Don’t Wait! Do These Today to Shift Your Mindset
As a healing professional I desire nothing more than the well-being of everyone on the planet. I have chosen Stress Relief Coaching because I have a talent for guiding clients to a place of inner peace through mindfulness and meditation practices.
I also, provide a safe environment for expressing their deepest and often suppressed and hidden desires. I get great joy encouraging others to take action steps into the greatest vision they have for their life.
Obviously, this is a process and an important one…But sometimes you need relief right now!
The following practices are meant to inspire you down the path of stress reduction and inner peace, immediately. This means as soon as you are finished reading this article choose a couple of actions and do them right away. You will thank yourself for it and your life will immediately become better because of it.
1) Take a walk/hike
Easy enough! Before work, at lunch time, after work or following dinner. If you’re reading this during the Coronavirus lock down…do it RIGHT NOW!
Don’t waste another second, get outside and enjoy nature. Even if you’re in the city. According to the Mayo Clinic, “regular brisk walking can help you maintain a healthy weight, prevent or manage various conditions, including heart disease and high blood pressure, strengthen your bones and muscles, improve your mood, and improve your balance and coordination.” So, not only will you reap the immediate benefits of improving your mood and decreasing stress and anxiety, practicing regularly will afford you the long-term benefits of better overall physical health. Which, by the way also is a wonderful stress and anxiety reliever.
Taking a hike if you are able gives you the added benefit of the relaxing nature of the great outdoors. Listening to birds and chipmunks chirping, a gentle breeze on your face. The smell of fresh pine drifting in the air as you stroll among the trees. Getting away from the hustle and bustle of daily life is always a deeply relaxing activity even if only for a half hour or so. It gives you a mental reset that can make a world of difference.
2) Connect – Talk to a friend
Again, just like walking, the Mayo Clinic list improved mental health as one of the benefits of friendship. Whether it’s getting something heavy off of your mind or brainstorming a problem. Talking these things through with someone you love and trust often provides an enormous release of tension. Many times, the cause of anxiety and stress is simply carrying the burden of a life challenge around inside us. As soon as we put light on it with another soul it often dissipates even if the problem isn’t completely solved.
Sometimes the benefit comes from simply knowing that you have someone in your life that loves and cares for you enough to listen to any problem at any time. This sense of belonging and connection does wonders for our outlook on life. Activating this sense of well being by reaching out to a friend in your time of need is a great way to capitalize on this emotional asset.
3) Act on your goal(s)
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I simply love this quote. Anxiety, stress and depression are often the result of a sense of overwhelm. We look at where we are and what we have to accomplish and the gap seems daunting. Sometimes nothing feels better than grabbing the bull by the horns and taking action towards something that you really want to accomplish in your life.
Want to write a book? Open your laptop and write the title and the first paragraph or start the outline. Want to take a trip to Europe? Go online and price fares and lodging. Want to get in better shape see #1 and take a walk. Want to start a new career? Get back to that laptop and start on your resume or go online and start searching for your dream job. Want to start your own business? Sit down and write a 1-page business plan and start believing.
Sometimes nothing works better to relieve nervous energy better than closing the gap between where you are and where you want to be. All the disappointment you harbor starts to disappear when you perceive yourself as actively on the path to your desired goal/life.
4) Do yard work/chores
Yes, I said it! I’m one who really doesn’t enjoy household chores much or at least that’s what I tell myself and my wife. But what I find is that once I get started and insert my practice of mindfulness to whatever I am doing I’m transformed. Cutting the grass, fixing a gutter, vacuuming the house all become a prayer. The act of centering intently on the task at hand becomes a form worship. In it you become intimately active in the unfolding of presence. Remember the Zen saying, “Before enlightenment, chop wood carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood carry water.” The important aspect is to focus your mind and being into what you’re doing in the present moment and that activity itself becomes your meditation and your gateway into Divine presence.
The other aspect of this comes from Kahlil Gibran who puts a more romantic take on these task. Where not only do we focus our presence into the present moment, but we infuse it with passion. To envision every task as if it were an act of love for someone special in our lives. Infusing our every action with a sense of joy and reverence that takes us out of the doldrums and normalcy of our day.
“And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart,
even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection,
even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy,
even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.”
Kahlil Gibran
5) Take time to meditate
In a previous post I asked the questions, how often and how long should a person meditate? The answer was basically as often as you can with a minimum of 2 – 3 times per week and as little as 10-minutes per session. So, right now give yourself a mini break. Find a comfortable spot relax and do nothing but sit there and focus on your breathing for 10-minutes…10-minutes.
When you get to a place of clearing your mind or at the very least noticing the thoughts as they pop into your mind. Try identifying them as separate from yourself at this point you will have successfully reset the day. Do this 2 – 3 times today and your relaxed state of being is immanent. Those of you who have been following know that the benefits of meditation are many. Both mentally and physically. From regulating heart rate to lower levels of stress and anxiety. GO!
6) Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness as a practice is simply bringing all of your attention and focus intently into the present moment onto whatever you are doing or experiencing. If you are eating an apple you are taking the time to savor this simple activity, activating all of you senses in the process. You not only are tasting the apple, but you are noticing its feel in your hand as you hold it, and in your mouth as you chew it. You notice its smell and the way it looks, its color and texture. As you allow yourself to be engulfed in this sensory experience your attention is acutely focused in the present and your mind is alleviated from all its busy restless thoughts, many of which contain the source of your anxiety and stress. Take a brief break in your day from your continuous stream of daily thoughts, by allowing yourself to get lost in and immersing yourself into whatever it is that you are currently doing. Whether its eating, walking, reading, showering or brushing your teeth, activate all of you senses and devote all of your attention and you’ll find yourself in the center of peace.
7) Forgive yourself
Up until this very moment you have always done the very best you could with the tools, skills, growth that you had in the moment. Remember that a big part of creating and maintaining inner peace in your life is making sure you focus your attention on the present. Realize that everything that has occurred has brought you the growth and experience that makes you the special creation that the Divine has intended. Manyof us are very compassionate beings and do a very admirable job in forgiving those who have done us harm or injustice. We often do not offer that very same compassion to ourselves and our mistakes and missteps.
“In order to heal, we must first forgive … and sometimes the person we must forgive is ourselves.”
– Mila Bron
Sometimes our biggest stressors are the self judgements and regrets we carry around with us in our own minds every day. In my book 29 Degrees which is to be released this fall, I talk about how many of the things that happened to us in the past turn out to be the biggest blessings we could have ever imagined. The same would then apply to our own foibles. Some of the very things we judge ourselves negatively for may very well be the seeds for our or another’s greatest blessing.
Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may actually be falling into place.
–Anonymous
Today find one thing that you are carrying as a burden and make a conscious effort to forgive yourself for it. Treat yourself as gently as you would a young child who has yet to learn that what they are doing is wrong. Commit to making the appropriate correction and move forward. Love yourself for everything that you are and realize that the mistakes you have made are simply lessons that you’ve learned that help to create the very unique and special being that you have become.
Each one of these practices on its own will bring you great comfort. Taken as a whole these practices will give you a powerful jumpstart toward lifelong peace and fulfillment. The best part is that you can do each today, better yet…now…GO
