All the Stresss

I was talking to a friend recently about how stressful life has become, even under the most mundane of circumstances. We've known for a long time now that stress is a killer, it’s one of the most perilous forces of modern history. Despite knowing how terrible it is though, most of us keep moving forward without doing much about it. Diet and exercise help but even for those choosing to move well and eat right, these don’t prove to be a completely reliable path away from the negative effects of stress.

There are many reasons for this. One is our somewhat faulty design. We are naturally primed to pay more attention to negativity than what is positive. Evolutionarily this helped us to avoid danger, but the threats we face today differ from those of our ancient ancestors, the older parts of the brain that govern our relationship with fear and instability haven’t caught up to the hazards we experience in the modern world.

Similarly our nervous systems doesn’t know how to process stress as we experience it. Rather than an imminent threat, such as encountering a saber tooth tiger, most of us experience stress that is lower grade and chronic. These lower grade chronic stresses can keep us in a constant fight or flight, which becomes a high state of anxiety that we never get to come down from. Poor nutrition, and inadequate sleep are also at play .

Here are some practices that I have found to be essential in stoping the Stress and finding Rest.

Connect to Nature

Nature is the ultimate healer, and a large part of why we don’t have a great capacity for handling stress, comes from the fact that we are disconnected from it. Go for a walk, be deliberate, smell the fresh air, touch the ground, the rocks, let your eyes absorb the beauty of the trees. Take in as much sunlight as you can. Soak it in, fill yourself up with the calmness and tranquility you find.

Even if you can’t physically get outside, you can still relate. Use your imagination to transport yourself from whatever place you are in, be it an apartment, house, office, hospital or whatever enclosure. Go back in time to your locations most natural state, before there were any physical structures or civilizations. Try to connect to the primal landscape you’ve imagined from a subjectively unencumbered state. Does anything change for you when you relate to your environment from that perspective. Alternatively, look out the window, use your eyes to relate, fill your senses. From that vantage point feel the trees, see the wind.

Connect to nature as often as possible. 

 The BodyScan

I practice this as often as possible. Turn your attention on your body. Try to get deeply into what it feels like to be in your body, as if there was nothing else. Bring your awareness to the connection between what is within your body and what it not. For example if you are standing or walking, your feet on the floor. If you are washing the dishes feeling of the water on your hands, or the connection between the item you are washing and your hands. Sitting- the connection between your seat/ sits bones and what you are sitting on. Try to be fully present in your body. Turn your attention inward, listen in to the body. Is there a part of the body or a few parts, that want your attention? Allow for your body to speak back to you; what might it want to share? You can use the body scans in our cleanse, and practice more here.

Practice Detachment

While the spiritual practice of detachment has its roots in Buddhism, I have found it to be a natural consequence of building awareness/ or mindfulness of my habits and thoughts. Think of it like this: The next time you get into an argument, or a distressing situation take a moment to slow down and watch your reaction and listen to your thoughts, and then question them. Do you need to have that reaction, will this matter in the future? What can you let go of about the present situation in order to attune yourself to the grace that surrounds you?

Similar to the body scan I find this to be an everyday practice . We can get so caught up in what things mean, what someone said about us, fear of what will happen. We agonize endlessly about the things we can’t control. At a certain point though what benefits us the most is to let go. This doesn’t always happen easily at first. It can take practice, but it is worth while. We can’t hold on to it all, and the more we can let go of the more room we have for joy. 

Deep Sleep

In all honestly getting quality sleep is one of my biggest challenges when it comes to self care. My mind always wants to zing, move, and gets creative just as I need to fall asleep. I can tell you for sure though, that my emotions are all over the place and I am less efficient without a good night's rest. So I write from a place of inner knowing, and deep work because quality sleep is something I have had to try at again and again. Deep sleep is vital for keeping your mind and body in balance and not getting caught up in cycles of stress. Try to get as much as you can- if you have trouble with sleep like I have, add cherry juice into your daily regimen. Drink it during the day, add it to your water, or make a jug of cherry tea to sip on through out the day. It is incredibly effective for getting beautiful deep sleep. Kava tea and Mugwart are also highly beneficial herbs for relaxing at night. If I find it difficult to unwind, or relax at night these are to of my favorite goto’s.

Know that most of our stress is a choice - it's how we choose to respond to a situation. With a nervous systems in overdrive, and a culture filled with anxiety, it can be hard to slow down enough to make conscious choices about how to respond to the events that show up in our life. Often our greatest challenges are also our greatest blessings, but we go into deep into worry unconsciously without realizing there are other perspectives and choices at hand. As I mentioned earlier, it's not exactly out fault, we are primed for worry, but we can also build the skills necessary to find rest and stop the cycle of stress. 

With love, and deep gratitude,

Bianca 

P.S. I always love to hear from you. Please let me know your thoughts and how these practices work for you. If you are feeling stuck, in a cycle of stress or sadness don't hesitate to reach out. I am always here to help. Xo