Going through any health issue, emotional, physical or mental stress can be a burden. Finding ways to rid your mind of stress is important. As a certified health coach, I find daily meditation two times a day improves stress levels, including deep-breathing techniques, and guided recorded meditations on apps. When I finished my mindfulness training, I was able to focus on body sensations and pay attention to those areas, thanking each part with all my gratitude; I find doing a quick 15-20-minute body mind scan is very helpful. Learning from my mind masters and through my trainings, both self-talk and visualization are very powerful. When you can train your brain to bring mental images and positive self-talk, slowly stress starts to diminish. According to yogi masters and mind science, the subconscious part of the brain is in charge of 70% of your life results. Throughout my practices, once I rephrase or visualize what brings me joy, my subconscious believes it and sends out energy to those around me, changing the stressful situation. Through any powerful joy manifestation technique, you can attract what you want and what you don’t want. Knowing the distinction between the two and the willingness or unwillingness of it all is the starting point.
Since I was young, I have always loved animals. I see their soul and believe we can learn a lot from them, their spirit, and their joy. If you have a pet, take time to snuggle, play, and pet your animal, grateful for the true unconditional love that animals provide us. The cat I’ve had for over 14 years soothes me in times of stress. Other techniques like singing in the shower, watching my favorite Netflix show snuggled up with tea, I find personally for me is a stress reliever and where I am embraced. Some of the moments in time where I let the waves of life in and did not push and pull were the most vulnerable times in my life. If we begin to open up and embrace vulnerability, we bring in a sense of awareness and compassion to ourselves combined with acceptance by allowing others to be themselves and for us to be ourselves. After my gratitude meditation in my mindfulness community sitting, one common theme kept popping up; overall, we are very hard on ourselves. There is no such thing as perfect, and if others are looking for perfection in another human being, they have to be able to bring in compassion first for themselves, as life is a mirror and a reflection of you on others. The risk of being seen, really seen, embraces our sense of self and brings in an essence to share all the colors we bring to the world, without judgment but with love.
There are moments that triggers arise where breath is crucial for stress. Recognize the moment of reactivity, stop, and pause to it. According to UCSD, MBSR program, this is the Stop, Pause, Breathe, and Open approach. Before I present to a large group or have an important meeting, I sit in my car and meditate for 5-10 minutes and practice the S.T.O.P mindfulness breathing technique. Regardless, we all know how to breathe, some better than others, and this takes practice.
Stop what you are doing at this moment and put a pause on your thoughts and actions. Take a few deep breaths to ground yourself and if possible, ground your feet into the floor visualizing the roots of the earth coming up to the soles of your feet. Through my MBSR mindfulness stress reduction course, I had to go even further into observation in my body. I always have been very connected to my body and every feeling through this course; you can go even deeper, so you learn to bring in love to each part and breathe to that area. Feeling each sensation in your body and speaking to it with compassion truly works. When you do a body scan and thank each part of your body with awareness, you are body conscious. You are living in the present moment. Part of the S.T.O.P breathing technique is observing, and observing what is going on with your body, (touch, sight, hearing, taste, smell), your emotions (what you are feeling), and your mind. What assumptions are you telling yourself about why are you having those thoughts or feelings? If you go through analyzing, this can be a never-ending battle and is the opposite of compassion. Come with curiosity, do not judge or over analyze. Proceed. Proceed with what you were doing with intention and with what you learned.
-
- From mindfulness training, calling attention to and naming the experience for which you are grateful. Is imperative. “I am grateful for the ability to perceive reactions and the ability to discern skill from unskilled actions.”
- Become aware of your triggers and stop making it harder on yourself through the language of “have to,” which I noticed early on in myself in college and through my masters. The should or I have to do this or that, shift them into the language of “I get to, I choose to, I am grateful, I am able to,” and see what comes from that. From my EFT training, simple shifts produce results, and you can immediately tap into it and rewire your habit-forming old thought patterns. I notice when I am able to train my brain, and the language to it, more opportunities come my way. What hinders you from being grateful for the present moment? Listen to your mind as a third party and look at it objectively. This is where my EFT training has helped. How to trick the brain and release old tendencies to improve mood and experiences. Similar to manifestation, when you act grateful; you eventually become grateful.
- Thanking others and putting a smile on your face, I truly believe decreases stress. Research shows that the more you are grateful for others, the more you are inclined to help others, and helping others lowers stress levels. Through appreciation, joy arises. Think of the times you gave to those in need and made someone smile through your gift giving or donations. I tend to find giving is a thousand times better than receiving. There is always a balance in the give and take process for ultimate joy, yet to bring less stress to someone else and make their life easier ultimately is spiritually rewarding on many levels. The pay it forward approach comes from being grateful and being grateful increases the pay it forward approach. In yoga, this is called Seva; it is a Sanskrit word associated with the facet of yoga meaning “service.” It is an expression of compassion for others and a genuine desire to uplift all those around you. It is a selfless action; when we have nothing to gain and nothing to lose, through our actions, we attain that height of realization and an elevated level of consciousness. There is no expectation of reward of nothing in return, no praise, no “they will owe me one day,” no “I’ll look this way or that.” It is simply from the heart and an act from a higher energy within you.
- Pay attention to self-talk. Your inner voice and mind chatter may not necessarily be yours but someone from your past. They can stem from childhood, an old boss, an ex, a teacher, etc. You are in charge of your self-talk as it impacts self-care, self-love, confidence, and your capabilities. Say you make a mistake at work, do you become stressed? What are you saying to yourself? Is it truly your thought? If so, shift it to a positive and if not, it could be from someone from your past that was critical and that stems to self-criticisms. Self-talk can trigger stress if you are not careful about your selections. Self-talk can even change what is happening in your body including your posture and breathing. My dad would always say when I was younger; “you can do your brother can do.” In other words, when I aged “you can do anything a man can do and even more, you can do anything you put your mind to.” This is where your tenacity or persistence stems from as well as your internal dialogue. Also, choose those that support you. Having supportive parents, coaches, and trainers that focused on empowerment and positive self-talk, increased confidence in my life and that stemmed to action and achieving large goals. Remembering my mind is a computer and what I put in it comes out to reality. Inputting positive self-talk attracts the good in your life.
- Visualization, as well as self-talk can empower joy. Your subconscious mind and belief system understand both sentences and visualization and believes them. Vision boards and mind movies help this process. Your emotional landscape can change when you choose uplifting beliefs utilizing all senses and pictures of what you truly want for visualization. With action, embracing mindfulness and understanding your triggers can set you up for success. Stating, a woman can do anything; my health is becoming better and better combined with visualization of what that looks like can help change your mood and stress levels. What mantras, what statements work for you to live your best life now and fill it with grace?
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”