Stress Relief in 2-Mins – First-Aid Stress Tool (FAST)
Please note: this article is for information purposes only. It is not personal medical advice. It also is not the same thing as NET, medical care, or NET remedies. If you are looking for expert support with pain relief or stress relief, you can find a certified NET practitioner here.
First Aid Stress Tool (FAST) — What is it?
F irst-Aid Stress Tool (FAST) is a simple breathing exercise developed for stress relief and pain relief. It is derived from the more comprehensive technique called Neuro-Emotional Technique (NET), which is a holistic mind-body health care method for stress relief, offered exclusively by licensed healthcare providers. F irst-Aid Stress Tool was developed by NET doctors so that it can be used by anyone as an effective method to relieve stress and reduce pain in between NET office visits.
Although FAST is a less comprehensive exercise version than the full NET method, it has been proven to be highly useful to relieve stress and pain. It is intended to relieve symptoms caused by unresolved old stressful events. This stress relief exercise can be performed quickly, and only needs two free hands. No equipment required!
First-Aid Stress Tool (FAST) — How Does It Work?
FAST and Neuro-Emotional Technique (NET) are both geared towards extinguishing a conditioned response that causes a continual reaction to old stressful events. The goal is to relieve symptoms from specific conditioned response patterns of stress. Everyday life frequently has subconscious reminders of past traumatic episodes, which induces a stress response in our bodies – often without us even being aware of what past experience the reminder is referring to.
These distress signals from stressful events can manifest into symptoms as well. This is because a past stress pattern becomes activated when there are triggers that are subconsciously reminding you of unresolved past events. By eradicating these reflexive responses through Neuro-Emotional Technique or FAST, we are able to resolve the negative effects associated with them!
A recurring stress pattern can have both mental and physical manifestations like fatigue, anxiety, or pain. It is not uncommon for these to be caused by stressful events in one’s life. Utilizing FAST may support you in relieving symptoms related to stressful events, whether or not you know what they are.
How to Perform First-Aid Stress Tool (FAST)
- Focus your attention on the symptom that is bothering you.
- With your left hand, cradle the back of your right wrist, and gently curl the fingers of your left hand around your right palm up wrist, so that you contact all three pulse points, which are located just below the thumb.
- Continue to gently contact the pulse contacts while you place your right palm on your forehead, covering it completely.
- Now tip your head toward your chest, close your eyes, and focus on the symptom that you chose to work on. Breathe slowly and deeply.
- Once finished, move on to gently contact the pulse points on the other hand for even further relief.
Measuring Your Progress with FAST
If you’re like me, you want to be sure that you are spending your efforts well, so you may want a way to see how well FAST is working for you. Here are two ways that you can assess your progress with resolving a recurring stress pattern:
Track Your Heart Rate Variability (HRV) with a Fitbit
Easily witness your stress-reduction progress.
One of the best ways to verify the impact that FAST and other variables have on your stress levels is to use wearable products such as a Fitbit, which records heart rate variability (HRV).
HRV is a measure of the variation in time between one heartbeat and the next. It reflects how efficiently our bodies can respond to changes in environment, pressure, and emotions. When there is a greater variability in heart rate, it means your body is better able to adapt to stressors, and as a result, you feel less stressed.
By tracking your HRV before and after using FAST, you can easily witness your stress-reduction progress.
Rank Your Symptoms
If you haven’t yet invested in a Fitbit, you can simply self-assess the intensity of your symptoms before and after using FAST.
- First, choose a symptom that you want to be free of. Identify a physical or mental symptom, like as fatigue, sadness, anger, headache, back pain or stomach ache (to name a few possibilities).
- Rate its intensity on a 0-10 scale, with 10 being the worst.
- Now perform FAST while still focusing on this same symptom.
- Once complete, reassess your chosen symptom’s intensity using that same 0-10 rating system to measure how successful your work was.
Track the intensity of your symptoms before and after using FAST. You can also express this as a percentage change. Say, for example, you started off with a headache with a 6/10 severity, then utilized FAST to reduce it to 3/10 — that’s an incredible 50% reduction! Use this data to track your progress and understand how much better you are feeling over time.
When you measure your progress, and you see the results of your efforts paying off, it will encourage you to do even more. Your positive results will just keep building!
What to Do If Your Symptoms Persist
A trained healthcare professional can help you… access even more powerful results
If your symptoms stay the same or worsen even though you’re using FAST, it may be beneficial to seek professional help.
Call Upon an Expert
A trained healthcare professional can help you by taking you through the full NET procedure, so that you can work through a deeper issue and access even more powerful results than through FAST alone. You can find a certified NET practitioner here.
NET Remedies
You might also feel a lot better if you take the NET Remedies recommended to you by your NET practitioner. NET Remedies are homeopathic products designed to assist your nervous system in managing stresses. NET Remedies products are only available through licensed healthcare practitioners.
How Often Should You Use FAST?
I suggest practicing this first aid stress relief tool at least a few times daily, and coupling it with a cue to support your new habit of using it. For instance, you might use FAST once you get in your vehicle, and again when you arrive at your destination. That’s two times already! F irst aid stress tool is also useful during stressful situations.
It also helps to use a habit-tracker to help you establish a habit of using FAST. Whenever symptoms arise from anxiety or stressors that can go undetected by your conscious mind, don’t hesitate to apply this technique!
Support Others by Sharing This Important Information
For many people, the idea that pain and other physical symptoms are closely related to life stresses is new information. You can help many of your loved ones by sharing this important exercise! Please either teach them this first aid for stress in person, or share this article with other people who you think it can help. Thank you for helping make our world happier!
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
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