When Brilliance Is In, Stress is Out
By Lynne Hoft
Have you ever asked yourself, is stress normal? Does stress just happen to us? Can we eliminate it? Can we stop stress? To answer these questions, we must understand what stress is. In most situations, stress is a negative feeling showing us that we are attached to our thinking. Like all feelings, stress is a messenger, letting us know whether we are in our center and experiencing our brilliance or spinning in our thought patterns. Stress management is possible.
There are so many demands in our modern world that our thoughts can go in a million directions: We have too much to do, don’t have enough time, don’t know how to fix a problem, or are having trouble with our computer-again. We tend to get caught up in deadlines, relationships that aren’t working, and kids who are in trouble. What’s the common denominator? Our thoughts telling us things are not as they should be.
We resist what is happening in the moment in our lives because we wanted something else. Instead of focusing on a way out of our problems, we ignore them, hoping they’ll go away, or we sit and stew, waiting for a magic cure, allowing them to grow. Our problems appear monumental because we have attached a lot of thought to them, spending much of our time thinking about them. And our time disappears, with no solutions in sight.
Although people have become accustomed to stress for periods of hours, months, or years, it is not normal. If it were, our bodies would thrive with it instead of experiencing heart attacks, immune disorders, and fatigue. Small amounts of stress for limited times can energize our bodies; extended periods of stress limit our health, success, and happiness.
Not only is feeling stressed not normal, it does not “just” happen-it originates in our thinking habits. Stress is about interpretation and focus. The habit of seeing a glass half full or half empty can either decrease or increase our stress. Looking at what is or isn’t working for us is a point of focus that either limits or builds stress.
Long-Term Stress
Can we eliminate long-term stress by just changing our mind? Yes, we can, when we understand that feelings always follow thought. Every thought we have leads to a feeling. When we experience the feeling of stress we can know that our thoughts created it.
The first key to eliminating stress in our lives is to understand how thought works. Brain research shows that each half of our brain supports a unique function. The left brain is analytical, sequential, and organizes our lives. The right brain is associated with intuition and creativity. Author Richard Carlson gives the mind two distinct functions which correlate. The computer mind is that part of our mind which organizes and stores information. It collects all of our experiences, everything we have observed, and generations of family and cultural beliefs. It also stores our behavior habits, like brushing our teeth or driving the car, without our having to think much about it. Our transmitter mind connects us to our natural brilliance and creativity. It provides new answers and insights that move us to a new level of expression.
We can eliminate stress by just changing our mind. We’ve said that feelings follow thoughts. By simply shifting our attention away from the thoughts creating stress, they lose their power. By changing our mind we manage our stress. Then we can give our power to what we want to create in our lives.
Short-Term Stress
Often our life events trigger physiological stress reactions. Examples include the shock of a near accident while driving, the death of a loved one, a medical crisis (either our own or that of a loved one), or a disaster. We cannot avoid the stress we feel in these situations. Our bodies and minds automatically react when life brings the unexpected. To prevent these short- term feelings of stress from building into long-term stress, we can begin to recognize that our thoughts diminish or increase our level of stress. We can see the difference between focusing on the danger of a near accident and the incompetence of the driver who caused it, and instead focusing on our gratitude for avoiding a crash and the resulting injury. In every situation we have a choice to place our attention on stressful or stress-free thoughts.
Life Without Stress
Knowing that long-term stress can be eliminated by shifting our thoughts, would you choose to stop the cycles of stress in your life or keep them? Just think for a minute what your life would be like without stress. Here are some of the comments we’ve received over the past few years in response to this question: “I would have a lot more energy to pursue the things I enjoy the most.” “There would be more of a sense of ease in my life; I would roll with the punches instead of taking things seriously.” “I would be much more present, more able to enjoy whatever is going on around me.” “Life would have more joy, vitality, happiness, and expression-my higher expression would be available.” “I would be more relaxed, with a real sense of freedom.” Our stress management approach gives us the ability to truly eliminate stress in our lives.
Excerpted in part from Activate Your Brilliance, Back to Brilliance 2007
Back to Brilliance: Unlimited Learning for Living, is a company dedicated to providing learning experiences focused on the key principles for creating brilliant lives. It is owned and operated by business partners, Lynne Hoft, EdD and Vivian Hildebrandt, MA, who are both veteran educators. Their book, Activate Your Brilliance; their educational programs: Stop Stress in Its Tracks, Master Your Mindset, and Keys to Brilliant Living: the Art of Living Happy; and their weekly E-zine: The Ultimate Treasure, all assist clients to gain stress relief, create a mindset for success, and create fulfilling lives and happiness.
Lynne and Vivian are experts in stress management. For more information and articles on stress relief go to http://www.backtobrilliance.com/stress-relief.htm
For specific information based on your needs:
Go to our blog http://stopstressinitstracks.com/blog
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lynne_Hoft
Technorati Tags: common denominator, health success, magic cure, limited times, stress management, thought patterns, heart attacks, immune disorders, time don, brilliance, fatigue, habit, success and happiness, periods, feelings, relationships
Add to:
