3 Stages to Learning Mindfulness and Gaining Control of Your Emotions
For some people, life is a joyous adventure, while for others it's full of stress and disappointment. The difference between these people is often how they take on challenges, how they face their fears, how they deal with negativity and, of course, the techniques they use to cope with stressful situations. While one person may freak out and go into a depressive state when faced with a situation that seems dire, another person may see the situation as an opportunity to learn and to grow.In this post, I would like to focus on those of you who tend to feel overwhelmed by life's stresses, and to discuss how developing mindfulness can help. Mindfulness techniques can help you gain control of your emotions, reduce your stress level and enjoy a higher quality of life, all while avoiding the adverse side-effects that some people experience by relying on medications to treat common mental health concerns like stress, anxiety, and depression.Here Are 3 Stages to Learning Mindfulness and Gaining Control of Your EmotionsFeelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.- Thich Nhat HanhWhat is mindfulnessWe often hear the word “mindfulness” used when discussing stress relief, but many people do not understand exactly what the term means. Mindfulness is often associated with meditation, and not without reason. But while meditation is one particular way of reaching this state of mind, there is much more to mindfulness than simply daily meditation. Mindful.org explains that mindfulness means to be acutely aware of your surroundings and your circumstances, including where you are and what you are busy doing. At the same time, mindfulness includes not being overwhelmed by your current environment.Achieving mindfulness has numerous benefits for the human body – not only physical benefits, but also psychological benefits related to mental and emotional well-being. Mindfulness is especially useful for those who are experiencing depression symptoms, as well as anxiety and other mental illnesses. Recent studies have proven that mindfulness lowers stress levels and even enhances spiritual intelligence and performance. Furthermore, it causes positive changes to occur in the brain. The benefits of mindfulness are even present when we are not actively practicing this mental exercise.The journey of mindfulnessNow that we have discussed the many benefits that you can achieve through mindfulness, it is time to look at some practical ways that you can practice mindfulness and become more aware of yourself and your surroundings, while enjoying the full range of emotional and mental benefits it has to offer. There are many ways a person can practice mindfulness and start their journey to becoming more self-aware.1. MeditationWe must go beyond the constant clamor of ego, beyond the tools of logic and reason, to the still, calm place within us: the realm of the soul.- Deepak Chopra (more quotes)The most obvious method for practicing mindfulness and reaching a state of improved self-awareness is meditation, as mentioned above. Meditation alone already has many mental health benefits for those who practice regularly, including improving memory and alleviating less severe symptoms of anxiety or depression. To get started with meditation, simply sit upright in a comfortable position, and then close your eyes and breathe naturally. Pay attention to how you are breathing without making an effort to control it. You should keep your mind from wandering as much as possible and, if and when it does (it will), you need to gently bring your focus back to your breathing patterns, without judging yourself or getting frustrated. While this isn’t all there is to meditation (you can read more in Goalcast's 4-step guide), it does provide you with a basic idea for getting you started. 2. Letting go of emotionsBy letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond winning.- Lao TzuWhen it comes to emotions, it is important to observe your own feelings, but in such a way that you are not judgmental of yourself. It is perfectly normal and healthy to experience both positive and negative types of emotions, such as anger, happiness, sadness, frustration and more. Try to identify each emotion and add it to an appropriate category. This will help you become more aware of your own emotions. Do not hold on to the emotions that you are experiencing. Instead, notice them, accept them, learn from them, and then move on.3. Achieving a state of self-awarenessBe yourself, but always your better self.- Karl MaeserPracticing mindfulness may not be an easy task when you are only getting started. You might find it difficult to observe your own emotions without judging them. You might also find it difficult to become more aware of yourself without judging the smaller things you experience. It's a long and ongoing journey. But once you reach a state of self-awareness, you will notice that you automatically start to gain more control over different aspects of your own life. For example, you will still experience angry emotions, but when you are more aware of yourself, you will be able to recognize it and let it pass, instead of clinging to whatever made you angry and allowing your feelings to overtake you and bring you down. The more you practice mindfulness techniques, the easier it becomes to be fully aware of your surroundings without being judgmental and without feeling overwhelmed by what is going on. Soon, you’ll begin to experience a state of loving kindness, a higher quality of life, and the ability to have more control over your mind.ConclusionWhile medication is often recommended to individuals who exhibit signs of depression, anxiety and other mental health problems, the side-effects caused by these treatment options are unpleasant. Instead of utilizing such treatment options, alternative remedies can be utilized. In this post, we have focused on mindfulness as a way to be in complete control of your own emotions, and to help you find relief in the most stressful of situations.
