Stay Sane

We hear the message so often:  slow down, calm down, take a deep breath, take care of yourself, let it go, you are doing too much... Yet, how often do we really take the good advice and do just that?  During this busy holiday month, we need more frequent breaks, more rest not less and less "clutter" in our brains and on our calendar which all gets in the way of healthy living.

There is no perfect way to do this.  There is no perfect anything when it comes to human beings who are always changing in our feelings, attitudes, energy levels.  So, let me be clear.  Just because we take frequent breaks and breaths does not mean we will be stress-free and blissful.  Instead, what it does mean is that the busy demands of daily life do not have to overwhelm us to the point of frustration or unpleasantness, mindless eating or road rage.

Stress doesn't go away.  It is a wave in our lives that comes in and goes out in varying degrees of intensity throughout the day.  Everything from getting up on a snowy morning to seven inches of snow to shovel to managing job expectations, family demands, finances and relationships and more can create a ripple of stress that energizes the day.   How we look at these things is key.  Keeping perspective is critical.  Being more positive than negative is definitely the path to follow.

What managing stress means is that we are aware of what is going on, deeply aware.  We sense when we are getting overwhelmed with pressure.  Perhaps we can even identify its source.  We are that in touch.  We can then take a pause and consider our options, how to proceed, whom to discuss the problem with, what to do or NOT do.  We can always use our two legs and take a step away from technology.  We can clear our head and walk.  The path to the troubled mind goes straight through the body (in motion) and the intentional breath (in and out through the nose).  After taking a pause that has the potential to refresh, we can regain the composure we need to move on to the next moment.

Our ancestors didn't have technology and stimuli the way we do.  Of course they had other stressors and other worries like survival on their minds.  They led physical lives.  Things that we take for granted, like food and heating, were concerns for them.  They had to deal with the "elements" which kept them grounded to nature--for better or worse.   The information age we live in keeps us hyper-alert and responsive to a device that won't stop talking.  It keeps the active mind "on call," and it produces stress.  We can't ever "turn it off" or tune it out because it is always "on."  That means it is up to us to set the boundaries for how much we want to deal with and when.

Let's be interested observers of ourselves this week.  Let's take a look at how we handle things like waiting in line, weather, difficult people, annoying circumstances at the mall, the evening news.  Are we aware and in touch enough to notice when we need to tune out the external messages and tune into what we really care about?  Can we slow down a little bit to notice?

It is up to us to stay sane.  It's time to practice.