Mindful living: Don’t get stressed

Feeling stressed out? You’re not alone. In our daily lives, we experience many ups and downs. We may welcome a new family member, lose out on a dream job, travel to an exciting new location, or receive bad news about our health, all in one year.

The roller coaster of emotions we experience has a real effect on our bodies and on our minds. Don’t let stress get the best of you.

How does stress impact my body and mind?

Stress is your body’s reaction to external threats. When you’re stressed, your body will react, and stress may cause both physical and mental symptoms. Prolonged periods of stress can impact your ability to learn and focus and may even decrease the number of neurons or cells in your brain.

Physical effects

• Lungs: Breathing quickens
• Heart: Heart rate increases; blood pressure increases
• Muscle: Muscles tighten
• Head: Frequent headaches; brain may shrink
• Body: Immune function decreases

Mental effects

• Mood
• Anxiety heightened
• Increased problems sleeping
• Increased irritability
• Depression
• Lack of focus or motivation

Sometimes stress can be good! As your breathing quickens, it sends more oxygen to your brain, which can make you more alert as your body prepares to face a threat. Physical reactions such as this may help you react quickly to prevent incidents like car accidents.

What are my stressors?

Here are some common stressors and how they may be triggered.

• Family or relationship issues: Stress may come from a personal relationship, taking care of an elderly, or ill loved one, or dealing with a toxic friendship.
• Money issues: Stress may come from financial issues such as debt, unanticipated expenses, living paycheck-to-paycheck, or working more hours to make ends meet.
• Health issues: Stress may come from managing a chronic illness, a new diagnosis of an illness, or a struggle with managing personal wellness, such as weight.
• Work-related issues: Stress may come from working too many hours, feeling under-appreciated, or working in a job where there’s little to no margin for error.

How to practice mindful living

No matter what your biggest stressors are, practicing mindful living can be a way to build your resilience to stressors and encourage awareness of your surroundings and your own state of mind.

• Being aware of your own emotions and thoughts in the moment. Rather than giving into strong emotions without consideration, mindful living advocates for self-consideration and reflection. Begin by identifying and acknowledging your feelings. Then, reflect on what made you feel that way and what you personally need to work through it.
• Being conscious of your surroundings. The pace of life can feel fast or overwhelming, but as crazy as your environment may feel, sometimes the first step to stress relief is simply being aware of your surroundings. For example, if you are having a stressful day at work or school, take a moment to listen to and consider all that is happening around you. It can give you a helpful perspective to just pause and recognize the impact your environment is having on your body and mind.
• Being nonjudgmental of your thoughts, feelings, and stressors. Another common cause of stress is the scrutiny we put ourselves through when we are feeling stressed. By blaming ourselves for our thoughts or feelings, we are simply adding to the problem. Remember that stress is your body and mind reacting exactly as they are supposed to. Be kind to yourself and allow yourself to feel and think without judgment. 

How can mindful living help my body and mind?

According to research, practicing mindful living may reduce stress. In turn, this can increase memory and adaptability and helps your mind and body recover faster from emotionally or physically stressful situations. Practicing mindful living techniques may also help people cope with depression and anxiety and even improve social relationships.

Physical effects

• Lungs: Breathing slows; chest relaxes
• Heart rate decreases: Heart rate decreases; blood pressure lowers
• Muscle: Increased immune function
• Body: Muscles relax

Mental effects

• Mood
• Improved adaptability
• Less emotionally reactive
• Information is processed more quickly
• Improved memory
• Increased focus

4 strategies for mindful living

Now that you understand the benefits of mindful living, let’s learn some strategies to incorporate into your daily life so that you can experience the benefits of mindful living.

Get active: Try to exercise for at least 30 minutes every day. Mindful exercise includes any activity in which you concentrate on your movements and increase your awareness of your body. Exercise isn’t just great for your body; it’s great for your brain too! Researchers have found that exercise increases your brain’s size and your ability to learn and remember.

Tip: Take a short break and find a safe way to move your body, or mentally relax any physical tension you may feel. Taking small steps can lead to big gains. Make this action a habit by setting a reminder on your calendar.

Eat mindfully: Eating mindfully means thinking about what you eat, when you eat, and how you eat. One way to do this is to eat slowly so that you become aware of the food’s taste and texture. In general, you should use the three Rs to eat mindfully:

• Reflect on your eating habits.
• Replace unhealthy eating patterns by creating new ones.
• Reinforce good patterns by asking a close friend, partner, or family member to check in with you randomly about your mindful eating goals.

Tip: A food journal is a good first step toward mindful eating. Take a photo of your meal or write down your last meal. Record the time you ate it, your reason for eating the meal, and how you felt after eating the meal. Don’t forget to eat slowly and pay attention to flavor and texture with each bite, since eating slowly can prevent overeating and promote weight loss.

Get sleep: A big part of mindful living is sleeping well. Adults between the ages of 18 and 60 should get at least seven hours of sleep per night. Healthy sleeping habits like sleeping at the same time every day, turning off all electronic devices before you prepare for bed, and keeping your bedroom dark can improve your sleep quality so you feel more rested.

Tip: In our daily lives, seven to eight hours of sleep can be hard to come by. Figure out what time you need to get up each morning and what time you need to go to bed to get enough sleep. Then, set a reminder to encourage you to go to bed at the same time every night.

Breathe deeply: Most meditation, yoga, and martial arts practices involve deep breathing. Deep breathing itself can be a first step toward a longer meditative practice. Taking deep breaths allows more oxygen to flow to the brain, which in turn can lower stress, lower blood pressure, and increase short-term memory.

Tip: Research suggests practicing deep breathing for at least 30 minutes a day. Get as comfortable as possible and take a deep breath. Follow the breath as it enters through the nose and fills up your lungs and stomach. Exhale slowly through your mouth and follow the breath as it leaves through your stomach and lungs and mouth. Try to repeat this at least three times.

My mindful living plan

Now that you know the positive effects of mindful living, it’s time to make a plan to incorporate some of the strategies you’ve learned into your everyday life.

Key points

Mindful living offers many benefits and is one technique you can use to reduce stress and take care of yourself. Here are a few key points to keep in mind.

1. Stressors have an impact: Stressors are anything that triggers a physical or mental stress response in a person and can come from many places.
2. Awareness is key: Mindfulness is about being aware of yourself and your environment, being present in the moment, and being nonjudgmental of your own thoughts, feelings, and stressors.
3. Strategies may be helpful: There are lots of strategies you can try to practice mindful living. Among these are getting active, eating mindfully, getting sleep, and breathing deeply.

Next steps

• Know your stressors: You cannot begin to deal with stress until you understand where it comes from. Take the time to reflect on what the stressors are in your life and consider the best ways to deal with them.
• Set goals: Set long, short, and micro goals to live mindfully. Make an action plan that fits your lifestyle and stick to it.
• Keep perspective: Keep a positive outlook on stress and how to handle it.
• Be strategic: Continue to evaluate which coping methods work best.
• Seek support: If needed, seek help by speaking with your doctor, a counselor, or an employer-provided wellness assistance program.

The information in this article was obtained from various sources not associated with Adirondack Bank. While we believe it to be reliable and accurate, we do not warrant the accuracy or reliability of the information. Adirondack Bank is not responsible for, and does not endorse or approve, either implicitly or explicitly, the information provided or the content of any third-party sites that might be hyperlinked from this page. The information is not intended to replace manuals, instructions or information provided by a manufacturer or the advice of a qualified professional, or to affect coverage under any applicable insurance policy. These suggestions are not a complete list of every loss control measure. Adirondack Bank makes no guarantees of results from use of this information.

Article written by EVERFI