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Mindfulness Meditation Techniques for Handling Stress – Part #3

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As I described in Part 1, there is much more going on with us when we experience stress than the obvious event and resulting distress reaction that we observe. We all think thoughts about the events we experience and those thoughts are determined largely by conditioning and beliefs that we acquire over time. The thoughts we think then trigger our emotional reaction or emotional state. Part 2 of this series  offered a Mindfulness Meditation Technique to manage our thoughts.

Unless you have gained some skill at Mindfulness, you may not know immediately what thoughts you are thinking. To access your thought process it is often more useful to start with noticing your feelings.

When you are aware of feeling badly or stressed, take a moment to reflect on what you have been thinking about. Chances are you have just had a series of distressing thoughts that have triggered negative feelings. Feelings of fear, frustration, tension, overwhelm, panic, annoyance, apathy, and so on are triggered by your thoughts that define what the event means to you. Once you identify the thoughts that define the situation for you, you can apply Technique #2 to let those thoughts go and replace them with neutral or more positive outlook.

What if you are not aware of all the feelings you have about the situation? This may be the case if you aren’t comfortable experiencing and expressing feelings. Many people react to stress by pushing down or numbing out their feelings believing that this will relieve stress. This couldn’t be further from the truth!

Feelings cannot be eliminated, they can only be delayed! Your emotions are an important part of your stress-handling mechanism. Your emotions, and any physical sensations are your body’s reactions to your thoughts. Entertain thoughts or a belief you are under attack – your body will react with feelings of fear – whether the threat is real or not.

To use your emotions to identify when you are having negative thoughts about an event, you must sharpen your awareness and listen! Ironically, listening to your body and acknowledging emotions can give immediate relief all by itself. Awareness of your emotional state is the first step to shifting your mind set.

To deal with stress effectively, get busy reflecting on your body sensations, feelings and the thoughts that are triggering those sensations Meditation Technique #2). The adage, “Don’t just do something, stand there!” applies here. Rather than trying to change what you can’t control in your environment, change what you can control – your perspective on the situation.

Mindfulness Meditation Technique #3:

Do this often.  Focus on your body and notice any sensations. By sensations I mean where in your body you feel tension, stress, or pain.

Then focus on noticing your sensations.  When I say noticing I also mean observing it and accepting it.

Often when we notice a tension or ache we generally are bothered that it is there.  Therefore we tend to reject it or resist it.  If we resist it, it will continue. What we resist…persists. Here is a good tip: accept whatever you feel as it is.

Our bodies are talking to us through feelings and sensations.  By acknowledging that you accept that the pain, or tension is there, it will have permission to leave you. Give it a try!

Be mindful of your inner world of sensations. Mindfulness Meditation will transform your stress to peacefulness and even joy. Practice, practice, practice and let me know how it’s going for you.

Make your daily practice easy with Donna Marie’s Relaxations for Inner Peace audio  program of guided meditations, soothing music and sounds of nature. Go now to our De-Stress Store.

Mindfulness Meditation Techniques to Deal with Stress – Part 1

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I write frequently about how to deal with stress using mindfulness meditation. In this series of articles I’m going to go deeper into the practice of mindfulness meditation so you may more effectively include some part of the method I will describe in your daily practice for health and wellbeing. If you don’t already have a daily practice, please follow this series to learn three very simple techniques that will have you reducing your stress in no time at all.

I’ll be focusing on one technique at a time. Before I introduce the first technique, I’d like to give you a little insight into how we typically experience stress and especially how we learn to respond to stressful events in life.

When you are feeling stressed it is because you feel that you cannot control outcomes that you would like. Most of us aren’t really aware of the actual causes of stress. We experience all manner of negative feelings – stress, discomfort, anger, sadness, frustration – in response to events, situations and the behavior of others in our lives.

Most of us believe that external events, situations and behaviors “cause” our distress, and therefore they must be controlled, managed or eliminated somehow in order to reduce our stress. We soon discover it’s not possible to manage all of the things in our lives that bother us. So, we become discouraged believing that we must either put up with ever increasing stress or numb out in some way (often with alcohol or food  – also known as “Happy Hour.”)

