Deal with Stress Today » Mindfulness

Mindfulness Meditation Techniques to Deal with Stress – Part 2

donnam — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 06:00:32 +0000

In Part One of the series, I discussed one of three Mindfulness Meditation techniques for managing your stress; and the mechanism of stress. The stress mechanism is the process that occurs when an event is translated into a distress reaction.

I revealed that while most people are aware only of the event and their action or reaction to the event (that they interpret as stress,) in actuality, there is much more going on. In our experience of stress there are other intervening, often unconscious, steps of thought and emotions that come before the action we take, or our physicalresponse to a stressful event.

In this article, I will focus on how the thoughts we think contribute to the experience of stress and how Mindfulness Meditation can help you to manage the thoughts that contribute to your experience of stress.

Mindfulness is the ongoing practice of bringing your focus to the present moment as much as possible throughout your day. It is the practice of awareness of your thoughts, emotions, your body and the surrounding environment.

The key is to practice this awareness without thoughts of judgment or criticism of self, others or situations. To manage your thoughts about your experience you must first be aware of them. Once you are aware of inner negative comments (we all have them), mindfulness meditation practice helps you to let them go and refocus on simply observing what is happening both in your body and around you at the moment.

Mindfulness Meditation Technique #1, described in Part I of this series, teaches you to refocus on your breathing. By refocusing on this simple activity, you begin to free your mind from distractions associated with Past thinking; i.e. thoughts of yesterday, last week, last year, etc., and with Future thinking; i.e. thoughts of what may happen; both negative and positive, especially worry.

Freeing your mind from Past and Future thinking is important because stress originates from fear-based thought patterns that we have been unconsciously conditioned to think. Fear thoughts are learned over our whole lives from those who are closest to us.

Recent studies also point to fetal experiences being formative too. As we were growing in the womb we experience the stress reactions of our mother as our own. If a mother experiences much stress during her pregnancy, chances are the child would have integrated that experience.

Mindfulness Meditation Technique #2:

Throughout your day take multiple 60 second breaks to practice focusing on your thoughts about your environment. Notice everything you can with your 5 senses. Keep your thoughts focused on looking, seeing, hearing, feeling.

What do you see around you? Notice colors, shapes, people, sensations. Notice your thoughts about everything you see. Practice seeing without judging right or wrong.

This practice can be done in a car, at work, at play, with others without interfering with your activities or really anyone else knowing. You are merely shifting your focus. Play this mental game right now.

Focus on the task that you are doing right now in this moment. For example, if you are writing or typing, notice that entire experience. How do your fingers feel as they strike the keys? How do the keys sound as you type? Notice any tension in your body and so on. Stay focused on exactly what you are doing. When you move on to the next task, notice everything about that too.

Mindfulness is a very effective means to experience calm, inner patience and confidence, and to access clarity. However, like other teachings we must become a student and practice daily.

Make your daily practice easy with Donna Marie’s Relaxations for Inner Peace audio program of guided meditations, soothing music and sounds of nature. Go now to our De-Stress Store.

Have you tried this exercise? What is your experience? Please share below.

Begin the Day with Mindfulness Meditation to Calm Stress at Work

donnam — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:27:48 +0000

The work climate is sometimes a difficult one, and many people may find it hard to cope with the pressure of dealing with stress while at their job. It makes sense. Most people spend the majority of their day at their job, and the stressors of co-workers, bosses, and looming projects and deadlines sometimes contribute to a difficult working environment.

It’s easy for a small issue at work to become a larger one very quickly, and if you don’t take time to deal with stress at work as it comes, you might find yourself feeling the pressure. While dealing with stress at work may seem like an insurmountable obstacle, it is one that can be easily overcome simply by adding a few simple steps to your day.

In the morning, when you wake up, think about your morning routine. Is there any time for you to stop and give thanks for the blessings you already have in your life? Most people jump from task to task to task throughout their day, and never have even ten minutes to stop and think about things they can be grateful for. Stopping and taking some time to ruminate and give thanks is called Mindfullness Meditation.

Simply reminding yourself of the good things will help you not focus your energy and attention on the negative aspects. Take ten minutes every morning to practice Mindfullness Meditation, and you will quickly see the benefit this practice can have on your day to day life.

You need to make it your goal to not sweat the little things. When confronted with a difficult or stressful situation while at your job, take time to think before you react. Think back to your morning practice of Mindfulness Meditation. By channeling the positive energy you brought with you from the morning, you will be able to deflate some of the mounting frustrations that may arise while on the job.

Remember that everyone deals with their own stressors in different ways, and sometimes their reactions may have nothing do with you. Mindfulness Meditation can be a good addition to your morning routine and can help you when dealing with stress at work.

