Last weekend I presented a workshop at a conference for early learning, child development educators. The topic was Eliminating Stress. Here are some highlights.
Our world is a stressful place these days. Everywhere we turn there’s a new disaster. The rise in human tragedies, environmental disasters and financial crisis has made stress, fear and anxiety the new norm.
Add to that the stress in rising gas and food prices, increased cancer risks, rises in unemployment, increased cost for medical care and the list goes on and on, doesn’t it?
Then combine all this with stress from our jobs, bosses, relationships, neighbors, commuting, dieting, exercising, raising kids, school and the pressures and expectations we place on ourselves…
Ever feel like you are not doing as much as you should, or perhaps like you’ll never be good enough? If yes is your answer, that’s because we have collectively allowed ourselves to be spoon-fed these messages. For example, most commercials on TV and magazine ads are geared toward making us feel we are only good enough if…. we buy this, look like that, or think like them…
So we go to the gym to feel good about ourselves, and even there we begin to compare ourselves to others, and we find ourselves feeling less than good enough. For some this makes us want to work harder, accumulate more, climb higher thinking it will make us feel better. Sometimes we think, “if only I had this, or looked like that or got a lucky break like so and so. And our stress continues to rise.
The truth is no amount of outside “stuff” will fill that void. It must be filled from the inside through recognizing, acknowledging and appreciating who we were created to be. It comes from truly supporting ourselves.
We cannot control the disasters in the world, but we can control our reaction and response to it. We can begin to build a strong inner environment. We can begin to support ourselves at a deeper level. We can build a safe inner refuge…
We can make ourselves a priority by setting aside 10-15 minutes each day to de-stress, relax, and to be with ourselves, meditating or engaging in some activity that relaxes and nourishes our soul.
There are many tips and tools we can engage in when we feel ourselves experiencing stress like, Deep Breathing, Consciously Relaxing Key Muscles, Shake It Out, Yawn & Stretch, firing our anchor and more presented in the workshop.
Even though we cannot control the many stressful events in the world, we can turn inward to create a peaceful inner refuge of self-support. By engaging in healthy activities and utilizing the many tools available, we can transform and eliminate stressful reactions to external events.
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