Without a good method of releasing the built-up stress and tension, we break either physically, emotionally or mentally or sometimes all 3 at the same time which is not fun.
In these crazy times, in the hustle and bustle of life, it can often feel like we don’t get a break constantly jumping from one job to another. Life stress has become such a constant that our bodies do not get a chance to recover. We pile on stress all day every day and it’s almost seen as a badge of honor being able to deal with so much.However, without being able to dissipate stress we set ourselves up for the straw that broke the camel’s back type scenario. At some point, there will be too much and without a good method of releasing the built-up stress and tension, we break either physically, emotionally or mentally or sometimes all 3 at the same time which is not fun.
Parents are especially guilty of this, always putting others first before taking time for themselves. When we divide our energy out amongst so many things at the end of the day we just don’t have anything left to give to ourselves.
But what if we switched that? What if we started putting more time into ourselves? Whilst initially it may seem like we are taking time away from those who need us, the time we spend with them will be of a higher quality because we will be in a better place. Quality of time over quantity time matters.
We are at a point now in society where we are experiencing the devolution of the human being. We need to start focusing more on being able to put ourselves first.
We need to take time to destress/down-regulate so we can be our best selves. We need to find methods that allow us to relax, and I’m not talking about having 3-4 drinks a drinks night every night after a long day which by the way if you do so you’re considered a ‘functioning alcoholic’.
We owe it to ourselves to be better than that. We need to implement other methods in our lives to be able to down-regulate.
Some times we just need to STOP and BREATHE. And I mean that literally, just taking 5min out of our day to just breathe can do wonders for our mental clarity and will help us down-regulate (if you say that you don’t have 5 minutes to sit and do nothing that’s total bullshit, how long have you just spent scrolling through your phone?
If we can just allow 5 min to ourselves to just focus on our breath we will feel more focused, our mind uncluttered and we will just feel better knowing we have done something just for ourselves and the people closest to us will notice these changes and appreciate them.
So the challenge I put forward to you is to sit for 5 minutes without your phone and breathe.
What else can you include in your day to help you destress do you think? We would love to know your methods?
Thanks for reading
Sean Carroll