De-stress With These 5 Tiny, Mindful Actions

Stress, when it get’s really bad, can feel like the whole world weighing down on our shoulders. Our heads, on the verge of implosion, are sending us signals — slow down, relax, cool off fro a while — but it’s not often we can act on these. We’re stuck with jobs that need doing, constantly juggling what we need to do, fighting through setbacks, and our poor brains are the ones that suffer through it all.

One answer might be to quit, give it all up, go find a more relaxing way to spend your days. But, alas, that will not pay the bills. For those of us that can’t sit back on a pool of money and get by with our feet up, there are some other methods for combatting the stress bug. These 5 actions are mindful, simple tricks to pull your clouded mind above the clouds, and it comes on the heels of a whole mindfulness practice that’s really starting to pick up steam.

Stress isn’t just about what happens to you, but how you respond. And because your thoughts are usually on autopilot, your response can get ahead of you. If you don’t hear back about a job, for example, you might think, “I knew this was too good to be true,” “They probably found someone much more qualified,” or “I’m so embarrassed because now I have to tell everyone I didn’t get it.”

If you never question your thoughts, you’re giving them free reign over you and your mood. But if you can map your emotions back to their underlying thoughts, you have a better chance of nipping your stress in the bud.

Do you know someone that’s never suffered from stress? That’s never been anxious or felt overwhelmed by responsibilities? Neither can I, I don’t think those people exist, even if they might think otherwise. Stress is part of the human condition, and it’s exacerbated in this age of productivity. Luckily we do have these techniques to help, take note of them, so when you get struck down, you know how to fight your way back up.