Tools For Coping With Stress: Three Ways To Reduce Daily Tension And Anxiety
We go through the day often reacting by irritation, self-pity, anger or gritting teeth as situations arise at work and home. It seems usually that we are provoked by external situations. We have more control over our mind compared to what we think, so let's look at some ways to stop the knee-jerk reactions.
It is much easier to stop negative emotions before they fully bloom. Once it flowers into a strong emotion or dark mood it can often last for hours or days. Try to catch the moment when the negative state grips you. This gives you a real edge from letting it consume you.
1) If you start to notice that you are getting into a funk, state of anger, or sense of discouragement do something physical to try to shake it out. For instance, swimming, running or stretching are all helpful. Moving helps to stimulate the glands and nervous system. It's easier to stop smoking after one cigarette vs a ten year habit of smoking two packs a day. The mind follows it's habits like a record needle in the groove. We can change the channel instead of being a slave to the mood.
2) Breathing exercises such as the breath of fire or a slow, three-part breathing will help the mind quiet down. These are taught in many yoga classes and also found on the internet and books at most bookstores.
3) Try to identify the thought patterns that your mind repeats. As you watch it more and more you don't fall into it because you are observing it. Our dramas and soap operas can seem so real and intense. Yet, if you hear about a shooting in the school or a tragedy in your neighborhood, this often makes our problems seem so small. This shows us how much we magnify them and gives us perspective. By stepping back and watching the mind's pattern we develop a new capacity inside of ourselves to evaluate if these feelings and thoughts are contributing to a sense of joy or misery.
We gain motivation to change each time we are able to see the old patterns of the mind as unnecessary. Some of the lines we repeat are what we heard during our childhood or from a critical person in our lives. By stepping back we can gain a new skill that enables us to not buy into the old tunes.
