30 Sep When Good Things Cause Stress. Then What?

It is easy for us to associate stress with struggle.  We all know that things like too much work, not enough time, being constantly tethered to our devices, not enough sleep and eating junk foods will stress us out and take it’s toll.  We also know that big life events such as illness, financial strain and loss of a loved one can cause undue strain and stress in our lives.

But what about good events in our lives?  Did you know that things like getting married, moving into a new home and even retirement are on the top 10 list of life event stressors?  And lately, I’ve been experiencing a lot of stress related to doing things like preparing for a benefit concert that I’m giving in a couple of weeks and working with Andrew fast and furiously to release an exciting new series of online ergonomic trainings.  These are things I have dreamt about and give me great joy to be doing, but on the ground, it’s causing a lot of stress.  I’m clearly out of my comfort zone and feel like I am in labor, birthing all of these creative babies into the world – which is a great thing – just causing me to sleep less, exercise less and feel like I’m constantly racing against the clock.

Then I remembered one of the most profound and simple thing to help reign it all back in.  And that is to breathe.  That’s it.  I closed my eyes, took a deep breath in, and then slowly exhaled out.  And then I did it again and again and again.  And a few things happened instantaneously.  I slowed down, instantly calmed down and found that I was fully present.  Energized even. I wasn’t worrying about the quality of the audio files, or graphics or memorizing my piano pieces or the billion things on my to-do list, but rather, I just focused on my breath.

So, the next time you are stressing out, even if over good things in your life, take a moment to breathe.  A few moments actually.  You’ll be amazed at the results.

Please let me know in the comments what breathing techniques work for you!  Do you have other stress busters that you can share with us?

Until the next time, be happy, energized and productive!