Use Mindfulness Meditation to Deal with the Stress of Job Uncertainty

donnam — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:06:54 +0000

In this challenging economy, many people are dealing with constant stress at work. As more and more jobs begin to cut positions that are non-essential, the careers of many hard working people hang in the balance. You may be convinced that your job is not secure. You might be worried about the added pressure of remaining at the top of the pack. A job environment such as this one can breed stress and frustration.

It is hard to remain calm and productive in a work situation where your job hangs on the line. Situations like these are extreme examples of stress at work, but an example that more and more people are encountering every day.

Almost everyone sees situations where they are dealing with stress at work. When in one of these situations you have choices. You can choose to allow the stress to take over your life- cause you physical and emotional stress, and perhaps decrease job performance; or you can choose to deal with stress in positive, uplifting ways.

Do not feel, even in a climate of threatened layoffs, that your attitude needs to be a negative one. The more positive you are, the more positivity you will attract. One great way to deal with these added burdens at work is to practice Mindfulness Meditation. Mindfulness Meditation encourages you to begin and end your day, every day, by taking a few minutes to express what you are grateful for.

Our lives are sometimes so quick and busy, with pressures and stresses coming at us from every angle. It is a wonderful idea to stop, breathe, and be grateful for all the blessings that we encounter in our lives every day!

Try to start with the basics. Be thankful that you have a job, be thankful for friends or family, and be thankful for your health. You’ll find that once you begin a Mindful Meditation, the list can go on and on! Keeping yourself aware of all the positives can help you enter each and every day with a more uplifting attitude about your life, which can translate into your job.

It is important to remember that all you are in control of is yourself. Dealing with stress at work, step by step, and being as productive and positive as you can, will hopefully secure your job position and reduce your stress level for years to come. Choose to practice Mindfulness Meditation, and see how beginning and ending your day with a moment of gratefulness can enrich your life monumentally, and decrease your stress level along the way!

Can’t Focus? Mindfulness Meditation will Deal with Stress at Work

donnam — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:00:12 +0000

Finding that you can’t focus while you are at work? Is the stress of the daily grind taxing you in ways that you are having trouble dealing with?

Tons of people around the world find their jobs to be a source of tension in their lives. Whether it is a boss that constantly judges or critiques, co- workers who meddle or argue during work, a stressful project with a tight deadline, or too many things to do all at once, stress at work is a common phenomenon. What should you do about it? Here are some great tips on how to deal with stress at work.

If you can focus on these simple steps, your work stress will quickly and easily be able to be lowered to a manageable level . The first step to dealing with stress at work is called Mindfulness Meditation.

The concept of mindfulness meditation is that many people spend too much time in their daily work environments complaining about what Cialis online is wrong or bad about their jobs, but very little time feeling thankful about the work that is in their lives.

These people (and you may be one of them) tend to see the work environment glass as constantly half empty instead of half full. Ring a bell? Mindfulness Meditation tells you to first express gratitude before complaining.

For example: Yes, the boss might be on your back about this big project, but, you are enormously thankful for being given the responsibility to tackle the project in the first place. Making the oh so important time needed to express gratitude, and practice Mindfulness Meditation regularly, will make the problem itself seem less insurmountable.

Another a good way to deal with stress in the workplace is to eliminate judgments. Do not judge anyone in your working environment negatively. Once you pick up this practice, you will find how quickly you can begin seeing the glass as half full again.

A positive way to help yourself is to allow yourself to say “No,” once and a while. In this fast paced world, we all may find ourselves taking on responsibility after responsibility, without really ever stopping. Sometimes you have to allow yourself to say no. It is possible to do so in a graceful, positive way, to help the other person understand why you are turning them down. Letting the word ‘No” into your daily life will allow you to give yourself a break every once and a while. Then you can focus on doing your work 100 percent, without additional work piling up on the back burner.

Learning how to practice Mindfulness Meditation, keeping a positive attitude while at work, and letting yourself say no sometimes, are three spot on strategies to employ when dealing with stress at work.

Mindfulness Meditation: Consciously Relax and De-Stress

donnam — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:28:48 +0000

Are you ready to tackle stressors in your life? Are you looking for a way to deal with day to day hurdles that get in your way? There are many simple techniques to keep the stress from piling up, but the key to all of them is mindfulness.

Mindfulness is being aware in the moment. Too often our lives fly by on hyperspeed and we can barely remember how we feel, what we did that day or when the last time was that we took some time for ourselves. It is very important to stay in the moment at all times.

Mindfulness can help in numerous aspects of our lives, especially while dealing with stress. Mindfulness, when paired with relaxation, visualization and meditation, can be the keys to leading a life that is much calmer and more connected.

Begin by taking some time every day to focus on yourself. If you need to get up a little earlier, or use part of your lunch break- do it! It is easy to spend too much time focusing on others, be it family, friends or co workers, and we usually forget that we should be number one. It is time now to focus on yourself!

