Mindfulness. What’s it Good for?
Fourteen months into the Covid-19 pandemic and one month into Ontario’s third stay at home order, who isn’t stressed? We’re exhausted. We’re unraveling. Our collective stress is a normal response to extraordinary demands at work and home in the context of an uncertain and volatile world.
Before we get to what to do about it, check-in with your relationship to stress.
- When you’re stressed, what do you tell yourself? That it’s wrong, bad, and that you shouldn’t have it?
- Do you often notice stress much later, weeks or months into some unhealthy behaviours?
- Do you get angry and lash out?
- Do you shutdown, do nothing, and hope it goes away?
- Do you isolate and wish everyone would leave you alone?
Stress becomes a problem when it’s not released from the body and when stressors remain unresolved. Chronic stress builds over time into exhaustion, panic, anxiety, depression, and burnout. Eventually the lid pops off. No one is immune to this inevitable process. The goal is to recognize stress and take steps towards managing it before a breakdown.
Being proactive about managing stress means:
1. Paying attention to the signs of stress in your body and mind
2. Acknowledging and naming emotions, thoughts, and behaviours
3. Acting on the truth. Now that you know what’s present, what will you do with this information? Taking the next step with intention.
Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention in the present moment with curiosity and non-judgment. Mindfulness allows you to notice stress, so that you can respond to it intentionally instead of the usual over-reacting.
The buzz about mindfulness brings a lot of myths with it. Mindfulness is not a cure for stress. It won’t fix your problems. In fact, sometimes contacting your overactive mind, raw emotions, and bodily sensations can heighten discomfort temporarily.
Why would we want to be more present if it means actually feeling and experiencing the stress? Aren’t we supposed to just “press on”, stay busy, ignore it, fight it, and focus on the positive?
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that facing unpleasant experiences is a healthy practice for emotional resilience. So much of what we’re struggling with already existed pre-pandemic – isolation, loneliness, disconnection, a mental health crisis pleading for a more conscious way of living.
The stress you feel is already here, so you may as well call it what it is and allow it to be here for a moment. Paying attention to stress doesn’t mean you have to drown in it or fight it. Observing and acknowledging does not increase the stress like some people fear it might. You are simply making space for it. Then you are freer to move and decide where you want to put your energy instead.
In an exciting collaboration, I teamed up with Dr. Alicia Julovich from Health Restoration Institute to talk about how mindfulness can help you recognize and release stress. We share the science, our personal stories, and guide you through simple mindfulness practices you can do throughout your day. Check out our full conversation here. It’s free. It’s real. It’s essential for resilience today!