My Go-To Hack For Dealing With Stress
This month in the Biohacker Babe Academy, we are dissecting what exactly stress is... the good, the bad and the ways to combat the stress in your life with a few biohacks. Why exactly was this topic selected, well, this past month life sorta kicked me in the lady bits.
There was (and still is) quite a bit of stress in my life. Some stress I caused on myself (such as signing up for an endurance race) and other stress was added due to life circumstances or obstacles I couldn’t control or foresee.
So, it just seemed like the perfect time for the Biohacker Babes to hear what I was actually experiencing and how my body on a cellular level was responding to ALL the stress as well as what I did to combat it. And I figured, YOU, might be dealing with some sorta stress yourself... and maybe, just maybe, my go-to hack for combating stress could help.
Unfortunately, no, my go-to hack isn't heading to our local ice cream shop for a scoop of yummy cookie batter + jam ice cream which sounds JUST as delicious as it actually taste. Instead, my go-to hack for stress is...
GRATITUDE
I know this sounds quite cheesy and there may have been an eye-roll on your end; however, I can not help that it works (for me). Now, will gratitude actually SLOW the main cause of my stress... um, no! It's not a magical elixir which solves ALL things; however, research does show that shifting your mindset to gratitude may be beneficial when facing certain challenges. Plus, focusing on gratitude (rather than a scoop of CB&J) leaves my heart feeling lighter and my tummy happier.
Here's THREE ways I shift the mindset to gratitude:
- Jot down at least THREE things which I am grateful for... here's the thing though, they do not have to make sense to ANYONE at all. These three things don't have to be life-altering or huge epiphanies. Just things which YOU are grateful for in that moment. Try to limit the over-thinking here. You can be grateful to have warm, fuzzy socks on our feet so you don't have to touch the cold tile floors. You can be grateful for indoor plumbing (which is something I'm constantly thankful for having). Or maybe it's the people in your life, your cuddling cat or the goldfish who constantly stares at you. Just write them down... at least three.
- Before logging into the world of social media... send three notes of appreciation to folks. This could be a voice memo, a DM on social, an email and bonus points for a handwritten letter. Triple points if you choose to use my favorite stationary which is designed by a dear friend (not an affiliate, just love the paw print design). Anywho, the point is to spend a few minutes SENDING gratitude out into the world. What we put out into the world, we receive... so give the world a few moments of love + reap the benefits. Again, don't overthink WHO you need to reach out to... in can be ANYONE that pops into your mind!
- Read your gratitude list before you go to bed... spend a few minutes each night before you shut your eyes, to unplug and focus on the people, moments, memories, items you are grateful for in your life. The last items we focus on right before we go to bed tends to be what feeds are minds while we sleep, so by spending moments in gratitude before drifting off to the land of zzz's, we are giving ourselves a change for a peaceful and restful sleep.
I'll be real here, one of my absolute favorite things to do when I'm feeling overwhelmed is to stop what I'm doing and give thanks + blessings to simply stop whatever I am doing... focus on my breathing (which we dive more into these breathing techniques within the Biohacker Babe Academy) + focus on everything in my life which I'm grateful for... starting with the indoor plumbing + working on the harder things to say.
Now, I'd love to continue this chat + dive more into some hacks on dealing with stress over in our FREE Biohacker Babe Community, so join me there, love! And fill me in on what THREE things you are grateful for today?!?
Grit + Gumption.
Langley
Biohacker Babe
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