Releasing the Pressure
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Much of the pressure you’re under is of your own making.
While stress in small amounts can be an impetus for creation and a lot of amazingness – too much stress leads to depression, anxiety, and mental/emotional issues. Unchecked, unrelieved, that can lead to physical illness, heart attack, stroke, and other nasty, even potentially fatal physical matters.
Because, as a society, we tend to believe that constant pressure is a necessity of achievement, we don’t make much effort to relieve it. Instead, we seek escapes from it.
Expecting too much of ourselves
There is an excellent quote from writer Brianna Wiest that speaks to this:
“Nobody expects of you as much as you do of yourself.”
I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself.
We internalize those outside messages and develop overwrought expectations for ourselves. A constant state of go go go without pause. But that’s super unhealthy.
Why do we do this to ourselves?
When we grow up being told that it takes a tremendous amount of work, focus, and energy to succeed, we begin to feel the pressure.
Finding that balance between encouraging and motivating yourself to do something – and stressing yourself out about it with too much pressure – is important.
Mindfulness to lessen the pressure
When you actively practice mindfulness, you become more aware of your self.
The following are some ideas for releasing pressure when it is too much.
- Take a walk. Get some exercise. Don’t go crazy, just move. You’d be amazed how a little movement goes a long way.
- Take 2 minutes to pause and just breathe in and out, deeply, doing nothing else. It’s surprising just how calming that can be.
- Eat healthily. When we’re rushed and stressed, we tend to eat crap. That, in turn, turns up the pressure unnecessarily. Healthy eating is like releasing steam on a pressure cooker.
- Take a break. It’s easy to push without a break. Been there, done that. It tends to go poorly and you’re worse for wear when all is said and done.
- Get offline. We spend a LOT of time on our screens. And this has some nasty impacts on us physiologically that we still are learning. Take time away from looking at screens.
- Ever notice how we treat so many things as urgent? Prioritizing helps you recognize this and better categorizing what needs to be done now, later, or much later.
Finally – remember that SOME pressure is good. It motivates and encourages action and change. The line between good and too much varies for everyone – and mindfulness is where you will discover yours.
Closing:
Thank you for joining me for Awareness for Everyone and sharing in this exploration of Conscious Reality Creation and living the best lives we can for ourselves. If you have any questions or comments, go ahead and email me at author@mjblehart.com, or follow me via Instagram and Twitter at mjblehart, and on Facebook at blehartmj. Thank you to Fe Mahoney, the superb artist who created my cover art. If you would like to commission work from her, email her at veinsofink2017@gmail.com and check out her Etsy shop – taliasinspirations. Please visit my blogs, The Ramblings of the Titanium Don, at titaniumdon.com, my articles at mjblehart.medium.com, and my various published books on Amazon. Thank you, and I hope you are discovering how awareness for everyone begins with you – and really is something that you can practice to live more fully and improve your life.
