Navigating Stress

Navigating Stress

Download your FREE Meditation 👇

https://www.restoredminds.com/free-7-minute-meditation

Attend our next WEBINAR FOR FREE 👇

https://www.restoredminds.com/free-training

Join our SUPPORT Community 👇

https://bit.ly/3cDFOQ3

In this episode, we are going to discuss how we often create much of our stress right in our minds. I am also going to discuss some things we can do to bring ourselves back to the present and focus on what really matters in our day-to-day life. 

In this episode, I am also taking inspiration from the book ‘Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers’ by Robert Sapolsky.

TRANSCRIPT

(00:05):

And welcome to this episode where we're going to talk about navigating stress. And so I'm in the last episode, we talked about the three types of stress, and I want to talk about, um, you know, how in, in this episode, how we often, you know, make our stress worse. Right. And that's really what we're talking about. Kind of like the psychological stress that a lot of us, you know, we, we create our own stress based on just what's going on in here. So obviously there's the challenges of life right. Which are going to happen. Okay. And, and those are inevitable, right. I, you know, I've yet to meet someone who's, uh, who's gone through life without any challenges and those are stressful. Right. You know, like they create stress, right. That, and that's part of what our body is doing. It's, it's, you know, it's navigating those challenges and then there's all the stuff that we do in our mind that create even more stress and in many cases, in an unnecessary way.

(01:01):

And so that's where, what I want to talk about in this episode, because, you know, there's, there's going to be events that happen, and then there's all this stuff we do in here that actually like just spirals and makes it worse and actually prolongs the entire experience. In fact, like if you think about it, like what is, um, PTSD, right? It's it's are we experience a, you know, stressful, traumatic event, right. Post-traumatic stress disorder. Right. And it's, um, and then our mind is replaying that event, right. Again and again, and now I'm not saying that that is something that you're choosing to have happen, but just showing you, like, you know, your mind can literally come up with that, that image of that, that event that happened, right. Or that stress, or that trigger that traumatic event and literally create the stress response again in your body.

(01:49):

Just like the stress response was going on when the event happened. Right. And that's really the power of the mind and in which is like really incredible, but it also can be very, you know, damaging and very, um, painful for people. So what I want to talk about in this episode is just navigating stress when it comes up and to make sure that we're not doing things that exacerbate it right. Or make it worse. Right. So when we have our stressful events in life, right. That happened, and this can be anything, right. I mean, it could be changing jobs. It could be moving, it could be having children. It could be good things, right. Like getting married. Right. It's like, it doesn't necessarily have to be all these bad things, but there's just going to be things that are stressful.

(02:29):

Okay.

(02:31):

We have to make sure that we're doing our part, not to let our minds just run wild and create more chaos for us to navigate. Right. So, you know, one of the things that we need to do is make sure that we're handling what's happening in front of us now. Right. And always coming back to this idea of like,

(02:51):

Am I okay right now?

(02:53):

Right. And so that's like the tip number one that I want to start off is it's like only handling what's happening right now, because what happens is in our mind is that, you know, something's happening. And then we create like three, four, five, 18 other things in the future that we have to handle. And because they're not happening right now that it becomes too chaotic for us. Right. So if you're dealing with stress, the number one thing that you need to do is just bring yourself back to now, right. And ask yourself, you know, okay. Like what's happening right now that I need to handle. And in some cases the answer might be nothing. Right. And if you're ruminating and going, you know, looping about things in the future, it's important to realize that that is actually the problem, not what you're looping about. Right.

(03:35):

So in making that distinction for yourself is very important, right. And to say like, am I actually creating stress by looping about this? Right. Because we often confuse the idea of being busy with being productive right. And doing something helpful. So when it comes to navigating stress, it's like, we want to make sure that we're handling what we need to handle in this moment. And if we are, if we're creating more things in our head, it's important that we realize that we're doing that. Right. I guess, so that's step two. Like, am I creating something that doesn't exist right now? And if we are, it's important that we reel ourself back. Right. So handling what's happening right now. And then, and then kind of becoming aware like, Oh, is that voice in my mind, like just going off about something that's going to happen or may happen or has happened.

(04:22):

Right. And am I getting lost in that? And if I am, what, what we need to realize is that when we get lost there, what happens is, is that we start, we start creating all this problems and this actual stress in our body with something that's not actually happening. Right. And that's, that's what I would call an unnecessary, you know, form of suffering. Right. Because the reality is, is we're creating these events that don't actually exist and then we're stressed about them. Right. And, and when we're doing that, we're creating that stress, right. We need to, we need to take responsibility about that. Right. We need to realize that that is something we are actually doing. And because we're engaging with that and we're ruminating about it and we're letting our minds run and we're getting stressed. That's a behavior that we're engaging in. And so recognizing is the first step to really breaking out of that.

(05:10):

And so if I find myself doing that or something like that, you know, and this is a practice, right? It's not, you're not going to be perfect about this, but again, this is about navigating your own stress in life. So if you see yourself ruminating in your mind, right. Um, and I, and I have a video on rumination, uh, or, uh, an episode on rumination that will link as well. But if you see yourself ruminating, the first step is to realize that you're doing it right. Because so often we get so lost in the content of what we're ruminating about that we don't even realize that we're doing it. So once we can start to even note like, Oh, I'm ruminating again. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. You know, and just, and just noticing that, right. And then coming back to the present that practice right there is, is so huge for reducing just stress in your life of realizing, to try to see, you know, what am I creating?

(06:02):

You know, what kind of stress am I creating in my life? And only coming back to deal with what you're dealing with right now. And the more and more you can do that, right? The more and more you can do that. The, the more, more you can detach from that voice in your mind. And again, start to just handle what you need to handle it today in the present moment. And then whenever the next thing comes up in the future, you're able to be more present for that, because if you're in the future, what you're not doing is handling what you could handle right now, or, or enjoying right now, you know, better yet. How many, how many of us are at the beach with our families, or, you know, at dinner with, with, with our loved ones. And we're creating these events right. And not, not embracing what we have.

(06:41):

Right. So, um, so with navigating stress, those are the two things I want to talk about. And this is just realizing, right. One like what you need to handle right now. Okay. And if there is anything even so coming in, starting in the present moment, and then secondly, realizing when you're creating something in your mind and when you're fueling that and then bringing yourself back to the present, right? So that's a, that's, that's two tips right there for just navigating stress in our day to day. Life is just coming back. When you notice that you get lost, right. It doesn't matter what you're lost about. It really doesn't because if it doesn't exist right now, it doesn't exist. Right. If it's something that could happen in the future, it doesn't exist right now, come back to the present. Okay. And as many times as you need to do that, just keep doing it right. And it'll get easier and easier and easier. So hopefully you found this episode helpful, and we really appreciate your support by liking and subscribing. And we also have additional resources for you write down in the notes that you can check out, um, with, uh, free downloads and meditations, and, um, as well as additional trainings [email protected] that, uh, that can help you on this journey. So thank you so much for taking the time to hang out today and hope you guys have a great week. Talk to you soon.