Daily Stress Busting Rituals You Need to Know!
- By Rich Maloney
- On 25th November, 2020
- In mindfulness
Now more than ever, mindfulness and stress management are crucial elements for a happy, healthy and successful life. How we care for ourselves, and how we react to difficult situations, will determine how stress affects our overall health, wellbeing and happiness. Numbers released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that Australians are stressing more than ever, which is not surprising given the current global pandemic, along with the subsequent economic ramifications we are confronting. Since the Pandemic began in Australia, we have lost just over 100 people to the virus, while losing over 1,000 to suicide, which is 1,000 too many. And while 75% of us are currently impacted either physically or mentally by stress, this doesn’t need to be the case. Here are 5 Daily Stress Busting Rituals that are sure to put you on the path to a more balanced, more gratifying, and more fulfilled, stress-free life:
Mastery is NOW
We have over 70,000 thoughts per day, and most of those thoughts (about 90%) are dominated by worry, concern, and limiting beliefs connected to what’s happened in the past, or what may or may not happen in the future. Awareness of these thoughts is the first step, followed by the understanding that you are in total control of them. Everyday obstacles are a fact of life, but it’s all about how we tackle these obstacles and the thoughts that accompany them. Once you start living in the NOW, you can’t help but become excited by your momentary existence, without worrying about what has already happened, the future, or things that are outside of your control. At first it will be challenging to halt your concerns regarding what was or what may be, but with repetitive practice this will become a healthy habit, changing the way you view your world for the better. This is Mastery!
I Love, I Love, I Love
Taking a few minutes every day to wake up with gratitude will immediately raise your vibration and allow for more positivity and success in your life. Gratitude is one of the highest vibrations we can feel along with love, freedom, and empowerment. Starting your day with thoughts of gratitude can set the tone for the entire day, and the energy of gratitude can help change your mood from stressed to serene, or from overwhelmed to elated. There is so much to be grateful for, whether it be your family, your health, your home, or mother nature, and making a daily gratitude list shifts your vibrations from focusing on what you don't have to what is already abundant in your life, manifesting even more abundance as a result.
Bring the Drum Beat to Your Feet
The practice of meditation is proven to enhance both mental and physical health, and the benefits are endless. So too is the practice of exercise, so why not combine them! A walking meditation (especially those with sacred drumbeats) are a fantastic accompaniment to exercise, enabling the busiest of people to experience the benefits of physical activity and mindfulness in unison. There are so many powerful walking meditations available, and it’s another fabulous way to set a positive, dynamic, and inspiring momentum for the day ahead. The Quality Mind Global app offers a fantastic 10-day beginners’ meditation course which is free.
Your Thoughts & Words Vibrate
We all have an inner voice, and the control that we exercise over this internal super-power will literally determine how we feel. Your inner words guide your mind and body towards the experiences you will have in life, and without careful direction, they can easily spiral, impacting your outer world along the way. We are always our own worst critic, but making a conscious decision to first acknowledge, and then change that negative record playing inside your head when it arises is one of the most empowering and life changing transformations you can make. It’s helpful to pay attention when you suddenly start to feel stressed, upset, or moody. Often these shifts in emotion are the result of a critical inner voice, and once you pinpoint the thought that evoked the feeling, you can take control by consciously deciding not to listen. Instead, try practicing positive self-talk and power statements that are the exact opposite of that thought.
Attacking Overwhelm ‘Head On’
Overwhelm can be like adding cyanide to your morning coffee (metaphorically speaking), and if not addressed, it can hinder your mental and physical health, potentially resulting in burn out, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, loss of focus, illness and more. Your brain has limited resources and can only grasp 7-9 chunks of information at once. As soon as this is exceeded, we naturally go in to ‘overwhelm mode’. Here are some examples of these ‘chunks’ from one of my recent clients: COVID-19, home schooling, my marriage, money issues, my weight, my sick father, my child’s behavioural issue.
It’s helpful to start by removing the overwhelm from your head and putting each of your areas of concern (bricks) on paper or a whiteboard, enabling you to distance your brain from it a little. Then individually rate them out of 10, (10 being extreme), prioritise them in order, and just deal with each issue one by one in order of priority. Consider why you are allowing this to affect you, and what steps you need to take to make this better? Awareness is the first antidote to overwhelm, and then the simple action of beginning with a plan will help to alleviate your stress or anxiety.
“We know that when you working at optimal levels in the area of Body and Mind that you are filled with Confidence, that when Mind and Soul are working at their best you are filled with a Passion for life and when Soul and Body are firing on all cylinders that you are filled with Energy.” Richard Maloney
Richard Maloney is the founder and CEO of Quality Mind Global, an international mindfulness business with over 1000 clients in 30+ countries. He is also the founder of Engage & Grow Global, which is now the number one employee engagement licensing company in the world. Now, he has a unique and tangible personal activation system designed to minimize or eliminate stress from business leaders and executives through systematic mental training, allowing you to unlock your ultimate capability and your true potential, both at work and in life. For more on the Quality Mind Program & our ground-breaking Personal Development App, or to purchase the book Stress Free – How to Thrive Under Pressure in Unprecedented Times, or Injury Free – Mental Training for Elite Athletes (offering personal development for athletes), go to www.qualitymindglobal.com