Managing Our Stressful Thoughts

Hello,

Thank you for joining me today as we focus on how to manage stress surrounding our thoughts.

We all get stressed daily but sometimes we aren't even aware that we're stressed.

Stress doesn't have to be a thought or a reaction,

It could be sitting somewhere in your body,

Lingering as long as you are unaware of it.

Think about a time when you were worried.

Did this worry also make you feel drained or tired?

That's because every time we are worried we have a low level of stress present and what causes stress is not worry but our reaction to worry.

Did you know that each human has about 50,

000 thoughts a day?

If we believed all of these thoughts we would surely get ourselves in trouble.

So instead I encourage you to realize that thoughts simply come and go.

What our thoughts are,

Are not truly who we are.

When we take a step back from all these thoughts we can observe them better and see them for what they are,

Just passing moments of thinking.

Attaching too much emotion to one stressful thought can disrupt our day and our entire lives.

So let's step away now from our thoughts and worries just by becoming aware of our body.

Close your eyes,

Settle in,

Take some deep breaths.

If your mind wanders back to the stressful thought come back to your breath.

Feeling how the air feels coming in through the nose and out through the nose or the mouth.

Take a couple more deep breaths allowing your body to soften.

Feel how the air is around you and hugs to the shape of your body.

Notice how you can willingly activate all of your senses,

Hearing all the sounds around you.

You can hear yourself breathe and notice when you breathe a little deeper can you smell anything?

You can even imagine you smell something and your mind can create the thought for you.

Imagine the smell of vanilla.

Can you remember how it smells?

Allow your body to soften with a pleasant memory.

How about your fingertips?

Can you feel what you're touching right now?

Become aware of your feet.

Notice how the soles of your feet feel right now.

Just feeling different areas.

Becoming aware of your body through focusing takes you out of your thoughts.

So use this technique when worry or stress rises in your mind.

We react to worry because we believe that the worry is real.

Did you know that 95% or more of our worries don't even end up happening?

We think of worry as bad but actually worries are a very important part of our lives.

Without worry you can make bad decisions.

Without worry we might walk into the street or something harmful if we don't take precaution.

Our brain creates worry to keep us on guard and alert.

But most of us let worries carry us away allowing them to take over.

Putting stress in full control of our mind and body.

Instead of letting doubts push us around and drain us we can learn to use the worry to our advantage.

Uneasiness can either become our greatest strength or our biggest weakness.

So let's observe our fears that cause stress.

Instead of reacting to it we will learn and become stronger each time it arises.

To do this we need to identify where this emotion is located and then bring awareness to it whenever it arises.

Purposefully creating space between it.

Noticing your posture again.

Noticing if your feet are flat on the floor.

Making sure your spine is straight.

Bring your awareness again to your breath.

Allowing your body to soften and relax even more.

Bringing into your mind a good emotion like excitement.

Noticing in your body where you feel changes happening.

Kind of like mapping it.

Remember a time when you were really excited about something.

Could be anything no matter how big or small.

Just vividly remember how it felt.

Where you felt it in your body.

And how did you move?

What changes do you notice?

Find out exactly this feeling and where it's located in your stomach,

In your chest.

Maybe you feel sensation all around and it doesn't stay in one place.

Allow yourself to get familiar with this feeling.

Remembering you can change the way you're feeling in your body at any time just by remembering an experience of excitement or joy.

Your body creates the feeling as if it's happening right now.

Use this knowledge of how excitement makes you feel and how easy it is to bring it back upon will.

Now taking a deep breath,

Getting even more settled.

Now that we know that we're in a safe place,

We're going to think about a worrisome feeling.

No need to be afraid or to avoid this feeling.

It's a natural human emotion that just happens.

Being it is what creates discomfort and additional stress.

So now remember a time when you felt worried.

Some moment in life when stress took full control of you.

Maybe you were worried about being late to work or missing the bus or forgetting something.

Whatever it is,

Just remember a time and notice where you feel it in your body.

Allow yourself to just sit with it for a moment.

Right now you're in complete control.

You're safe.

Being aware of this feeling right now is what creates the space that you need.

Just see this emotion as it is.

A simple sensation in your body that has no power in itself.

It lingers sometimes in one place or it moves around.

Maybe you feel it in your hands as they get sweaty or your feet as they get tense.

Maybe your heart beats more rapidly.

Maybe you notice your breaths become more shallow.

Just allow yourself to breathe.

With this feeling of stress,

Bring back that feeling of excitement.

Allow your breaths to become deeper and longer as you allow that good memory to come into your mind.

Noticing how we feel differently when we focus on different feelings.

Our body feels differently when we think of different things.

As vividly as possible,

Bring back that feeling of excitement in your body.

Remember when you are absolutely full of thrill,

Nothing mattered except for the joy.

Remember how it made you so excited that you couldn't stay still and the strong powerful energy was flowing all through your body.

Breathing,

Noticing,

Notice any changes happening.

Notice what your body is telling you with the sensations and put your awareness within you to see exactly what's happening.

Maybe you forgot about stress just for a few seconds and no trace of the worry sensations.

Or maybe you can still feel it but you notice that it's just there.

It might even feel strange but it's not in control of you.

See it for what it is,

An emotion that's here to protect and care about you.

You can see that there's no need to escape it,

No need to be stressed about it.

This is the space of peace.

Keep practicing this space at different times during the day especially when you're worried or stressed.

Just remember a time of happiness or passion or any other positive emotion and let it rise in your body.

Stress can leave as easily as it comes.

It could stay for a short time or it could stay for a long time.

It is up to you and how you react to it.

So anytime you're faced with worries,

Remember these techniques and implement them so that you can go about your day without the burden of stress.

Taking a deep long inhale and letting it all go with the exhale.

Noticing how you feel right now.

And when you're ready,

Open your eyes,

Wiggle your fingers and your toes.

Thank you so much for allowing me the precious gift of your time.

Until next time.