Tool’s Day – Gratitude
Gratitude!!
Looking for some more ways to express gratitude. Check out this quick one minute video on gratitude.
We are all Stressed out – Now What?
Stress Sucks! I’ve never heard anyone say, “I cannot wait to be stressed out today!” or “I’m so excited out all the stress I’m under”. Have you? Well, probable not. That because we all know stress sucks!
The more people I coach, the more I get the same answer – “well stress is just part of life, and we have to get used to it.” Does that feel like a good answer? Because I don’t like it at all.
Stress is how we react when we feel under pressure or threatened. It makes us feel out of control. The stress may cause physical, emotional or psychological strain on us. While stress, like some many of our amazing mind and body responses, was originally designed to cause awareness and help keep us safe. But in today’s world stress has taken on a life of it own.
According to the American Psychological Association, more than 70% of adults have some significant form of stress in their life. The last 3 years of a global pandemic certainly have played a key role in the amount of stress people feel. Plus the uncertainly of our economy, politics, mass shootings, healthcare, climate change – just to name a few. And by the way most of the above are external things there is still the everyday stress of life, family, friends, job, cooking, cleaning and living. It can seem overwhelming.
All this stress is probably affecting a lot of things you do every day; including your sleep, your food choices, what you do for fun, how much movement you get and how you feel. These are just a few of the reasons to create stress awareness in your life.
So now that we recognize that stress sucks, and I have totally bummed you out with all the ways stress surrounds you. (sorry about that!). Let’s talk about what do we do or how do we make it better.
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another” – William James
Here are my 5 favorite away to help minimize and eliminate stress:
• Guided Mediation
• Connect with other
• Get outside – movement
• Play
• Sleep
Guided Mediation – meditation can be tricky for some. But honestly, I made it so much harder for myself. If you are new to meditation, or getting back into it or even an daily meditator – guided meditation can always help. Many apps have 5-10 minutes free guided meditation. This isa. Great way to meditation without having to be in charge. You get to sit back and have someone else help you clear your mind and guide you to a place of peace.
Connect with other – people, whether it be friends, family or strangers, can be a wonderful stress reducer. You may need to be a bit picky about who those people are, so that it is not causing more stress for you. But the people you can be totally yourself, laugh and share space with can help reduce your stress.
Get outside – Movement – So much of our loves are spend at a desk, or inside. Getting outside, smell the air, seeing the tress and birds, enjoying the sunshine. These are all ways to give you brain a break. You might even take it a step further by incorporating movement going for a walk, or run, a hike, a jog or even a skip. Anything that is just a few moments of movement can help clear our brain and create a few moments of stress relief.
Play – Children never stop playing, they play with boxes, pots and pans, there food, their clothes. They are always playing. But as adult we hardly play with anything. Play does not have to include a jungle gym, but could include anything that bring you joy, that make you laugh and provide you a moment of relief. You can see why play is so important to stress reduction. It is hard as an adult to find ways to play, but in encourage you to try,
Sleep – Is one of my favorite self-care and stress reduction tools. I’m not just talking about a good nap (which I also love); but planning and creating a good night sleep more nights than not. Let me take some planning and experimentation to find what your best sleep routine is. But when you wake up clearheaded you are able to more clearly and concisely look at the day and the to-do list. Without sleep everything can feel overwhelming only creating more stress.
Which one of these ideas are you willing to try? Do you have another way you love to reduce stress, comment below.
Why Does Mindfulness Matter?
Do you feel like mindfulness is the next Big Thing? You hear about it on TV, there are apps about it and in tons of articles. But is this just a phase or it is something real?
Honestly, I can’t answer that question for you. I can only answer it for me.
My mindfulness practice started almost 6 years ago. Well, I’m not sure I would even have called it a practice. It was just a little awareness around an idea that might be helpful to someone someday but probably not me. Or at least that what I thought of mindfulness at the time.
I was in kind of a desperate place, I needed something, but I really did not know what it was, and the idea of mindfulness had been in and out of my life several times, each time I thought it was a great idea for someone else.
I’d love to say it was bolt of lightning moment and it all changed, but that is not my story. I started to read about mindfulness, and meditation; these two concepts seemed to go hand in hand. I needed the data to tell me that X% of people that practice mindfulness each day are X% more likely to be happier. While that data exists, I still did not believe it, there was a feeling or emotional aspect to this mindfulness stuff that I just could not wrap my head around. I was a facts and figures kind of person but still doubted the facts and figures I found. But I thought what could it hurt to just sit and do nothing for a few minutes every day?
So, I tried it in my master bedroom closet so no one would know what I was doing. It was awkward and strange. I made the commitment to sit in the dark every morning before anyone else was awake and just focus on my breathing (that’s what the articles said). I set a timer for 10 minutes. I could do 10 minutes, right? WRONG!! I checked the timer with 9 minutes 30 seconds to go (that’s right I sat for 30 seconds!) and then again at 8 minutes 55 seconds to go. You get the idea. I could not make the whole 10 minutes.
I felt completely unsuccessful and thought I’m not trying that again what a waste of time. Well, the next day I forgot to turn off the alarm I had set to meditate, so the next morning the alarm went off reminding me to do my 10 minutes of mindfulness in the closet. I decide to try again but this time only 5 minutes. I got a full 2 minutes in without having the check the timer! HUGH CELEBRATION. Yes, I’m celebrating that I was able to just focus on my breath for 2 minutes.
I’m not 100% sure if the 2 minutes of mindfulness or if it was my excitement for being able to do 2 minutes of mindfulness; but that day was one of the best days I had had in months. From that day on I have tried and failed to include mindfulness or mediation in my daily life.
Several times over these 6 years, I have redefined what mindfulness means to me. I know that my concept of mindfulness has worked its way into my cells and is now a practice long before it is even a thought.
To answer the question, does mindfulness matters to me YES more that I could ever put words to it. But each person’s mindfulness practice is different. Are you practicing mindfulness each day? Would you like to be? No time like the present to jump in!