Here’s a little model I use to show how stress really works. Instead of the external situation directly causing our stress there are two intervening steps to consider:

We often become aware of stress when we notice our actions or the reactions in our bodies.

We miss the whole intervening process of observation, thought and meaning making, and emotions. It’s not the event, itself that causes stress, it’s our take on it, which then tells us how to feel about it and ultimately how to respond.

Focusing on the negative, distressing aspects of an event or another person’s behavior, or interpret situations as threatening,  causes the stress hormones to flow freely. On the other hand, if you manage your thoughts to be at least neutral or find positive aspects of the situation you will experience far less distress.

You have no control of the many situations going on around you that seem to be the cause of your stress.

However, the one thing that you do have control  over is how you decide to think about those situations.  That is the bottom line.

Managing your thoughts is tricky if you haven’t even been aware of having them. That’s where Mindfulness Meditation comes in. Mindfulness helps you to slow down long enough to become aware of what is happening in your mind, body and emotions where you have more control. Mindfulness meditation helps you to become aware of how your body responds to stress, the emotions you are having and of the thoughts that trigger your emotions.

Mindfulness Meditation Technique #1:

Sit down (right now) and take 5 deep breaths.
Now focus on your breath going in and out.
Notice it without identifying it as “Am I doing this right or wrong?”  Many people stay in their heads when first doing this, so practice on noticing your breathing as is goes in and out, without judgment.

Simple? Easy? Yes it can be.  Practice is the key.  Do this throughout your day.  Set an hourly timer if you want to remind you of this practice.

Doing frequent deep breathing sessions will help you focus in the moment and allow you to notice your thoughts, emotions and tension in your body.

In the next article I will discuss how long held beliefs shape our stress reactions and the second Mindfulness Meditation Technique.

Make your daily practice easy with Donna Marie’s Relaxations for Inner Peace audio program of guided meditations,  soothing music and soundDe-Stress Store.

Check out  Donna Marie’s upcoming experiential workshops at https://dealwithstresstoday.com/events-calendar/

Use Mindfulness Meditation to Deal with the Stress of Job Uncertainty

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In this challenging economy, many people are dealing with constant stress at work. As more and more jobs begin  to cut positions that are non-essential, the careers of many hard working people hang in the balance. You may be convinced that your job is not secure. You might be worried about the added pressure of remaining at the top of the pack. A job environment such as this one can breed stress and frustration.

It is hard to remain calm and productive in a work situation where your job hangs on the line. Situations like these are extreme examples of stress at work, but an example that more and more people are encountering every day.

Almost everyone sees situations where they are dealing with stress at work. When in one of these situations you have choices. You can choose to allow the stress to take over your life- cause you physical and emotional stress, and perhaps decrease job performance; or you can choose to deal with stress in positive, uplifting ways.

Do not feel, even in a climate of threatened layoffs, that your attitude needs to be a negative one. The more positive you are, the more positivity you will attract. One great way to deal with these added burdens at work is to practice Mindfulness Meditation. Mindfulness Meditation encourages you to begin and end your day, every day, by taking a few minutes to express what you are grateful for.

Our lives are sometimes so quick and busy, with pressures and stresses coming at us from every angle. It is a wonderful idea to stop, breathe, and be grateful for all the blessings that we encounter in our lives every day!

Try to start with the basics. Be thankful that you have a job, be thankful for friends or family, and be thankful for your health. You’ll find that once you begin a Mindful Meditation, the list can go on and on! Keeping yourself aware of all the positives can help you enter each and every day with a more uplifting attitude about your life, which can translate into your job.

It is important to remember that all you are in control of is yourself. Dealing with stress at work, step by step, and being as productive and positive as you can, will hopefully secure your job position and reduce your stress level for years to come. Choose to practice Mindfulness Meditation, and see how beginning and ending your day with a moment of gratefulness can enrich your life monumentally, and decrease your stress level along the way!