How to Beat Back Stress and Build Your Resilience
Stress affects everyone in life, from the poorest to the wealthiest and most successful among us. And as the world gets more technologically advanced, it seem our lives are only getting busier and more stressful. The American Institute of Stress reports that as many as 44% of adults in the United States feel that they are more stressed today than they were approximately five years ago. Around 20% of all American adults experience more severe symptoms that are associated with stress, such as heart palpitations and shaking. And at least 75% of all doctor visits are directly or indirectly related to stress.An inability to deal with stress effectively can lead to symptoms of depression, which in turn has been associated with numerous health risks, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and substance abuse linked to illegal drugs, tobacco products, and alcohol. Learning how to manage stress and bounce back quickly has a significant impact on your life. Becoming resilient, which is a term used to describe a set of skills that allow a person to adapt to certain situations that involve tragedy, trauma, adversity and other stressors, is an excellent way to take back control of your own life and to manage your stress more efficiently.How Reduce Stress and Build ResilienceIn this article, we would like to share some essential tips, exercises, and resources that you can utilize to help you on your journey to becoming resilient, so you can learn to bounce back from stressful situations and successfully adapt to the circumstances in your life that may induce stress. These tips are practical, easy-to-implement and highly effective.Focus on the positive things in lifeWhen one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.- Helen Keller (read more quotes)When stress overthrows our lives, we tend to focus on the negative things that these stressful situations bring about. Unfortunately, seeing only the negative side of situations won't do you any good. The negativity will keep building up, which will only increase the stress and unpleasant emotions you are experiencing. Instead of focusing only on the negative attributes that are causing you to stress more, you should try to look at the positive side of things as well. Don't limit yourself to the positive aspects of the particular situation you are in, but also try to think about the positive attributes of your life, and use them to help improve your mood. Being positive in life has many benefits, including the ability to reduce your stress levels, which can help to enhance your mental health and even assist with improving memory, boosting your mood, and increasing your ability to perform mentally challenging tasks.Turn stressful situations into educational resourcesWhen you are faced with a particular situation that causes you to stress, you should not only try to think of the positive attributes related to the case but also consider what is happening as an educational resource. Learning from your own mistakes is one of the most efficient ways to improve yourself and become better at life. A stressful situation may not be of your own making; thus you shouldn’t only focus on what mistakes you might have made to cause it, but also on the particular details of the case. There are often many lessons to be learned that will help you to better tackle similar situations in the future.Think of difficult circumstances as a challengeCircumstances do not make a man, they only reveal him to himself.– EpictetusSevere conditions can be troublesome and hard to overcome. When you're in such a situation, it can seem like a neverending cycle of stressful events, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Instead of focusing on how difficult a situation is, try to transform the particular situation into a challenge that you need to overcome. Remember that overcoming challenges is an excellent way to grow as a person. You can turn hardship into a great opportunity by keeping a cool head, thinking of the situation in a different way, ignoring the usual rules, and anticipating potential outcomes.Accept your own flawsPeople often believe that they have to be perfect in every aspect to succeed in life. They perform random acts of kindness for others to help them overcome their flaws, but they expect themselves to have no flaws at all. The truth is that no one has ever been truly perfect. Thus, you should not be too harsh on yourself and expect to be perfect at everything you do. Accept that you have flaws, just like everyone else, and then try to think of them as features that make you unique. Accepting yourself and your flaws can be empowering, help you experience freedom, and contribute to greater happiness.Stop questioning yourselfWhen we are overwhelmed with stress, we often have a tendency to doubt ourselves excessively. While it is important to reflect on the problems and come up with the effective strategies to resolve them, you should try not to overthink things. This will lead to a constant debate inside of your head, which will cause you to start questioning yourself. Overthinking the problem usually won't solve it, but instead will only add more stress to the current situation.ConclusionStress can be a barrier between you and your best life, and can lead to depression and a host of other health issues. Managing stress and building up your resilience is a crucial life skill that will enhance your ability to mitigate stressful situations and bounce back quicker each time.