on the floor. Next, interlace your hands behind your back and straighten your arms, lowering your hands down to rest on your lower back. Then, bend forward at your waist, bringing your interlaced fingers and arms up and over your back as far as they’ll comfortably go. If you can, rest your chest on your thighs and let your head hang to release tension in your neck. Hold for several full inhalations and exhalations, then return to sitting upright.

Picture this. If you’re prone to daydreaming, you already know how powerful imagery can be: Seeing yourself on a peaceful mountaintop amid cool, rustling pines or counting the hours until you’re lazing on the beach can turn around a bad mood just like that. When you use guided imagery, during which you imagine something that encourages relaxation, “your body responds not quite as strongly as if it were an actual event in real time, but it’s a definite echo of that,” says Belleruth Naparstek, a psychotherapist and chair of the board of Health Journeys (www.healthjourneys.com) which creates health-related guided imagery and meditation products. The best type of imagery, Naparstek says, is multisensory, combining sights, tastes, sounds, smells and sensations.

Shake it off. “You know what dogs do when they come flying out of the ocean and they’re all wet? They shake off the water,” says Susan Bernstein, Ph.D., founder of Work From Within (www.workfromwithin.com), a career consulting firm in San Rafael, Cali. “When I’ve had a difficult client interaction or I’m under some sort of pressure, when something doesn’t feel right, I’ll literally shake my head or shake my hands out — it gets the stress out the nerve endings.” Exhale deeply or let out a sigh and imagine that stress is leaving your body.

Go for the easy laugh. Okay, so you’ve seen the funny baby videos on YouTube. But have you checked out Funny or Die (www.funnyordie.com)? The offerings are hit or miss, but when you need a break, start with the site’s “Immortals” section, a compendium of time-proven, highly rated videos. And if you’re looking for a quick-hit reminder of just how absurd office life can be, watch deleted scenes from The Office.

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