Three Sources Of Stress - Practices to Master Them All

Heyyy girl, welcome back! Hold your freaking panties because this blog will quite literally save your life. I know you have been stressing, you aren’t the only one and I have the best advice for you to finally be at peace! Take notes because I have some daily practices that will allow you to JUST BE.

We’ll be diving into three major sources of stress and how to master them all. If you master the sources of your stress…You master your stress!

Why is stress the main factor of the leading causes of death in the U.S? Welppp, stress causes lack of sleep, brain fog, heart attacks, heart disease, inflammation in the body (which is the leading cause of autoimmunity and digestive issues which then leads to more health issues), weight gain, deadly cancers and more. 😫 Horrific right?

We are constantly stressing over so many things in life that don’t matter. We hover over one argument from six years ago, stress about whether we have enough time to fold the laundry before we leave, whether we may get sick with viruses, things that we have no control over and things that no longer matter or won’t matter in the future.

You’re struggling with letting go of the past, allowing yourself to rest & recover, surrendering to what is and trusting in the future!

IT DOESN’T EVEN MATTER….

Do you stress over things like how your kid left his/her shoes on the floor and not the shoe rack, how your neighbor parked his car in two different spaces, how your roommates left the dishes in the sink again?

Do you replay scenarios in our head like the way your boss worded his/her email, how your past boyfriend treated you, the way that cashier wasn’t in a pleasant mood, the 3 minute argument you had with your best friend two weeks ago? Too often we get sunk into the negativity and let it take us down with it. We are constantly creating stories in our head and are actively CHOOSING to let it affect us this way.

Don’t get me wrong, these things are frustrating but they should not determine if you have a shitty rest of your day/week/year. What if I told you that NOTHING, not even if you lost your home today, received a shitty attitude from your boss, or you have dirty dishes in the sink…NOTHING could determine your mood for the rest of the day, except for YOU. 😲

It’s time to let that shit go. You get to choose whether the argument/situation/negativity has ended or not. None of this matters. Are you still alive, will the sun come up tomorrow….yes, you are perfectly fine. So… let that shit go.

Here’s a few practices to help you.

1. Trust that everything is happening for you. Every single thing, even if you have broken all your limbs and are reading this blog because you have nothing else to do, EVERYTHING is happening for you. Your comeback is a helluva lot stronger than your setback.

2. Sit with your emotions. If you are sad, angry, anxious, let that emotion come over you, consume you, and let it pass.

3. Shake off your stress and negativity, we are like animals. We have the ability to literally shake off emotions & stress, shake your entire body from head to toe and literally brush it off.

4. Stop overthinking and getting sunk into what does not matter. After something “bad” happens, let your emotions come to surface, let them pass and then CHOOSE that the situation has ended and you are not going to let it affect the rest of your day/week/month/year. YOU get to choose how you react and your way of thinking.

GO GO GO!

Okay, so SOME of you may be able to relate to this one and some of you may not. BUT we all know someone who will relate ;). Do you label yourself as being on the “go go go ”? You never take a rest day to just straight chill and have so many places to be and things to do all the time?

Why the HECK do we always feel the need we HAVE to be doing something productive and why in the HELL do we not see resting and recovering as being productive?! We feel we have to be “productive” in order to make a living and keep our family fed.

We always have to be somewhere in the back of our heads, and the stress of having to do the next thing then takes over our minds which should be in the present moment. It’s preventing us from being here and now. You probably wonder why in the hell can’t you just BE!

What if we were to rest more, spend more time doing the things that bring us happiness and to the present moment? What if spending more time doing these things actually helped us become a better and more productive employee, show up more as a parent/significant other/friend, make more money, have better health which means less doctor’s visits…simply because WE ARE HAPPY and create time for recovery!

Resting and letting go of work and to-do’s is like charging your laptop at night so you have a full battery to work without any worries for the next day…or like charging your phone so you can use your Maps app to get you where you’re going.

Without it, you have nothing to even be productive. BAM. Tell me I’m wrong!

I mean, I am not going to sit here and try to persuade you, it’s up to you to practice it. I do have a list of coaches (including me ;) that can coach you through this. In the meantime, here are a few journal prompts to help you reframe your thinking around REST.

1. Why do I feel I have to be somewhere all of the time, what is constantly in the back of mind even when I am not actively thinking of it?

2. What does rest and recovery mean to me? What harm would it do to rest more?

3. Why do I not see rest as being a time to recharge and reset so I can better perform better as an employee/boss/friend/parent/etc?

4. What day and time can I dedicate this week to rest & recharge?

5. What would it look like for me to rest and recharge?

Here’s a few practices to try…

1. Stop multitasking - You are not being productive and you are stressing yourself out by trying to do so many things at once.

2. Practice self-awareness (meditative walks, focusing on something still - like a tree blowing in the wind, appreciating the little things around you - the sun poking through the trees, or the birds building a nest)

3. Stop telling people you have to do so many things, no one cares. You will get it done, you do not have to do everything in one day.

4. Repeat, “I have all of the time in the world. If I do not complete my entire to-do list today, I still showed up as my best self.”

Take an hour this week to take a bubble bath, journal, read, meditate, spend time in silence drawing/coloring, whatever rest looks like for you. Rest and recharge.

TRUST

We get to choose if situations happen “to” or “for” us. I know when something tragic happens, and there only seems to be negative outcome(s), it’s truly hard to see it in a different perspective.

Trust me though, it was meant to happen or else it wouldn’t be happening! No matter what, it leads us to something bigger or more possibilities down the road, whether it is tomorrow, next week or in a few years. One day, you may say “If such and such never would have happened, I wouldn’t be where I am today”.

Whether you believe in God/the universe/a higher power, pray. Lay all of your worries on Him/Her/It and trust that you are in good hands and your destiny has already been planned out for you. Trust that you are taken care of no matter what.

Here are a few ways to help change your perspective during shitty situations.

1. Take a deep breath, allow yourself to get angry/mad/sad. Write down a few positive things that may come out of the situation in a perfect world. Hey, you never know!

2. Say to yourself “this is happening for me”.

3. Practice being at peace with trusting that you are right where you are meant to be and something amazing is happening for you. I say “practice” because it takes practice for it to come naturally.

4. Write down three good things that happened that day and three things that you are looking forward to in the future.

I hope this was helpful to all of you stressors out there; give yourself some grace today and keep looking forward! Much love!

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