The National Institute of Mental Health claims that stress is the body’s and brain’s reaction to change, difficulty, or demand. It is the body’s automatic response to danger brought on by a situation or idea that causes you to feel irritated, angry, or anxious. The body releases a torrent of hormones in response to a stressful experience in order to avoid or face danger. The fight-or-flight response is the term used to describe this phenomenon. 

If the right measures to control it are not implemented, stress can develop into a chronic condition. Chronic stress can alter the body’s chemical composition and increase blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar. High amounts of stress or prolonged stress can also have a negative impact on your physical and mental health.

4 WAYS TO MANAGE STRESS 

Because it depletes your body, health, and energy, the stress response is meant to be fleeting. Stress narrows our perspective, we are unable to see the wider picture. Our focus widens as we grow more relaxed. 

The question then becomes: How do you unwind? Numerous behaviors that not only feel good but also put us in a calmer, more relaxed condition, where we can better handle whatever life throws at us, have been identified by research. 

1. Perform breathing exercises

We sometimes take for granted the profound emotional control that our breathing provides. Your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which is responsible for your body’s calming response, can be activated through breathing.

Breathing in for a count of four, holding for that number of counts, and then exhaling for up to two times as long is one of the most relaxing breathing exercises you can do (e.g., to a count of six or eight). If you want to practice deep relaxation breathing, you might slightly tighten your throat and imitate the sound of the ocean. You’re engaging the parasympathetic nervous system while doing this, which lowers your heart rate and blood pressure, especially because of those extended exhales.

2. Adopt an Attitude of Self-Compassion

The ability to be conscious of your emotions—aware of the feelings that are present anytime you fail at something—is known as self-compassion. You can simply see them and notice them without adding fuel to the flames; it does not imply that you identify with them. Understanding that everyone makes errors and that it’s a natural element of being human is another aspect of self-compassion. And it is the capacity to be warm and compassionate to oneself, just as you would be to a buddy who has just failed. 

3. Encourage Genuine Connection 

How often do we genuinely give someone our full attention? When was the last time someone was fully present in your life? 

Our need to positively interact with others is in third place behind the need for food and shelter.

4. Practice Having Compassion for Others

Imagine yourself having a bad day because you spilled your coffee on yourself and it is pouring outside. When a buddy is experiencing a genuine emergency call, you quickly get up and go aid them. What happens to your mental state at that precise moment? 

You suddenly have a lot of energy and are totally available to them. That is what happens to your life when you actively pursue altruism, service, and compassion. It greatly improves your well-being, as many of us have discovered when we carry out small deeds of kindness. 

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HOW DOES MINDFULNESS WORK? 

A state of purposeful, nonjudgmental attention to the present is known as mindfulness. In other disciplines like yoga or meditation, mindfulness practices are frequently incorporated. It includes:

• Awareness: Being attentive to the sights, sounds, smells, and physical sensations that you might typically disregard in the present time. 
• Focus: It is the ability to pay close attention to the here and now without considering the past or the future.
• Acceptance: Accepting your thoughts and feelings without criticizing them or attempting to alter them or your responses. 
• Observation: Recognizing unpleasant feelings, thoughts, and sensations as passing and transient while observing them impartially without judgment.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF MINDFULNESS?

Long-term research has been done on mindfulness. Recent studies have found that it has a number of advantages for both physical and mental health. Among the most potent health advantages are: 

• Mood Improvement – Mindfulness training may lessen anxiety and depression. According to one study, mindfulness practice can help people avoid relapsing into depression just as well as antidepressant drugs. 

• Reduces Stress and Its Effects – Being mindful can result in less pronounced stress reactions. This provides numerous health advantages, including decreasing blood pressure and boosting immunological function. 

• Enhances Pain Management – Those who practice mindfulness meditation report experiencing less severe pain and pain-related discomfort. Furthermore, despite their pain, they are more active.

• Enhances Brain Activity – Mindfulness training strengthens your capacity for concentration and focus. This training can gradually improve memory and mental function. 

• Helps with Weight Control – Research has shown that some mindfulness practices can help people eat less and become less obese.

WHAT ARE SOME MINDFULNESS TECHNIQUES?

Here are brief descriptions of a few common mindfulness exercises. You can try many of these anywhere, at home or on the go, in a few moments of quiet. To learn more about these techniques, take a look at the section on Resources.

