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It's time
to relax. |
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are other ways to relax, to provide yourself with ways to
deal with the stresses of your life more
effectively. One important way is to find music that
relaxes you, that slows you down, that makes you feel more
peaceful. It's important to be aware and honest, for
much music that seems relaxing is, in truth, more
stimulating than relaxing. |
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| When
you have the chance to listen to this music, play it in a
place where you can pay full attention to it, where you
can allow yourself to feel it. Play it loud enough
that you can hear the individual instruments and notes
that make up the whole composition. |
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| Pay
attention--full attention--to the music. Try to pick
out individual instruments and follow them throughout the
work. If it's a pop song, focus on just the guitar
or the bass or the piano. Let the rest of the music
flow as it will, and try to feel it without paying such
close attention to it. This strong focus will help
to clear your mind of other things that are there. |
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your mind is clear, then try to feel the song as a whole,
let the music surround you, envelop you, and follow it as
it flows and ebbs and strengthens and weakens. Feel
the movement, feel the peace, feel the harmony and the
melody that make the piece work. |
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| You
also will want to consider finding a "special
place" for yourself, whether it be a secluded corner
of your home, a room that isn't being used regularly, or a
nice quiet spot in the woods. If you focus on making
this place a safe haven, not filling it with objects that
remind you of stress or stressful times, keeping it quiet
and peaceful, then you can have a place to withdraw to
when you need to slow down and relax. Having a space
like this in your life can be like having a secret tool
that can help you to minimize the effects that stress and
work will have on you. |
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| Be
careful. Be alert and aware. Remember that
focusing on objects or people or songs that you associate
with stress or that are stressful in themselves won't be
at all helpful, and will probably hurt more than they
help. And remember that the small amount of time
that you spend relaxing and re-finding your center and
balance can help to make your entire day more productive,
more energetic, and more enjoyable. Relaxation isn't
a selfish exercise--far from it! This is an exercise
that can help you to be more caring, loving, and helpful
to those people in your life who need you. |
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Let
us spend one day as deliberately as nature, and not be
thrown off the
track by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing
that falls on the rails. Let us
rise early and fast, or break
fast, gently and without perturbation. . . . Let
us not be upset
and overwhelmed in that terrible rapid whirlpool . . . . If the
engine whistles, let it whistle till it is hoarse for its pains.
If the bell rings, why should we run?
Henry David Thoreau |
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