“Create awareness. Becoming more aware of your thoughts and actions can help you recognize patterns and areas where you can improve. Plus, it allows you to acknowledge what you’re already doing well. The next time you feel stressed, simply pause and notice your reaction. You might ask yourself, “Where is this coming from?” Once you’ve done that, you can choose another response or way of thinking.”
Source
awareness
Stress Hack: Tune In To the Present Moment
“Mindfulness means staying aware and conscious of your experiences. No matter what we’re doing, we can always make time to bring our attention to our breath and body and stay there for a short period of time,” says NIH psychologist Dr. Rezvan Ameli, who specializes in mindfulness practice. “Recent studies show that even short periods of mindful attention can have a positive impact on health and well-being.”
Source
Today’s Reflection: Your True Guide
Let your heart guide you…it whispers so listen closely. ~ Walt Disney
Stress Hack: Decide What’s Really Happening
Fear about one thing in your life can spill over into other parts of your life. Try to decide whether your fears have anything to do with the experience at hand.
Source
Stress Hack: Need a Quick Fix from Stress?
- Sit in a chair and get comfortable with good posture.
- Place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your diaphragm (just above yourstomach).
- Spend a moment concentrating on your breath and notice how your body naturally breathes.
- Now bring your shoulders back slightly. By bringing your shoulders back slightly (with no strainon the neck), you open up your heart to receive more oxygen and blood flow.
- Practice paying attention to your breathing. When you inhale, your belly expands; when youexhale, your belly goes in and pushes out oxygen.6)Practice two to three slow inhales and exhales. As you get better at this exercise, spend moretime at each sitting. SOURCE
Crossing the Bar ~ Alfred Tennyson
Crossing The Bar
Alfred Tennyson
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
Stress Hack: #2 of 4 Strategies to Stop a Panic Attack
Recognize You Are Having a Panic Attack
By recognizing that you’re having a panic attack instead of a heart attack, you can remind yourself that this is temporary, it will pass, and that you’re OK. Take away the fear that you may be dying or that impending doom is looming, both symptoms of panic attacks. This can allow you to focus on other techniques to reduce your symptoms.
Source
Stress Hack: Reduce Stress in 1 Minute
Describe three things you see right now
Describe three things you see around you in terms of size, shape, texture, and color. For example, the brown, rough bark of a large tree. This exercise can be done indoors or outdoors. It brings your attention back to the present moment and neutral aspects of experience. This can take you away from your worries and fears about what might happen in the future. It is also a concrete task that can help disengage the default mode network in your brain that gets activated when you’re worrying, daydreaming, or thinking about yourself. Rather, it will activate your brain’s “on-task” network that is inconsistent with rumination.
Source
Today’s Reflection: What I Do Becomes What I Am
I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day. ~ James Joyce
The Sound of the Sea ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Sound of the Sea
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Do not wait for life.
Do not long for it.
Be aware, always and at every moment,
that the miracle is in the here and now.
