A big part of managing stress better is to separate out to the extent that you can

the somatic reaction to the stress from the psychological experience of the stress.

And so I start from the bottom up.

I say, imagine you're floating in a bath, a hot tub or floating in space,

get your body comfortable. Notice that you can

dissociate your somatic reaction from your psychological state. And once you've

done that, then picture one aspect of the stressor while your body is floating and comfortable and then visualize

what you could do one thing you could do to deal with that stress.

So you begin then to be able to not have this snowball effect but instead parse it

get your body comfortable as the first not the last thing you do and then see if you

can't figure out a better way of dealing with something.

So your boss is yelling at you.

Imagine him being half as big, like a little kid in a big chair,

and see if what he said makes you as upset.

Think about what he said and not just who he is.

And think about what you might say to him. Well, thanks for the advice,

but or whatever you want to say. So you teach people means of controlling this mind body interaction in such a way that the stress

doesn't automatically overwhelm you.

I'm hesitant to ask you to do a parlor trick and hypnotize Jonathan.

Now your hand will remain light and in this upright position until I ask you to touch

your right elbow with your left hand and then your usual sensation and control over turn.

It's my and bollix breakdown.

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