Your thoughts might be going a million miles a minute, or you feel judged by everyone and can't seem to get your mind off it. Maybe the pressure to achieve a certain thing is crumbling you? Well, as the self-appointed "Queen of Stress," I'm here to help you destress and remind you whatever you're feeling is not permanent! Here are a few of my favorite ways to free my mind!
Changing your Mindset: The Worry Cluster
You're probably wondering what the "worry cluster" is. It is a way to organize your worries into three different clusters! It's as simple as it sounds! The first tier is where most of your energy should be focused: the control cluster. This means the outcome is completely in your control. You can say, "If I do this, then this WILL happen!" If you can't fully control the situation, then don't waste your energy on it and move it out of this cluster! The second tier is the influence cluster. This is where you can take certain steps to achieve an outcome, but at the end of the day, the result is not in your hands. Here, you say, "If I do this, then this MAY happen!" Think about a test: you can study, review, and more, but even after taking those steps, you can't decide what your grade is. Lastly, the no power cluster. You know by now these clusters are exactly what they sound like. Here, you say, "I literally have no power in this situation at all." So why waste any energy thinking about it and having it consume your brain? There is, however, one thing you can control in this cluster: your reaction. In fact, this is true in all the clusters, but it is most important here. In a situation, where you have no control, the most empowering feeling is that no one can decide how you react. The best reaction in this cluster, maybe even to yourself, is having a calm, collected response that tells the world, "You can't hurt me!"
Getting it All Out: Talk to Yourself in the Mirror
Do you ever have so much going on in your mind that you could just scream? That's how I seem to always feel, except I came up with a solution that doesn't involve the possibility of laryngitis. People always tell you it's not good to keep your feelings bottled up, but when it's time to express them, it often feels like a burden (at least I do). So, you turn to journaling, and that feels unnatural (once again, at least for me). But, there is one more option: talk to yourself! Let's be real: when you're venting, you don't want advice. You want the thoughts transferred from your mind to the world. Whether you're stressed about all the things you have to do today, or you're stressed about a grade you got on a quiz, speaking those thoughts aloud exhausts them from your brain. You won't even bother thinking about them! If you listen closely to me when I get up, I'm probably speaking my itinerary as I get ready to conquer the day.
Mind to Body: Yoga
Keeping your body healthy has been proven to keep your mind healthy. But if you're anything like me, staying active is not your best friend. One thing that has worked for me though is yoga! I don't even think of it as exercise, but as medicine. I do the postures that work for me, and that makes me feel so good, closing my eyes as I do so. One thing I love about yoga is that it isn't a performance, it is only for you. No one is watching you, you go because you need to prove yourself to yourself! Even when you do a class, you know that everyone is there for the same reasons, to let go, stay healthy, and maybe stretch out a few knots in their back! I used to be the biggest hater of yoga, but now I do it twice a week and have never felt happier or healthier!
Letting Go: Meditation
Meditation may sound silly, maybe even hard: the idea of having to just silence your thoughts on demand like it requires, but it comes to you naturally. You can turn on a guided meditation video, listen to white/brown noise, or sit in silence. But when you sit crisscrossed, hands up if you need to receive something or hands down if you need to feel grounded, you feel like another entity examining your feelings and thoughts from the outside. It is one of the most empowering feelings I have felt because I know I can always come back to that space whenever I need and no one can ever take that away from me! Personally, I like to meditate with a guided video in the back because it carves out a path for me, especially since I'm fairly new to the practice, but you can meditate however you need! It's a great add-on to yoga!
Spa Day for Yourself: Progressive Relaxation
The best way to describe progressive relaxation is that it is a blend of yoga and meditation. You can turn on a video (there are tons on YouTube), lay down, close your eyes, and move your body to the video. It allows you to feel every part of your body one at a time and slowly shuts your mind off from thinking about anything else. Plus, it is so relaxing that it can give you chills. I like to do this when I can't sleep because it shuts my mind off just like a light. However, you can do this whenever you need your thoughts, worries, and stresses to be muted because it gives your brain a fresh start and a new approach to life, problems, and the world!
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