Reduce Stress Through Meditation

Stress is a killer.  It robs you of living in the present moment.  It keeps your digestion from working correctly.  It helps you crave sweets and saturated fats and gain weight around the abdomen.  It can also ruin a good night's sleep because of ruminating over the past and worrying about the future.  The hormones (adrenalin and cortisol) that are released through the adrenal glands when the body perceives stress can suppress your immune system.  Can it get any worse?

Stress has its positive side.  If we never had a deadline, we might not get anything done. The urgency to follow through keeps us motivated.  That's a good thing.  The problem is that when stress takes over your life and keeps you from living in the present.

The antidote to stress is not eliminating it entirely, because that's not possible.  It's in managing it through activities that keep you grounded in the present moment.  Maybe this is through reading or making art or gardening.  These activities have a way of focusing the mind on one thing that is happening right now.  For centuries, meditation with mindful breathing has been practiced for this very reason.  When you are singularly focused on your breath, coming in and going out, you open yourself up to new possibilities because you are not fixated on the past or tormented by the future.  You unclutter the mind which in turn calms the body.

Even if you don't think you can sit still for very long, you can develop a mindful meditative practice.  I know this to be true, because I have been teaching meditation to hundreds of people for six years. You can improve with practice, and it does feel easier over time.  In fact, you can actually prevent the stress response from occurring in the first place if you practice meditation and mindful breathing on a regular basis, i.e. daily.  This is why I started the "three breaths" meditation on instagram during the covid19 pandemic.  It was a simple way to practice three intentional breaths to calm the mind and body during a stressful time in history.

Life is tough.  Don't we all know it.  Some times are tougher than others, and I would call this time in our history challenging at the very least.  For this reason alone, it pays to look at healthy ways to manage stress so that we can maintain a healthy lifestyle.  If something as simple as breathing with intention can do just that, I encourage you to follow me on Instagram and practice along. 

Instagram.com/karenastromsky