"The Five Steps of

Freeze-Frame", is an effective stress-management strategy for dealing with daily stresses. It enables patients to arrest the stress response to difficult situations by replacing negative perceptions with positive feelings, such as feelings of appreciation, love, or fun. These feelings restore calm and control to the heart rate variability (HRV).

This technique also encourages individuals to let the "higher" heart (the source of compassion) instead of the intellect (logical impartiality) guide them in appropriately responding to emotional situations in the future.

The higher heart acts in a way that benefits both you and other people ; for instance, avoiding an argument by finding common ground. The intellect sometimes contradicts the higher heart, due to its tendency to simplify matters into black and white, right and wrong, and to exacerbate or make worse stressful situations. The letters kill but love edify and build up.

Five Steps of Freeze-Frame
Here are the five steps of the Freeze-Frame stress management technique, as developed by scientists to help people to regain their sound mind:

1.Recognize the stressful feeling and Freeze-Frame it. Take a time out.

2.Make a sincere effort to shift your focus away from the racing mind or disturbed emotions to the area around your heart. Pretend you're breathing through your heart to help focus your energy in this area. Keep your focus there for ten seconds or more.

3.Recall a positive, enjoyable feeling or memory you've had in life and try to re-experience it.

4.Using your intuition, common sense, and sincerity, ask you heart, "What would be a more efficient response to the situation, one that would minimize future stress?"

5.Listen to what your heart says in answer to your question. It's an effective way to put your reactive mind and emotions in check and find an in-house source of common-sense as the solution.