Manage Stress With Ease: Day 1

This is a tiny course on managing your stress with less effort than you might naturally expect. When we engage the senses and zoom out to view life from a bird's eye view, we realize our problems are probably not as bad as we once thought. And even if they are big ones, your perception is your reality. Together, let's be intentional around managing the stressors in our lives with ease. No matter what you're going through, you got this!

Transcript

Hey guys and welcome to the Manage Stress with Ease course.

So excited to have you here and I just wanted to just kind of give you some information about different tips for clearing your mind.

I know that this is just day one and we are starting out heavy,

But here's the thing,

You know,

We have to challenge ourselves to do something that we haven't done before or to do something that we have done before,

But to do it better than we have.

Right?

So I want to help you get consistent with using some of the tools that are right here in this email to help you create a more structured daily practice,

To create more consistency and to really enjoy the process.

Right?

So,

You know,

Like we,

Like you just read,

There are different ways that you can go about doing that whole process of clearing your mind.

And it sounds simple and it sounds easy,

But I know how challenging it can be to sit down and to have tons of thoughts run through your mind,

You know,

While you are trying to focus on being mindful or while you are trying to think of nothing,

But that's life.

We are human beings and our minds are going to think away.

And so our job is not to try to push those thoughts out,

But to acknowledge them and to just let them be and to just let them dissolve and to continue the process of coming back to our breath and finding our present moment.

So we know that meditation is one way that we can help to clear our minds.

And I love meditation because it doesn't have to,

Listen,

You don't have to be a yogi,

Right?

You don't have to be some guru who's an expert at meditating.

Trust me,

That is not what my meditation process looks like at home,

But it really just means starting somewhere.

Even starting with a two to five minute guided meditation can really help to shift your perspective.

It can really help to shift your mood and really just bring about a feeling of calm,

Right?

And that calm really turns into strength,

Enabling you to handle life's stressful situations,

Whether it's daily tasks at home or whether it's larger tasks at work or school or anything like that.

So meditation is a great tool that I find that once you make it a consistent habit,

You will find yourself turning to this on a regular basis.

Another way that we can clear our mind is just being more mindful.

And really in a nutshell,

Being mindful really means focusing on that thing that you are doing in the moment.

If you're eating,

Be mindful about eating.

Notice the textures,

Notice the taste,

Notice the smell,

Notice all of these different things about your experience of eating,

Which really helps you to become more grateful and really in tune with what is happening right in that moment.

I love the art of being more mindful.

And the thing is,

You can be mindful doing anything.

It doesn't matter if you're outside going for a walk or just sitting in a chair outside and watching the wind blow the trees.

Like being mindful,

You'd be surprised at the thoughts that are sparked just from taking the time to be quiet.

And so that's what I love about being mindful.

Journaling which is very self-explanatory is another easy one.

Like we all write a lot probably,

Right?

We write lists,

We write to-do lists,

We write different things,

Notes for other people.

But how often do we really sit down and journal how we are feeling?

It doesn't have to be a book.

I know I don't have time for that.

But just a few sentences about who and what we're grateful for,

The magical things that happened in our day,

Before we go to bed.

Just those small acts of kindness towards ourselves can really help up our self-care game and really increase those things that we know that we want to attract to ourselves.

And that alone can help to clear our mind because now we are thinking about what we're thankful for versus what really ticked us off throughout the day.

Another tool for clearing your mind is visualization and visioning.

And these are two very different things.

So visualization looks something like this.

You typically know what it is that you want to bring into your life,

Into your awareness.

And so you visualize that thing,

That place,

That person,

That experience.

And it really should evoke this really wonderful feeling of being thankful for having it.

And you visualize as if you have that thing,

That experience,

That person in the moment,

In the present moment.

So visualization can really help to shift your mood and also help to bring about a more positive perspective on life.

Visioning is very different.

Visioning is when you really don't know what you want,

Or you just aren't worried about being super specific about it,

But you do know that there is a deep,

Deep yearning for your life to unfold in a really grand way.

And you may not know how that is,

But visioning is taking the time to be still and to be with spirit and just asking God to help unfold those things in you so that you will start to understand what they are.

They will become known to you.

And so I love the art of visualization and visioning.

You can do them separately or combine them.

And it's a really powerful tool.

Learning.

Learning is another thing that can help you to clear your mind.

So what do I mean by learning?

When I say learning,

I mean learning from people who you respect and admire as teachers.

These may be spiritual teachers.

These may be people who teach you things about how to run a business.

Maybe if you're an entrepreneur,

Whatever it is,

Whatever topic you want to learn,

Leaning on these people who you admire and respect and who have a wealth of knowledge,

Lean on them,

Lean into learning and education and let that process clear your mind.

Because as you are learning,

You are also being mindful in the process.

You can't be a distracted learner and absorb lots of knowledge,

Right?

You have to focus on what you're doing in that moment.

And so learning not only is going to help clear your mind,

But it's also just adding to your toolbox of the things that you know and giving you more ways to impact your own life.

All right.

So to finish up with some of the tools that I like to use to clear my mind,

Let's talk about gentle exercise.

And you know,

I'm one of those people that I just don't like to work out.

I love to be active.

So if working out comes in the process through dance or through play or through sports,

Then I'm down with that.

So,

But if not,

It can be really hard for me to get up and get exercise in.

So gentle exercise is a really nice way to usher in movement,

Stretch,

Flexibility,

And you can do a lot of these things right at home.

No special memberships required.

You know,

This can include things like Pilates or yoga,

Even stretching while you're watching TV or stretching during meditation.

There are so many ways that you can get in gentle exercise,

Whether it's,

You know,

Taking lunges as you're walking through your home instead of just walking.

So many different ways that we can gently usher the body into more activity.

And so that's always going to be a good thing as it allows us to release endorphins and really help us to feel charged up after a workout.

Another tool is deep breathing.

And if you have not already taken our daily meditation challenge,

I highly recommend it.

There are some breathing exercises in there,

And I think that they are very impactful and can really help you in clearing your mind.

So make sure you check that out.

And lastly,

Anything that you love to do to decompress can help you clear your mind.

Maybe it's doing a crossword puzzle.

Maybe it's cooking.

Maybe it's cleaning.

You know,

Maybe it's making up a gift basket for a friend that you haven't seen in a long time.

Maybe it's going out back and gardening.

Maybe it's,

You know,

Sewing.

Whatever it is that helps you to decompress and to clear your mind,

Start doing it.

And the more you do it,

The more you'll find yourself doing it just because you love it and not just because you're trying to get your mind off of something.

That's the point.

Whatever tools we use,

We really want to use these tools to help impact our daily rituals,

Right?

To make them a part of our lifestyle,

Not just a crutch whenever we're feeling down.

And so,

You know,

These are all very simple,

But they're all very effective.

So think about which of these make the most sense for your lifestyle and find a place to start.

It's not about being perfect.

It's just about starting.

Getting go and starting,

And you will surprise yourself every time.

So I'm excited for the action steps for today's lesson,

And I can't wait to see how you enjoy putting some of these tools to practice.

And if there's something that you tried that's not on this list,

Let us know.

I cannot wait to hear what you guys are doing and how they are helping you to clear your mind.

So my question to you is,

How else will you use these tools in your life?

And are you going to make a commitment to yourself to use them even on the best of your days?

So I will leave you with that,

And I will see you in the next day,

In day two,

Where we will be talking about the importance of laughter.

Take care,

Guys.

Bye.