Stress has been a constant companion in my own life, one that was often an unwelcome guest. I still remember my first efforts to eradicate it completely from my life, and much to no one’s surprise but my own, the attempt was largely unsuccessful. In trying to eat healthier, exercise, and drag my feet to get to bed at a decent hour, I was perplexed when my stress didn’t magically vanish. Instead, I felt like it added new stresses as I realized I wasn’t perfectly implementing my well thought out plan! What I didn’t realize at the time was that we will always have stress, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Let’s dive into positive and negative stress, how to change our outlook on it, and how to minimize bad stress in our lives.
Just Breathe: The Wisdom and Science Behind Intentional Breathing
Have you ever gotten really worked up about something - something that made you super nervous or anxious, or super angry - and someone told you to “just breathe”? If you’re like me, that just may have made you even more nervous or frustrated in the moment. It’s not like you weren’t breathing already, right? How was that going to help? Well, let’s talk about why “just breathe” is actually some really good advice.