Can You Really Live a Stress-Free Life?
‘God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference’ - Reinhold Niebuhr
I love this quote. There is so much that feels impossible to change in the world, where do you even start to know the difference?
You don’t have to go far to find something that triggers your stress. Just the opening jingle of the evening news can be enough to set you off! We all know that we live in a stressful world and we need to be more relaxed and ‘mindful’. But how do we do that and does it really work?
In January there are a lot of calls to set resolutions and to do things differently. Join a gym, loose weight, start writing a book - they tend to be big goals that can be inspiring and create big feelings.
We think that if we make changes to our environment or our bodies, that everything will be better. And although that might be true, if you don’t make the internal changes to your thoughts, beliefs and values, none of that stuff will stick, or really make any difference.
The reason anybody wants anything is because they believe they will feel better after they’ve got it. The problem is, once you get what you want, you want something else, because you haven’t dealt with the real thing you want which might be freedom, peace or calm.
When you start feeling now what that thing will bring you, it doesn’t matter what comes, you will feel good anyway!
Deciding to take charge of your emotions and to regain control over your reactions and responses to situations, people and problems will be the biggest and most effective step you can take. It’s also much easier to do than you might think.
If you are 100% stressed, all you want is to feel more relaxed or get help. What you need to do is focus on getting to 99% stressed, and then 98% and so on. It’s not about feeling blissed out all the time and that none of what’s happening in your life is impacting you. Simply turning the direction of your thoughts towards a solution, rather than focusing on the problem and what’s not working, will make all the difference.
Yes, I know, it’s easy to say! If you knew how to do that you would, right? The trick is to learn to change how you feel about any subject. When you can do that, you can deal with anything that’s coming your way.
Your body will react to the things you are thinking about. When you think about something that is difficult and stressful, it will be harder to find a resolution because you can only feel the pain. Here are some solutions to help shift your emotional state and into something more relaxed.
Think about something else. Just for one minute - set a timer - and put all your attention on one thing that makes you feel good. It might be someone that you love or a place you’ve been on holiday, or something you’re looking forward to. Breathe easily and calmly and try to make it as real as possible so that your mind can fully experience that lovely thing. Your body will start to relax.
Tap, tap, tap - always my go to! Learn the points and tap out some of the stress. Notice it in your body, tap, breathe and clear it.
Act as if. How would you feel if you knew that whatever is going on right now will work out and everyone will be ok? Find that feeling of relief in your body and make it as strong as you can.
Try out these three tips for yourself and what works for you. Also, check out my free Resources and the Academy to get the right level of support for you.
Remember, you don’t need to change the whole world to have a stress free life, you just need to feel a little bit better.
I would love to hear how these tips were for you. Please let me know your thoughts and questions. You can email me: jemima@stressfreelifeacademy.com or call/text 07796 355625.