Happy New Year guys,
Hope everyone is doing wonderful. I am sure many of you set up lots of great goals, intentions and New Year’s resolutions for 2014. I thought for a while what today’s blog should be about and then it got me. People often talk about stress, about worries and sometimes haven’t got a clue how to deal with them. I have decided to touch on this topic and give you few of my suggestions how to reduce stress. I have to admit, I am the kind of person who tends to get things done very quickly and I often find myself rushing. In the end of the day I feel tired, sometimes burned out to say the truth and the more I feel like this, then more thoughts what I still haven’t completed raise through my mind. Of course I also have good days, when I am aware, that rushing through anything will not help me to accomplish my goals quicker, it only delays me, burns me out and doesn’t bring me happiness. When I normally find myself in this circuit of rush I stop, then I realize rushing through my day and thinking what else I have to do will not help me to accomplish my tasks quicker. The main problem here is, when we have thoughts raising, we forget to enjoy the ”Present moment” which I often talk about. There is a beauty in the present moment and let’s start being aware of it little more this year. I understand there are deadlines which need to be met, meetings you have to go to at certain time, assignments emailed back in 2 days etc. This is what we have to go through as human beings, because in our Universe time exists. We have a year which has 365 days, we have a week which has 7 days, we have a day which has 24 hours and we tend to plan. But we can actually learn how to prioritize and manage our tasks better and that way reduce the levels of stress and anxieties in our every day life. I have few steps which I find always very helpful and hope you can make use of them too.
#1 Plan your day the evening before you go to bed
Take a piece of paper or a notebook (if you want to make a habit of it) and write down all the tasks you need to complete tomorrow, even your shopping list can be written here. When you see everything written on a piece of paper, you can see it clearly in front of you. That’s a great first step. After that, start prioritizing. What is the first thing you can do straight away in the morning? Also, my tip is to get rid of the most difficult things first, so you don’t have to think about them, and they don’t bother you as such throughout the day. But it’s all up to you. The important point is to write it down and look at it. That way you know, what you need to do and you’ll see everything more clearly- I can almost guarantee.
#2 Find the time centre in- Ground yourself with your breath
During the day we often find ourselves literally ”catching our breath”. What do I mean by that? We forget to breathe properly. I used to be ”The Queen” of this. Walking quickly, talking quickly, rushing, you name it. Often times I almost found myself out of breath. I learned to listen to the voice inside of me saying- ”Slow down and Breathe!” Now I really know, when to stop and centre in. Listen to your inner voice and most importantly- Act on it. When it tells you, slow down, immediately step out of the situation or as soon as it’s appropriate to do so and ground yourself with your breath. My tip- ”Close your eyes, inhale through your nose and slowly exhale through your mouth and repeat at lest 5 times. After this ”little session”, imagine a nice protective, healing light around you, and know that nothing negative can penetrate through this light unless you let it. Practise grounding yourself as often as possible throughout your day, it will make a huge difference in your life.
#3 Eat healthy meals and drink lots of water
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You need to eat something in the morning to set your day right. My suggestion is to avoid sugary and heavy breakfasts. Check out nutritionist advice, if you are unsure. There are lots of great resources on the internet these days. The same applies to your lunch, you don’t want to eat anything too heavy, too fatty. You want to eat food which you can digest properly. Also, don’t rush your food, chew more than you normally do. Choose something healthy and nutritious for dinner. Throughout the day drink lots of water, I personally also drink herbal teas and green tea. Avoid caffeine, it raises adrenaline and creates more stress. Do some research online, try different approaches and see what works best for you. Consult a health coach or nutritionist.
So there you have it, few steps which will help you to reduces the levels of stress in your life. I hope you will find them helpful. Any comments, questions, suggestions, please email them on to- jana@highflyercoach.com I look forward to hearing from you. Until then, take care and I will catch up with you again soon.
Jana x