I recently had some first-hand experience with this; I was under a lot of pressure and it was starting to take a toll on my body. Anxiety was making me frenetic; my heart was racing, and my body didn’t quite know what to do next. I was out of sorts, out of focus, faint, bloated, even a little depressed. Fun, right?! I don’t think so.
Since coping with pressure is central to the work I do with clients, I knew I had no excuse… it was time to take action – now!
Here’s what I did to shift gears – without losing any momentum:
Adjust my posture – I had been sitting at my desk for long periods of time in a hunched up, rigid position, leaning forward with my eyes glued to the monitor. (Yes, I know I’m a posture specialist… you’d think I would’ve learned by now! But hey, I’m human.) So I made a decision to check in on my posture and straighten up several times a day. That one step made a surprisingly big difference in how my body felt.
Loosen my clothing – My pants, and sometimes even my shirt, were too tight. My belt was cinched around me like a saddle on a horse prepared for a long, arduous ride. When I loosened my clothing, my diaphragm could breathe much easier.
Assess my “intake” patterns – I tend to eat a healthy, nutritionally sound diet (with a healthy dose of cheating), but when I slowed down enough to notice, I realized that I was eating rapidly, on the run, in the car, standing up, late at night just before bed…not the best choices. In my hastiness, I was asking my body to do several things at once, and by the laws of physics, that means we must slow down.
Take control of my internal dialogue – It was running on a steady diet of fear and confusion, and that always leads to dark and scary places. “I’m holding onto control as tightly as possible, trying to keep myself safe.” So I started to ask myself questions: “What’s the big damn hurry?” or ”What are you afraid of?”
Tie up loose ends – I noticed I was not finishing communications; they kept
swirling in my mind. They were eating up my energy and attention. I pushed them back into the corner instead of dealing with them. Why was I avoiding them? Because there were underlying fears. The fear of expressing myself. The fear of standing out. The fear of confrontation. It turned out that the biggest piece I needed to communicate was to myself! Once I recognized this, I felt a great sense of relief and got back into the flow of things.
Reach out for support – Being the type to explore alternative healthcare options before a Western medical approach, I called my acupuncturist. We discussed my symptoms and started a six-week program of acupuncture treatments and herbs that he developed specifically for me and my mind-body system.It seems that pressure and tension are inevitable parts of being human. Fortunately, we always have options on how to deal with them. If you’re looking for ways to free yourself from the stress of daily life, here are three critical steps:
1) Identify your “stressed-out” symptoms. Where do you feel the tension in your body? How is your breathing? How is your posture? (Contact me for a complete Body Checklist – it’s free.) When you become aware of your physical response to stress, you gain insight and ability to reverse the process.
2) Try out different strategies to relieve stress. Take care of loose ends and incomplete communications. Take better care of your body through nutrition, sleep and exercise. Cut back on caffeine or other stimulants. Use deep breathing to reset your internal experience. And here’s the best one… take a break!
3) Cultivate support. Whether that means calling a friend or family member to blow off steam, finding a workout partner, working with a healthcare professional or calling a coach, get an outside perspective.If I can support you in balancing out your life and minimizing stress, please feel free to give me a call. Dave Brown 858-775-4544
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