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28/03/17 3 tips to reduce stress and calm your body and mind

Try our 3 tips to reduce stress and calm your body and mind.  Use them as much as possible.  They are skills that you can learn, and like learning a new language, you won’t be able to just do them (some may be able to) they will take practice and perseverance.  Luckily, they are relatively easy to learn and can be done at home or in the office.

1. Be here – right now

Many of us are on automatic pilot.  You know when you arrived somewhere but don’t know how you got there?  That isn’t being in the present!  Bringing yourself into the present is a massive first step into getting to know yourself and understanding what makes you react to certain events and situations.   Use your body: clap your hands, slap your body (use a cupped hand and pat this around the whole of your body), shake (stand and start shaking your body – you can use your voice to if you aren’t worried about looking odd).  Use your mind: think of 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can sense, 2 things you can smell.

2. Concentrate your worries!

Sometimes our minds race around and dart – I remember hearing that the mind untrained is like a wild dog!  I can certainly relate to this at times.  Try this simple exercise.  Draw a circle on a piece of paper.  On the inside write down all the things you can control and have an influence over, on the outside write down all the things that you can’t.  Open your heart and know that you can still care about the things on the outside, even if you cannot actually change them.

3. Reframe your catastrophes

If you are really in the loop of worrying about something, and you have worked through number 1 and 2, it is time to reframe your worry.  Have a think and feel about what it will be like in 3 years time, will it still be affecting you?  What is the worst that could happen? Think about some coping strategies you could use to survive it.  You can also look for opportunities, what haven’t I seen that could turn this into a positive?  Can I laugh about this?

 

Looking for more?  Our training team regularly run managing pressure, resilience, worklife balance and work smart workshops – get in touch to arrange for an informal training needs chat.