You feel the pressure building inside, but it feels that there’s no way to stop it.
There never seems to be a letup, and the stress and anxiety just keep piling on. So much is on your mind that your head is spinning constantly.
What can you do?
It turns out, quite a lot by using both exercise and rest for your mind.
While that sounds like very simplistic concepts, they will make the world of difference for coping with your stress.
When life throws so much stuff at you, you need to be able to let your mind process stress. Otherwise, it will continue to build, and that’s not healthy at all.
Using Controlled Breathing
One way to process stress is by using controlled breathing to rest your mind. Controlled breathing is not that complicated. Rather, it involves counting to yourself while breathing in and out.
It works like this:
- Count to yourself while breathing in (usually to 5)
- Start a new count while holding the breath (just to 2)
- As you exhale, count to yourself again until you have fully exhaled (again to 5)
- Once you have exhaled, hold your breath again and count until you are ready to inhale (to 2 is fine)
There are two advantages to this exercise. 1) As you repeat cycles of breathing, you create a consistent pattern. And 2) the counting helps to focus your mind and, as you breathe in deeply, you are supply oxygen to your body. This allows your body to physically cope with stress better.
Taking a Quick Break
Another idea is to take a quick break every hour or so from the hustle and bustle of life to give your mind a brief rest.
You could, for example, do the following:
- Get up from your desk and walk around (if you’re at work)
- Go outside for a few minutes
- Listen to a song
- Sit silently for a moment and allow yourself to “zone out”
If you are constantly being exposed to stress, you need a rest. Resting allows your mind to process stress, which can lower your anxiety levels and keep you functioning.
Meditating
You’ve probably heard a lot about the benefits of mediation. Even though all the talk may seem like a broken record, researchers are actually learning more every day about the benefits of mediation. This is especially true for coping with stress.
For example, one study found that one group of unemployed people who were looking for work benefited greatly from practicing mediation combined with stretching. This is as opposed to another group who only participated in stretching exercises.
When the brains of the mediation group were scanned, they had more brain activity in areas related to processing stress.
Exercising Your Mind
When you need to process stress, consider writing as a way to better cope. This mental exercise is valid because writing can help your mind process what’s happened.
One idea to take advantage of this benefit is to keep a journal and write in it every day. Another way writing helps is by setting goals and reviewing whether or not you have met them. And a third way is to develop a mission statement for yourself.
Whichever way you pursue, you will be doing your mind a favor and process stress by getting all of those worries, anxieties, and other stress-causing factors out of your mind and onto paper.
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Let’s face it, no matter what you to do to prevent stress, it’s always going to be there. However, you don’t have to let stress take over your life.
Knowing that your mind needs to process stress is a good start. That, combined with tools that either let your brain rest or encourage exercise can help your mind to cope and give you the power to more effectively deal with and process stress.
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