Stress is your mind not being in the eternal Now. It is your mind focusing on things and scenarios that have not taken place or that have. but they are not things that are happening right now. The exercises are great ways to find yourself in the Now. Especially if you are so out of control that an intense detachment is necessary.
I find in my life that short pauses at random intervals have a very calming affect. Your mind is always running at a breakneck pace. I say to myself that I do not need to think right now or when things seem to be "stressful"and in that moment I focus on my breathing, with every in breath I say to myself LOVE and the exhaling breath is LIGHT. In LOVE, out LIGHT. I do this behind the wheel of my car ,in situations of debate with clients at work, at bedtime. I find it also very helpful when I need to listen to another. It shuts down the clatter and really makes what the other person is trying to communicate sink in.
Why love and light? If you believe we are vibrational creatures and love and light are the highest vibrations. This is like an affirmation of that.
peace

I used to get depressed and be very lonely before I knew Jai.

I was told by a friend I needed nature and if I did any hiking. I said no but I'll give it a try. So I went to a local park and followed the hiking trail.

It was amazing from when I first entered the trail! It was like enchanted forest! So different from the parking lot or picnic area. So different from the health walk track. No, this was beautiful and quite except for animal sounds around.

The trail itself was wide and a truck could drive it, but looking at the trees overgrown and even the felled trees were amazing to see.

I spotted chipmunk scurrying up one of the felled trees. Then I saw a rabbit that quickly disappeared in the brush.

One time I came face to face with a deer, it was maybe three or four feet in front of me.

Another time, I watched a deer for a while across from me maybe ten to fifteen away.

Another time I was on the wetlands trail and saw a turtle on a branch maybe tree feet off the ground sticking out of the stream. I never thought I would see a turtle sunning itself!

Another time I came to the pond and just caught a big huge turtle entering the pond.

The River lands were amazing but then I found the wet lands. Wow it looked like time frozen in prehistoric times. It was all overgrown and swampy. But it was amazing, I saw a goose and the goslings following her. I saw a woodpecker high up in a old tree that was dead. A turkey vulture was perched high up watching me.

One time as I was walking by the pond I kept hearing these cherp sounds. Then I caught a glimpses of one, they were little frogs at the edges of the pond. They would cherp then splash into the pond to get away quickly.

One time I saw a mountain lion, that I stayed a good distance from that and did not move at all until it left. I took a photo of it, even though according to our game commissioner we are not suppose to have mountain lions, but for years people have reported seeing them.

Then when I went on the mountain trail I came to the top and stood on the edge of a rocky cliff. I was over 2000 feet above sea level, I could see the houses below looked like toys and the cars looked like matchbox cars. I could see for miles and miles. Plus flying over head were huge turkey vultures. I thought they were eagles but someone said from the size I described maybe they were turkey vultures.

Each time I went on a hike it was an adventure, I had no idea what I'd experience or see.

I felt no loneliness, I just felt a sense of awe and wonder. All problems faded away in those times, times of great joy and peace.

Jaianniah, thank you for that very lovely, beneficial reply. I especially liked the quote by Henry David Thoreau.

Every time we remember a past incident, we trap our energy in it. This energy becomes inaccessible for other purposes and lowers our energy level. No matter how much structure we create, there will always be things that we cannot anticipate: people that disrupt how we like to do things or projects that don't work out as we planned. When life doesn't go the way we want it to go, go with the flow. Going with the flow means to move forward without resistance. With a flow head-space you understand that all is exactly as it should be and everything that happens benefits us, even when we don't understand how.

Thank you, @Nikulas, for your posting. I used to be a regular hiker, and was blessed to have been raised in a time and place where there was still many open areas to walk, and a beautiful city park sof many acres with miles of trails. As the tension in my home increased, I found myself turning more and more to hiking out deep into the park, and found places where I could sit and be assured that no one would disturb me.

Mother Earth is very grounding, and absorbs all our negative energy like a sponge. If you cannot go far, or do not have access to a park, trees will ground and clear you, especially oak trees. Just sit under one, take off your shoes and socks, and sit with your back to the tree.

To balance out my nasty childhood, God always made sure that I had access to open space. Our first home had a six-acre field behind it, and it was a playground of many happy memories. It was there that I learned about morning glories; the cycle of the Monarch Butterfly from a quite ugly white caterpillar with stripes to a glorious butterfly, feeding the milkweed of the field. I ate freely of mulberries and wild strawberries and grew fond of poplar trees, which were the first to take root in the areas that had been scraped of dirt by a rusting old bulldozer, which was a great piece of playground equipment!

I took a seminar on Ecology at Northern Illinois University, and part of the week-long exploration of the importance of nature was to take us out in the wild and leave us there for six hours, to see what we discovered about ourselves and about our surroundings. As you did, I took pencil and paper, and after a bit of writing, found myself sketching an old log. I spent a long time at it, and it was quite a discovery for me to find that I could draw.

In short, When the "monkey brain" is at work, it is time to get grounded, and the best way to do this is to get outdoors and burn off all that negative energy. BTW, a salt shower works great, too. Use sea salt- get into the shower, wet yourself down, and spread sea salt all over your body. The salt pulls negative energy out of your body. If you soak your feet in warm water and Epsom salts, the salts will purify your body and even lower your cholesterol- no kidding.

Picture taken off my back porch in Mississippi...sunrise was glorious there...

I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude. Henry David Thoreau

Thanks, Niki...

Jai ♥

Making it your intention to relax through out the day, can be the best way to be less stressed.

There may be "love", "joy" whatever type of energies out there but the two main ones are this.

You either feel stressed out or relaxed, feel relaxed and peace and love will come naturally.

Love your story, @wade casaldi! You were solidly in the Vortex. When you are there, everything is clear and beautiful. And that can be anywhere.

I find two particular thoughts coming to me now.

1. Recently I was beset, like @Nikulas, with several problems, each seeming to demand my immediate attention. Each appearing to be critical and crucially important to be solved!

I went into my "Mind Palace" and relaxed. There was a big sign that lit up, saying, "There is no problem so big that you cannot run away from it." Anne was scurrying around seeking solutions. I told her, "Leave the cell phones, the Chromebook, everything -- we are going for a drive." We got in one of our classic cars, drove out to a peaceful place and sat down. When a "business thought" came into mind, we gently dismissed it. The "problems" solved themselves.

1. Another "@Nikulas" moment. He wrote here that continuing to ask and answer questions can be stressful - that he was backing off. That began to sink into my mind.

I am writing, from my personal perspective of course, for those of you who love writing and answering questions, follow your personal joy in whatever way you like.

But for me I remembered a story about a country where the citizens wrote the most beautiful, sensual, romantic, even erotic literature the world had ever known, yet they mysteriously died out.

Their demise was that they were so busy writing about making love that they did not do it.

I am not planning on doing a "vanishing act". Just enjoying the moment.

Silence is wherever you find it. It is not a place. It is a state of mind.