Take the Pressure Off on Stress Awareness Day
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It’s that time again! It’s National Stress Awareness Day. (You thought I was going to say Tax Season, didn’t you?) It’s no coincidence that National Stress Awareness Day falls on April 16th, the day after taxes are due. Since this year, we got a slight reprieve with the tax delay, we might take the opportunity to evaluate our stress and find ways to mitigate it – before tax season (or anything else) gets the best of us.
In fact, the entire month of April is National Stress Awareness Month, so why not take the next couple of weeks to really focus on ways to de-stress? After all, many of us are feeling wrung out and strung out after the past year. And while it has been an undeniably stressful year for most people, it is worth asking the question, “is any of this stress optional”?
The term “stress ball” is an accurate description of what happens when we are going through a stressful time, that is, the stress snowballs if we don’t look for opportunities to slow down and/or reset. The great thing to know is that our minds are built to reset naturally, but we often ignore or override the signals.
In the modern world, we have had the mind-body connection conditioned right out of us. We are so often pushing forward, staying productive, that we ignore our body’s cries for rest. How many times have you felt tired, but instead of taking a break, you grabbed an espresso or energy drink? Every day? Yes, most of us. Or at night we say, just one more TikTok and then I’ll go to bed…. Yes, I’ve heard that one before too. Now, you may think that TikTok is helping you relax, but it is really keeping your nervous system stimulated, so it’s interfering in the restorative qualities of a good night’s sleep.
Listening to our bodies’ cues to slow down would be the first order of business. And slowing down doesn’t have to mean making drastic changes. It could mean something simple. When you feel tired, take a break and lie down for 5 minutes. Or take some deep breaths and let your mind disengage from the project at hand and any pressure or stress attached to it. Five minutes here and there can make a big difference.
If you’re one of those people who feels so stressed that you don’t see how you could take anything off your plate, it can be helpful to notice the speed and intensity of your thoughts. In the simplest terms, stress is created in an overactive, overthinking mind. It isn’t actually the circumstance or situation that’s causing the stress; it’s how you are thinking about it.
I will use the example of an automobile. Have you ever had the experience of pushing on the accelerator so hard that the car started to shake? By simply taking your foot off the gas, the car stops shaking. It is still moving forward but without the agitation. We often do this to ourselves. We think that by applying pressure, we will get more done faster, but instead we overload the system. By easing off a little we can still be productive, and with more ease.
I suggest taking a look at the things that you routinely consider stressful – whether it’s getting the kids ready for school, looming deadlines or doing taxes. Have you ever had the experience of any of those things not being stressful? Because the fact is that they are not inherently stressful things, but the way you engage with those things, or more specifically, the way you habitually think about those things is stressful. If you can remember times when those things happened smoothly, then you can see that it is possible to have a different experience of them. Or if you haven’t had that experience, perhaps you can consider the possibility.
What I am saying is that we each bring an attitude, an expectation, or a state of mind to a situation, and when we can see that those things aren’t a given, that they can shift or fluctuate, then there is space created for all sorts of different experiences.
What if you could be less stressed by looming deadlines? What if instead, you knew that you would get everything done (as you always do) and therefore do the work without the added pressure. Or what if instead of launching into the morning with the kids, ready for battle, you accepted that it might be chaotic, but it didn’t have to make you nuts. You’ve been through this chaos many times and somehow the kids always make it to school. Is it possible to roll with it a little more?
There is an energy we bring to situations that can accelerate or decelerate the stress response, and when we become aware that we have control over that – that it’s our foot on the accelerator – then we can find more freedom in our lives in general.
Does this mean you are going to live a life without any stress? Well, probably not, because some days no matter how hard we try, things just get to us. But it’s more like being aware of when we have the option to take our foot off the accelerator. Once you start noticing, it might be more often than you think.
So give it a try this month. See if you can give yourself a little extra space to rest, decelerate and take the pressure off.
If you want to change your relationship with stress, but feel like you need a little help, I offer life coaching programs that guide you to “Destress, Refresh and Refocus”. Learn more here.