When you are feeling stress, you are not thinking right. Yes, this is an awfully strong thing to say. In a way, it’s like taking a stand with ourselves. Stress is self-generated.
“Stress in not out there. It is in here.”
We like to think that certain people, events, circumstances stress us out as if they have a certain ability to automatically cause a certain reaction in us. I would invite you to think about that. Have you noticed that at certain times slow traffic is really bothersome, and at other times, you are more able to go with the flow?
Has the traffic changed? No, it was your reaction to the traffic that changed. It’s in you. Dang, it means I have to work with me if I want to be less effected by stress.
Ok, so why do I want to reduce my stressful reaction to things? Well, how about, so I feel better! The more time I feel at peace in my life the more time I experience joy, happiness, contentment. Simple equation. Make sense?
So here are some tips to reduce the stress in your life:
1) The first thing to do to unravel stress in your life is to notice when you are feeling stress. “I am stressed”. Declare it to yourself.
2) The second step is to realize that you have the capability to think in a relaxed, calm way. Breathe. Breathe deeply, as this will ground you into your body where stress resides. As you feel more connected to yourself you will consciously breathe out stress with every passing breath.
3) You have choices – you may have a right to be angry or upset over something, but is it worth it? This question changes our point of view. Hard to be happy when you are angry.
I’m suggesting we consciously develop a low tolerance for stress rather than taking pride in having a high tolerance for stress.
4) Learn to slow down your thinking when you notice you are beginning to become stressed. This is counter intuitive when we start to stress out over something – we more instinctively speed up, secrete adrenalin, and are off to the races. Practice calm breathing instead, and make the choice.
When we see that we create our own stress in reaction to our experience of life, we can overcome this condition and regain our inner calmness.