• Mindful breathing: One of the most straightforward exercises is mindful breathing. Simply focus your consciousness for a few minutes on the in-and-out motion of your breath and your thoughts, without attempting to alter them in any way. 
• Body scan: While sitting or lying down, slowly direct your attention to each body area, noting any physical sensations without judging or responding to them. The soles of the feet are often the starting point for a standard body scan, which progresses to include the knees, hips, back, abdomen, chest, neck, and head. 
• Mindful eating: It entails taking your time and eating slowly and deliberately, all the while focusing on how it feels to hold, smell, taste, chew, and swallow the food.
• Love Kindness Meditation: Kindness with love During a meditation exercise, you start by sending good vibes to yourself, then move on to your immediate relatives and friends, then more distant acquaintances, and lastly to all of mankind. 
• Mindful Movement: Walking or rolling mindfully means keeping a close eye on your breath, your emotions, and your surroundings. You can also develop mindfulness while performing routine exercises, like yoga, by concentrating on your body’s feelings as you strike and hold each pose.

WHAT IS MINDFULNESS MEDITATION?

There are numerous ways to define meditation. To put it another way, it can be thought of as training your attention to attain a state of peaceful concentration and happy feelings. One of the most well-liked meditation practices is mindfulness. Attention and acceptance are its two key components. 

The attention component involves tuning into your experiences to concentrate on what is going on right now. Typically, it entails focusing your attention on your breath, your thoughts, your body’s physical sensations, and the feelings you are now going through. The accepting component entails impartially monitoring those emotions and experiences. You try to take note of those ideas or feelings and let them go rather than responding or reacting to them.

The methods to put those ideas into practice are offered by mindfulness training programs and mindfulness-based therapies. These programs may include yoga poses, breathing techniques, and instruction to help you become more conscious of your bodily sensations, thoughts, and feelings. 

The majority of mindfulness research has concentrated on two categories of interventions: 

• The 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program consists of daily mindfulness practices that can be done at home in addition to weekly group sessions. Through yoga and meditation, MBSR instructs participants on how to improve their awareness. 
• For the treatment of depression, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) combines components of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR).

More than 200 studies on mindfulness in healthy individuals were analyzed by researchers, and they discovered that mindfulness-based therapy was particularly helpful for lowering stress, anxiety, and depression. People with specific issues including depression, pain, smoking, and addiction may benefit from mindfulness therapy. The most promising studies have focused on depressed individuals. For instance, numerous studies have shown that MBCT can greatly lower recurrence in persons who have previously experienced major depressive episodes. Aside from that, mindfulness-based interventions can also enhance physical health. For those who suffer from chronic pain, mindfulness may help to lessen their discomfort, exhaustion, and tension. According to early research from other studies, mindfulness may strengthen the immune system and hasten the recovery process after a cold or flu.

BUT HOW TO START?

Here is one meditation technique to go through defilements and out to the other side in 5 steps!:

1. Take a meditative stance by allowing your body to relax while maintaining a loosely straight spine. Allowing that to be true will make it easier for you to unwind if that’s the case. Depending on what seems most comfortable, you can either softly close your eyes or keep them slightly open. Ask yourself, “What do I really want?” from the bottom of your heart. 

2. Your initial response can come from a desire-based level, such as “I want enough money to feel comfortable; I want a fantastic relationship who understands me; I want to get up and make lunch.”

3. Move forward. Consider the following scenario: “Let’s pretend I obtain everything I want. Then, what would I want? The solution has numerous facets, as you’ll discover. Give up on the easy solution and keep digging. Ask questions until you get a meaningful response. Each person will learn something slightly unique. Some will discuss nonconceptual knowledge, the wisdom of love, the wisdom of compassion, the wisdom of impermanence, etc. It may be completely different. You sense that it’s your actual sensation, but you may not be able to put a label on it even if you know it’s there. That’s alright.

4. After posing this query and making an effort to establish a connection with your inner wisdom, accept whatever comes to mind. Keep it off of your mind. Enjoy it and allow yourself to relax in that awareness. 

5. To conclude the session, reopen your eyes and take a brief nap. Consider the sights and sounds in your immediate surroundings. You can move your fingers and toes or spin your shoulders as you please.

Finding the technique or strategies that work best for you should be determined after trying a number of approaches because consistency is the key to building solid mindfulness practice. You can practice mindfulness by using any method that enables you to pay attention to the here and now. Keep in mind that you don’t need a complex setup to relax and reduce tension; instead, use the noises, feelings, flavors, and your own body and mind. You can incorporate this meditative approach into your daily routine by including brief periods of concentration in your normal tasks.

REFERENCES

https://agerrtc.washington.edu/info/factsheets/mindfulness

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