Tension and stress are becoming for most of us a daily occurrence. Any number of life experiences can set the anxiety ball rolling, the key to survival is how we chose to respond. Learning health responses to tension, stress and anxiety can bring peace to our everyday existence.
Our attitude and the way we think about the events of our lives is the starting point. If you are a half empty vs. half full type of person, that negative out look will only bring more of the same into your life. If we concentrate on lack and limitation that is all we will see. However if we develop an “attitude of gratitude” our focus will shift and we will begin to see things from a more positive perspective.
Searching for the “good” in what we perceive to be “bad” is not an easy task. It begins by taking the time to “count our blessings.” Starting a daily gratitude journal is a good way to begin to refocus our thinking. Everyday, take a few minutes to jot down five things in your life that you are grateful. These list items should be different day. By doing this, we soon start to look for the good events or our life and turn aside from focusing on those issues we label as bad. One may find that the so-called “bad” events soon appear on our gratitude list. As that occurs we are shifting our thinking and taking on a more positive attitude.
Though “bad” things will not disappear from our lives, if we change our perception we are able to think about in a different way. Still we must bring more time for self care and relaxation into our world. We are often caught up in the “daily grind” and go from task to task, doing for others most of the time and not taking the time to take care of ourselves and our needs.
Self-care is often put on the back burner, however, it should be at the top of every to-do list. When we take the time to do for ourselves and work relaxation into our daily schedule, we allow time for our minds and bodies to rejuvenate, reenergize and even reorganize. With our change in attitude and the way we think about the events of our life, adding self nurturing helps us to release tension and stress.
Ideas for self care include, but are not limited to:
Meditation: taking a few minutes out of your day to sit quietly in an uninterrupted soothing environment, closing our outer eyes and going deep within. Within us is a center for peace and wisdom beyond measure. By shutting out the world at large and focusing on our breath, we are able to drop our consciousness from head to heart. Problems can be solved and we can take the time rest in the knowing that all is well.
Nutrition: Watching what we consume is something many weight conscious folks think about daily. If we are aware that we may be eating the wrong foods we should know that can be contributing to our stress level. Taking time to add healthier choices may be enough to alleviate some of the stress in our lives.
Sleep: Making sure we get enough sleep is also an important contributor to how we handle the stress and tension of daily living. Getting a full eight hours of rest each night gives us added strength and endurance.
Choosing healthy response: Looking at the way we deal with tension and stress we may find there are other options. If we are quick to go to a place of panic or anger we might ask how that has worked for us so far! If the answer is clearly that it has not been to our benefit we might want to think about what other options are available to us. Using deep breathing, and a time out might be more advisable. Time out can be as simple as counting to ten before responding to a situation or perhaps one needs to physically excuse oneself from the circumstances to cool down and think about what a good response would be to the event.
Do what makes YOU feel good: Make yourself a list of some the things that help you relax. It may be a bubble bath or bike ride, a walk in the park or a trip to the movies or it could be getting a massage or having your nails done. Schedule one or more of the events that make YOU happy each week.
Physical exercise: Working some sort of physical exercise or work out is a great way to release tension. The physical movement involved can be viewed as moving the tension from within to outside of oneself. The process of movement is a wonderful way to let go of daily stressors.
Attitude and self care changes will bring tension, stress and anxiety under your control.
While you may not be able to always change the circumstances, you can change the way you allow it to have power over you, or not.
