Stress. It is such a part of our daily lives. In fact, if you were to think about your to-do list right now, or a certain person, chances are, you’ll feel your blood pressure rise. Stress is not only mental, it’s physical and long term stress can have far reaching health implications.
When you’re stressed, you are likely to feel:
- an uncomfortable feeling of muscle tightness and that something isn’t right
- a feeling of edginess, which often increases thtoughout the day
- changes in breathing (you’ll often ‘shallow breath’ using only the top part of your lungs)
- difficulty focusing on one task inability to focus
While it’s impossible to eliminate stress from your life entirely, it is possible to change how you react to it and how much it impacts you. All of us deal with stress in different ways.
However, you can create a calming ritual, which will give you a few moments of respite, or a place you can retreat to when things get a bit much. While it may only be a small step, it is one that can change your perspective and give you peace of mind.
Having small pockets of serenity in your day allows you to break stress up into manageable chunks. It takes practice, but is definitely worth the effort.
Stress is associated with the hormone cortisol, which triggers your ‘fight or flight’ response. Conversely, serotonin stimulates your ‘rest and digest’ state. These two states are mutually exclusive.
To create a relaxation ritual, you will really need to feel a moment of calm and happiness. So start first by finding something simple that you enjoy and can access easily – it could be as simple as a cup of tea or coffee in a calm place.
Go about creating a constructive ritual. Choose a beautiful cup. Select the tea. All the while, practice breathing calmly and think of something that really truly makes you feel good. When you recall a happy memory, or enjoy a peaceful moment, every cell in your body feels it. Every cell gets the benefit of the serotonin response. You brain will pick up on this and create a positive association.
Drink your drink deliberately – pay attention to the flavour, the comfort of where you are and the moment of respite. Take a moment to count your blessings. If a stressful thought comes to you, or the phone rings; take a moment – pause, clear your head and return to your happy place.
Once you’ve finished, refocus and go back to your business.
You could do this several times a day (maybe choose herbal or decaffeinated tea!), to carve out pockets of happy time. A short ritual takes the pressure off of having to set aside a solid hour of ‘relaxation’ or meditation at the end of the day (which ironically, can add to your list).
If tea isn’t your thing, find something that is. Wash your hands with a lovely soap and take a couple of minutes to apply hand cream, do some easy stretches, or walk to the letterbox and admire your garden – your ritual can be yours alone, whatever is easy to replicate no matter where you are, and easy to concentrate on.