Simple Strategies for Challenging Times.
Have you been faced with a challenging time or event and felt stuck or exhausted?
We all have because the change in life is inevitable, and change is uncomfortable. While change can be challenging, it can also be powerfully transformative, writes Laura Lipparoni, MISCP, Chartered Physiotherapist, Yoga Teacher and founder of Bay Area Yoga.
‘Simple strategies to use during challenging times’
It pays to have a few simple strategies to use during challenging times to help create balance. Laura Lipparoni, Chartered Physiotherapist & Yoga Teacher.
It's been quite a year, and for most of us life has changed dramatically, and with change comes discomfort. It’s common to feel stuck or exhausted when you are facing a challenge and this makes it difficult to keep life and health in balance.
Here are four simple strategies that I find really helpful when I’m facing challenging times:
1. Try to move every day
Exercise is proven to help lessen pain, help manage feelings of anxiety, and improve energy levels.
It floods the brain with endorphins (those feel-good chemicals) and even helps improve the function of your immune system.
A few minutes of movement every day is so valuable. If you can't make time for formal exercise sessions every day try putting on your favorite song and dancing around the house.
2. Take 3 minutes a day to be mindful
Try setting an alarm for 3 separate times tomorrow and each time it goes off - STOP - and take 3 slow deep breaths.
Notice how much better you feel afterward! Repeat every day for the next week.
Little reminders to stop and be mindful can be so beneficial to our happiness.
3. Be kind to others
There is nothing that feels better than a simple act of kindness. Do you remember a time someone was kind to you? Do you remember how great it felt?
Kindness is fundamental to human existence and it has a powerful effect on our mental wellbeing and floods the brain with Oxytocin (the love chemical) which makes us feel happier.
Simple acts are often so powerful for the giver and the receiver: Saying thank you at the check-out; Being a good listener, Smiling at someone even with a mask on (we smile with our eyes).
4. Be kind to yourself
The most important one of all - and the most challenging! Let's face it, it has been an unusual year. As the saying goes 'You can't pour from an empty cup' so taking time to be kind to yourself is essential right now especially if you have others to care for.
If you are looking for a simple practice in mindfulness: find a photo of yourself as a child and put it up somewhere where you can see it every day.
Talk to yourself the way you would talk to that child and remember we are essentially the same beings now as we were back then (just with a few more wrinkles).
Keep reminding yourself that this period is just a ‘snapshot’ in time. Also, remember that change can be powerfully transformative and an opportunity for personal growth. It’s neither good nor bad, change is inevitable.
If there is only time for one small act of ‘mindful rebellion’ in your day, stop and take a few deep breaths. Remember that each breath connects you with the entire universe around you. Collectively we are all in this together.
- With Love Laura