Take some time to do some deep breathing and focus on the day ahead of you. Think about events that may be causing you stress in the future. By focusing on events, mindfully, piece by piece, the stressor won’t seem so large, but instead will become manageable. If there is a specific situation that causes you anxiety, playing out how the situation will go in a positive way creates a higher likelihood that you will feel less stressed in a given situation!

Also use some of your personal time to do some deep breathing. Find a comfortable place to sit or lay down. After you have thought about things that may be coming up in your day, try to clear your mind of anything that may be causing you undue negativity. Studies have found that people who relax and meditate on a regular basis not only have lower levels of stress, but are healthier over all!

You too can tackle any problem or situation head on by planning it out in your head. When you enter a stressful situation, think back to the planning you did before hand. You will find that many of those situations become easier to deal with. By taking a few simple steps to relax and take some time to simply focus on you, you will soon find that you are on your way to having decreased stress on a regular basis.

Deal with Stress with Mindfulness Meditation

Manage Your Emotions to Deal with Stress

donnam — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:20:17 +0000

Do you find sometimes that aspects of your life are holding you back from what you really want to be doing? Has stress taken over, and it is hard finding ways to thoroughly enjoy your life? Do you feel sometimes that you are just going through the motions without a path?

Maybe you have forgotten how to enjoy your life? You are not alone. Many people feel that their lives have become routine, and that the stress in their life may be piling up around them. The wonderful thing about stress, however, is that it can be removed as easily as it was created. By taking a few small steps every day, you can deal with stress in a positive way, and find your way back Buy Viagra to the life you deserve to be living.

The first thing you can do is to take a look at your emotional and spiritual self. Do you have an outlet for your emotions? Holding in emotions on a day to day basis creates an environment where stress thrives!

There are many ways you can combat this. You can try finding a trusted friend to talk to. You can purchase a journal and make sure you write down your thoughts and feelings on a daily basis. You can seek help from a professional therapist if there are deeper issues you need to address. The most important way to deal with stress is not to hold back your emotions, but to express them.

It is also important to take a look at your spiritual self. Whether you believe in a specific religion, a higher power, or just a feeling of connectedness, delving into spirituality in some format can remove a lot of stress from your life. Knowing that there is a master plan within the universe can remove some of the day to day worries.

The next thing to tackle can be any fears that you have. Fear can be paralyzing sometimes, and can grow in intensity if not dealt with. Begin by tackling a small fear, and slowly expand to larger ones. Enlist a support system if need be. Fear can create much stress in your life and should be tackled appropriately.

If you know that there are changes you need to make in your own life, but fear seems to be holding you back, take a risk and push through the fear to change your life. You will be glad you did,.

Finally, make sure that you have a sense of humor about life. Things will not always go your way, but taking the time to relax, and appreciate the joy surrounding you can do wonders, even for a bad day. Step by step you are moving closer to living the life you want to live.

Four Simple Ideas to Deal with Stress Right Now

donnam — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:49:41 +0000

Are you a person that must deal with stress on a daily basis? Is life bringing you more downs then ups? Are you finding that you are more and more stressed out in your day to day life? If this describes you to a “T”, don’t worry! There are many all natural ways to deal with stress in your life. All you need to focus on are a few simple steps, and you will soon be on your way to a calmer, more productive life!

One of the most important things to think about when combating stress regularly is your breathing. When many folks get stressed out or frustrated they forget to breathe, or may begin breathing too shallowly. When either of these things happens, it contributes to your feeling of pressure or anxiety! In order to combat this symptom, you need to remember to breathe. Sounds simple, but for some, it takes a bit of effort.

Did you know that deep breathing, in addition to relaxing you, will also bring many additional help benefits into your life? Your deep breathing in stressful situations will help increase your brain activity and functionality, reduce the feelings of pressure, help you relax so you can think out your situation as clearly as possible and in general enhance your mental well being. How can you garner all these benefits?

When you are in a situation that demands a lot of you, and you can feel yourself breathing shallowly, make a concerted effort to take just a few deep breaths. Try to breathe deeply into your abdomen and slowly release the air. You may be shocked to find out that this simple “treatment” can help you deal with stress extremely effectively!

There is another very simple way for you to reduce stress in your life! Try to find a few situations in which you can pause for a moment to give thanks for something in your life. In our fast paced lives we may not regularly pause to give thanks for any of the things we have in our lives. Giving thanks reminds us that we are lucky to have what we do, even when stress seems to be infiltrating our lives.

Additionally, you can take the time to be kind to others. Go out of your way to help someone, spend some time volunteering or helping out a charity. Doing something selfless will allow you some time away from your own personal stressors.

Finally, make some time to laugh. Laughter, as they say, is the best medicine, especially when it comes to dealing with stress! Find a TV show that amuses you, have a conversation with a friend that makes you laugh, and you will find that the simple route to deal with stress in your life starts as simply as one step at a time!