Stress relief: Seven things you can do today
by Mike Biles, M.A.
Let’s not kid ourselves – stress is fear. I have fear. You have fear. We all have fear at times, and it’s helpful to recognize stress for what it is. Stress or fear is a known cause for heart attacks, lowered immune response, psychological disorders, addiction, and it’s probably the most damaging element you can bring into your relationships. Here are seven things you can do right now that will help greatly to reduce your daily stress.
1. Remove Caffeine
The reason coffee and caffeinated drinks give you a boost is because they stimulate glands in your body causing your heart rate to increase while initiating the fight or flight response. This response is the same one that causes your body to react when you are charged by an angry grizzly bear. Professor James Lane from Duke Medical Center said, “Moderate caffeine consumption makes a person react like he/she is having a very stressful day. If you combine the effects of real stress with the artificial boost in stress hormones that comes from caffeine, then you have compounded the effects considerably.” Giving your system a shot of espresso is akin to injecting yourself with an artificial dose of fear.
2. Stay Away From The News
News stories are sensationalized and designed to create fear in you. I heard this headline from my local TV news the other night, “Could your kitchen sponge be a deadly threat to your family’s health?” I tuned in, watched the story on how deadly bacteria could grow on my old sponge, and then I watched the other 15 or so reports of fire, earthquakes, police beatings, rip-offs, plane crashes, school shootings, job layoffs, increasing taxes, government corruption, and so on. By the end of the hour, I was curled up in the corner sucking my thumb crying for Momma. Then I looked out the window and realized that the world hadn’t really come to an end after all.
3. Stop Fantasizing Negatively About The Future
Most fear is created in your mind by fantasizing that some future event is going to hurt you in some way. You probably have had fear about losing your job, your kids being hurt, your spouse being angry at you, and things like that. When you imagine situations going poorly for you, you get anxious. Mark Twain said, “I have known a great many troubles in my life, but most of them never happened.”
4. Slow Down Your Mind
Modern life can be very hectic, which is mainly because you cram too much into it and take the approach, “I have to hurry to get it all done.” When you overbook your life, you’re likely going to experience more fear because you aren’t going to be able to keep all those commitments. When you don’t keep your commitments, you start to beat yourself down by saying to yourself, “You’re not good enough; you’re not doing enough; you should be doing more!”
5. Stop Judging Situations
When you go through your day’s events deciding whether or not a situation is good or bad, this is going to stress you out. The problem with judging situations is that you don’t really know what is good or bad for you in the big picture. I once had an extremely painful breakup with a woman, and at the time I thought it was the worst, most horribly bad thing that could happen to me. A short time later, I couldn’t have been more grateful. If you just let life happen without putting your opinion on it, you can be calm and centered like a Zen master.
6. Listen To Your Body
When your body gives you messages, listen to it. If you’re hungry — eat well; if you feel tired — sleep more. The National Sleep Foundation says that more than 50 percent of Americans are suffering from some sort of sleep deprivation. That’s more than 100 million adults who are on edge from not being fully rested. Sleep and nutrition form the body’s recovery system; listen to your body.
7. Practice Self-Love
Self-love is about taking care of yourself as you would someone else you love. It’s about not bad-talking to yourself with your own thoughts. It’s about taking good care of your body, allowing yourself to be with whatever emotions your feel, realizing and connecting to your Spiritual Source. By taking on the mindset and intention to be self-loving, you are going to avoid the things that cause you stress and pursue the things that give you peace.
Implement any one of these seven practices and you’ll experience an incremental decrease in stress. Implement them all as a daily practice, and the way you feel is likely to change dramatically.
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Mike Biles is the author of The Spiritual Prescription for Transforming Relationships. A counselor and speaker, he has a Master’s degree in Spiritual Psychology. For more information, visit www.mikebiles.com. |
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