Five tips for beating summer-time stress and emotional overload.
By: Michelle Palmer, MS, NCC, LPC, ACS, CCS Psychotherapist/Owner of Alternative Therapies
Summer can be just as hectic of a time as any other season during the year. It is especially important to be conscious of stress during this time because of the amount of distractions that may be present for us.
If you're a Mom reading this article, I'm sure you can relate to experiencing a hectic summer schedule with not many breaks in between. This can be extremely overwhelming. Here, we will discuss five effective tips for beating that stress.
Tip #1 - Be present. Live in the here and now.
You may have heard of this tip before, but with such beautiful weather and possibly matching scenery, you may have a better shot to actually practice this skill during the summer months. Since everything in NJ is more aesthetically pleasing during summer, it may just give you the best opportunity to focus in on what is around you, and really pay attention to what we might not otherwise give a second thought to. Whether you're out for a day at the beach with the family, on a hike with the kids, or driving the treacherous New Jersey turnpike, you may be experiencing stress, anxiety, mood fluctuations, etc. And, you may not always be able to get away from your current location. Needless to say, if you're feeling as if things are getting chaotic, simply take stock of all that is around you. Utilize your five senses to describe in detail to yourself how it looks, smells, feels, tastes and sounds all around you. This simple exercise helps you to remain focused instead of feeding the anxiety or negative thought process. This technique helps you re-focus thought process and re-frame your emotions!
Tip #2 - Take off your shoes.
Grounding yourself, believe it or not, actually has some real research to back the theory that connecting our bodies directly with Mother Earth can be healing to us. Taking off your shoes, and getting them directly on soil, sand, dirt, or grass can be extremely helpful in focusing on the present moment and grounding yourself and your energy. Read a scientific study about connection to the Earth aka "Earthing" and reducing inflammation, auto-immune disease, wound healing and immunity here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4378297/
Read a quick excerpt from the study below:
"Accumulating experiences and research on earthing, or grounding, point to the emergence of a simple, natural, and accessible health strategy against chronic inflammation, warranting the serious attention of clinicians and researchers."
Tip #3 - Connect to your body
Feeling into your body by imagining an x-ray type focus on each part of your body can be helpful in understanding more about how your mental state is physically affecting your body. Our bodies store emotional trauma down the cellular level. If you are experiencing anxiety or stress, somewhere in our bodies is storing that energy. If enough of that energy is stored in our body, eventually pain, tightness, soreness, etc. may develop in that area. By doing a self-scan of your body, you can connect, bring awareness to each of your body parts and begin to realize where you store your stress.
Tip #4 -Breathe in positivity, breathe out worry.
One of the simplest meditations to do with yourself begins with just your breath and an intention. Breathing in while imagining positivity, healing strong white light is going inside your body wherever it needs to go to help you feel better. And then, breathing out worry, negativity, stress, anxiety, etc. and imagining all of that leaving your body can be an extremely effective tool when dealing with stress. This is a quick, helpful technique to use when you're on the go and need a quick way to re-frame negative thoughts and emotions.
Tip #5 - Self-care
We all need self-care! While self-care may look different for everyone, it's important to remember that we all need it for survival. We all need a quiet 15 minutes of the day where we can just be. We all need time to do something different, be silly, be our true authentic selves, learn something new, try new foods, get a massage, go shopping, reward ourselves, exercise, move our bodies, do yoga, take classes, clear our energy, etc. It is our divine human right to love and care for ourselves first. We cannot care for others if we, ourselves are not cared for first.
I hope you enjoyed these tips on how to beat summer stress!
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