Most of us reading this today are not mental health practitioners. But you don’t need your doctorate to know this common fact. Stress leads to anxiety and anxiety to depression.
You also don’t need to be in the medical field to improve your stress level. It begins with being aware of it. Recognizing and regulating stress is a leadership communication skill that we weren’t talking about years ago. But luckily mental health and emotional well-being have come to the forefront of our conversations at work. Gens Y and Z are demanding it — and we thank them for that.
Today, we are moving in so many directions at an unprecedented pace — we don’t even notice our stress. Or if we do, we keeeeeeep going, perhaps in denial, or maybe because we have commitments and goals to reach!
Goals are great and so is your health. So here are three quick and easy questions to ask yourself during the day if you CHOOSE to RECOGNIZE your stress and then do your best to REGULATE it.
- What’s your stress level?
- Are you mindful or is your mind FULL?
- Does your body feel constricted or expanded?
Stress level? The Surgeon General of the U.S declared stress an epidemic, BEFORE the pandemic in 2019. We know stress affects the heart, immune system, and the ‘executive brain’ or pre-frontal cortex. As stress increases, access to your cognitive ability decrease. You can become AWARE of stress by having your blood pressure checked OR ask yourself, is your stress today low, medium, or high? YOU have this information. According to the Mindfulness Center at Brown University, awareness is often more than ½ the battle. Stopping to recognize stress, then doing something about it like taking a brief walk or breathing deeply for 60-90 seconds go a long way toward your ability to keep your stress in check.
A FULL mind? It’s the norm today. Dr. Daniel Goleman, author or Emotional Intelligence said, “our minds just are not equipped to handle this kind of overload”. And he said that in 2016! There are many ways to manage this problem including centering yourself and becoming present to what is happening ‘in this moment’. According to Dr. Richie Davidson, we spend about 1/2 our time NOT being present. The best way for a mind to be LESS FULL is to first, become present, then consider putting less into your mind in the first place. That means less social media and TV. Consider shutting it all down 1-2 hours before bed. Also, when you find that your mind is FULL, ask yourself, “Am I thinking about things outside of my control?” If so, (common!), do your best to let those thoughts go. When they return, let them go again and focus on thinking about things INSIDE of your control. This is a practice that gets easier when you begin to build what we call a ‘mindful muscle’.
Constricted or Expanded? Humans today spend so much time in their heads. Overthinking. We’re smart, driven, and have a lot to do! Taking time to ask yourself how your body is feeling is another practice well worth cultivating. This is important because when we get stressed or anxious, our bodies tense up. Plus, we spend an exorbitant amount of time hovered over our phones and computers. We often hold stress in our necks, shoulders, jaws, and hands. Notice that. Then ask yourself what you can do to to become more ‘expanded’ and unwind that stress. Try straightening the spine, moving the head, neck, jaw, unclench the hands. Add some deep, diaphragmatic breathing for just a minute or so and then ask yourself again. Does your body feel more expanded? A more expanded body leads to more energy. And less stress.
These three questions will not save the world. But they may help you and your employees become proactive to mental health and emotional well-being. Use the questions as conversation starters. And remember, the first person you might want to start the conversation with is YOU.
YOU are the common denominator. YOU are the foundation of every relationship you’ll ever have. And the most important relationship you will ever cultivate is the one you have with yourself.
