Stress is calling

This 3-step self-awareness plan helps you to get to a place when your stress management practice will not feel like a job, but it can become a part of your self-care routine. An action of self-compassion and self-love.

1. OBSERVE

Stress management, just like most changes, really, starts with self-awareness. As you get on with your day as normal, start asking some questions of yourself:

How does your body talk to you?

What’s your body’s way to let you know that you are pushing yourself too hard? Watch out for things like shallow breathing, tensed muscles, difficulty to focus, feeling exhausted, forgetting things, irritability and impatience, changed appetite or digestion, etc.

Do nothing first. When you feel you have fully explored how your body is trying to talk to you, ask yourself the next question:

What do you need?

I hear you. A holiday… but we are trying to deal with our normal daily life here, so think smaller. Think of little, things that make you happy.

Try to put these in 2 different group. I suggest writing them down. It makes it easier to grasp it and remember later.

Make a group for 5-10 minute activities. It can be something like making your favourite cup of tea in your favourite cup, going for a short walk, petting your cat, ring a friend, etc.

List 15-30 minute activities in the other group. Like going for a longer walk, taking the dog out, watching an episode of a trashy tv show, taking a hot (or cold) shower, picking up your knitting or a bit, etc.

How much can you take?

Different types of stressors affect us to different extent. You probably know what triggers more discomfort in your body. Dig into this a little bit deeper by bringing a little more consciousness into it.

Here’s how you can think about it: Are there certain days of the week when you are more stressed than on others? Are there places where you feel more uncomfortable? Are there stressors that you can plan ahead for? This can be related to work or family routines – regular stressors that you can’t easily (or at all) avoid. Are there some that you can avoid if you just change certain circumstances?

2. NOTICE and ALLOW

Now that you know what you need, and when you need it, keep paying attention as you go through your day, and try catching the clues you explored. Now make a conscious decision to allow yourself to feel however you feel. The reason why you feel stressed is not because you are not strong enough.

No way!

What is happening is, that you realised where your personal boundaries lie, and you are about to start respecting them. You are improving your self-awareness, and with that, you are setting the ground for mindfulness.

You are finding your ringtone.

A higher level of self-awareness pays off in so many other areas of life!

3. TAKE ACTION

Now that you can catch yourself approaching your boundaries you can start using some of the “happy activities” from your list. Start small and increase your self-care activities gradually until it becomes routine.

You’ll see, eventually a 10 minute guided meditation off Spotify will not sound that mysterious and farfetched anymore.