Last week I had the pleasure of teaching a class on stress reduction techniques at a local teachers fair. I loved sharing tips to help them live a healthier and happier life and thought I’d post some of what I talked about here for you as well.
Setting an intention to stress a whole lot less makes actually doing it a much easier. If you’ve ever lost weight, decided to exercise more or wanted to find the love of your life you know what I’m talking about. You just agreed at some point to make some sort of change in order to get the desired result. It’s the same way with stress. If you know every Friday means cupcakes in the teacher’s lounge it might be a good idea to not go there. Or if that pesky student comes to class every single day without a pencil it might be a good idea to have a few extra pencils on hand for them. Yes, I know they should be responsible for their own school supplies and that you’re not their mother or father. But, if giving them a pencil means they’re able to stay on task it might be a small price to pay. You can brainstorm ideas with them about remembering to pack the necessary school supplies in their bookbag every night. You can call home and know if none of these ideas work that’s okay because someone will most likely lend them a pencil and if they don’t then you’ve got their back.
Questioning your thoughts requires taking time to sit in silence for a few minutes every day. I used to do it on my way to work when all the fears of the day swirled uncontrollably in my head. There in the privacy of my car I was able to question them and begin my day a much happier state. Click here for the questions. Questioning your thoughts is a lot like brushing your teach or showering. It cleans up the thoughts and removes the stress which allows you to live a happe life.
Start a stress journal to capture all the things that are stressing you out. Then you get to find the thoughts or beliefs that are causing the stress. Once you do this you get to question them. Then you get to see the specific people, things or events that are stressing you out. From here you can create a game plan to diminish the stress before it starts. That, my friend, will make a huge difference.
Ditch your devices for a few hours every single day. Doing so allows you to savor what’s happening all around you which reduces stress as well. Tuning into what everyone else is doing on social media leads you to believe you’re doing something wrong when it’s not true at all. Don’t fall into the compare and despair trap because it’s all a lie. Take time to enjoy your life and those you share it with. With all your extra time you can find a new hobby, read more books or start that exercise program or cooking class you’ve always wanted to do but didn’t. Now you have more than enough time.
It’s your choice
You get to choose how you live your life and the people you associate with. We all have the same 24 hours. If you spend 8 hours at work and perhaps an hour commuting to and from that leaves 15 hours. If you get 8 hours of sleep, which most people don’t, you’re down to 7 hours. How you spend that time and who you spend it with makes a big difference when you’re trying to stress a whole lot less.
What one thing from the list will you commit to doing this week? What will success look and feel like?
You can do it.
It just takes one decision.
Will you make it?
