From my experience, there are not many “one size fits all” approaches to health and well-being. However, in the case of stress, it can be argued that no matter how we accumulate stress in our lives, we can all use similar relaxation techniques to identify our own personal stress triggers.
Of course, we all have different reasons for daily stress along with our own unique perceptions of stress, but when identifying our personal triggers (in the form of underlying mental and emotional blockages), we must firstly address our habitual thought patterns through basic yet extremely effective relaxation techniques.
WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
Mindfulness is certainly not the latest “buzz” word that new age spiritual leaders and self-help entrepreneurs have invented. The concept has existed for thousands of years with teachings derived from Buddhist origins but gained popularity in Western circles during the 1970’s through the tireless work of American-based Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn.
He conducted numerous studies proving the effectiveness of Mindfulness-based stress reduction. In his book “Mindfulness for Beginners“, Jon Kabat-Zinn states that “the goal of mindfulness is to maintain awareness moment to moment, disengaging oneself from strong attachments to beliefs, thoughts or emotions, thereby developing a greater sense of emotional balance and well-being…”
Let me be clear, this isn’t some airy-fairy belief system that HR or People & Culture Managers stumbled across and decided it would be a great idea to send their stressed out executives along to 3-day workshops, hoping they might return to work “all chilled”. No, the benefits of mindfulness have been scientifically proven for a long time – it works.
There are many definitions of mindfulness to call upon, but I believe the best description of the physiological reaction comes from an American author who coined the term relaxation response back in the late 1960’s- Professor Herbert Benson, an expert on stress who has written 12 books and contributed to more than 190 scientific publications:
“Mindfulness is the practice of learning to pay attention to what is happening to you from moment to moment. To be mindful, you must slow down, do one activity at a time and bring your full awareness to both the activity at hand and to your inner experience of it. Mindfulness provides a potentially powerful antidote to the common causes of daily stress such as time pressure, distraction, agitation and interpersonal conflicts.”
WHEN SHOULD I BE MINDFUL?
Well, the simple answer is EVERY DAY. Every moment shapes our reality, our existence, and one of the keys to mindfulness is to be aware and pay attention to the present moment and how you are FEELING. You may recall in my previous article 5 Steps to clearing stress-related emotional blockages that the first step is awareness. Being mindful and allowing yourself to experience the relaxation response changes your physical and emotional responses to stress by attaining a state of deep rest. It can be effective at decreasing heart rate and blood pressure and can also help to reduce muscle tension.
BUT WHAT ARE THE FIRST SIGNS OF STRESS?
I think we would all agree that it is easy to spot someone who is stressed out! Think about a typical ‘stress head’ at your workplace or perhaps even a family member or partner. We all know one. However, we more than often miss the warning signs within ourselves. Our physical realm and body language are powerful indicators when identifying stress, as muscle tension is the body’s way of alerting us to harmful levels of stress. Our physical body registers stress before the conscious mind. If we are not aware of our own physiological reactions to daily stress, then we are in fact in a state of emotional denial that only serves to perpetuate high levels of reactive stress – which is a state where we have little to no control. Reactive stress ultimately owns you and as a result, creates undesirable negative behaviours.
Early warning signs of stress can be identified by regularly scanning your body throughout the day. Muscle tension resulting in discomfort or pain will come in the form of;
clenched jaw / lip pursing / constant frowning / headaches / shoulder slouching / chest pain
If we choose to ignore these warning signs, it doesn’t take long before our physical body manifests energy blockages which will lead to emotional signs of excessive stress such as denial, anxiety, irritability, frustration, moodiness, and depression. A quick “stress-scan” can alert you to potential issues.
In Part Two of the Power of Mindfulness, I will give you some tips and techniques on how to implement mindfulness into your daily schedule to help alleviate muscle tension once you have identified problem areas. The first step is awareness, but once you know the problem, how do you fix it? Next month, I will go into more detail in that regard, but for now, work on the power of being mindful and slowing down to the present moment.
I urge you to stop worrying about or wishing for a different moment in either your past or your future. Be present and stress less.
