mentalhealthhqcicSomething we spend quite a lot of time talking about in my therapy sessions is the importance of relaxing or finding some calm. There was a trend in facebook and instagram a year or so ago of people posting about self car Saturday and self care Sunday. I didn’t realise at the time why this was important and then I did my course with the human givens institute and I got to understand why it was so important.
Modern life can be really busy. There never seems to be enough time in the day to everything, and it can be easy to get stuck on a treadmill. We tend to keep running and running with no break. Perhaps your life looks something like this:
You spend the morning dealing with your family before rushing into the office where you are really busy. Then you work through your break with no food. As soon as the day at the office ends we rush home to cook and tidy before doing packed lunches and getting clothes ready for the next day. When you do eventually make it to bed your sleep is poor. Consequently you wake up tired. You have little time for exercise. This then repeats itself day in day out.
Sound familiar?
Why is this a problem?
While this might be sustainable for a little while eventually it becomes too much. It affects us both mentally and physically.
Firstly you produce a lot of cortisol the stress hormone, plus adrenaline. This raises your heart rate and blood pressure. You might find it hard to digest food or have no appetite. You can’t think straight and exercise gets put to one side. Sleep eludes you or you wake up too early. You might feel permanently exhausted. Perhaps you become more snappy or irritable with those you love, your children or your partner Eventually burnout and stress overload arrive.
What Can You do to get some calm?
Above are the reasons why calm is so important. Practising self care or finding calm can take some practice.
One place to start is to focus on your breathing and as a human givens therapist I would recommend 7:11 breathing. Typically stress or anxiety will make someone breathe fast and shallow. The key is to slow your breathing down which will help you relax. Practice this for a few minutes everyday and you will turn to it naturally when you need to.
Regular exercise will help get rid of cortisol. Even if you just go for a walk everyday you will feel the benefit.
Seeing friends or family and forgetting the chores or work is really helpful. It is a good distraction and gives you some all important emotional connection.
Focusing on your sleep regime. Sleep is vital for so many reasons and making sure you have a good pre bed routine is a good place to start. Reducing caffeine, screen time and doing some relaxation are a few things you can try. Aiming for that 8 hours is vital..
Getting out in nature is always a good way to reset and recharge.
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