How well do you perform under pressure? For most of us, the answer to this varies from day to day (or let’s get real…from moment to moment!) Today I am shining a light on something I’ll call “holding the tension”.
I think we can all agree that patience and resilience are two traits worth having. The more we can handle (without flying off the handle) and the faster we recover (instead of hiding under the covers), the wider open life becomes. Much anxiety comes from a lack of confidence in our own ability to handle stressful situations. The good news is we as humans are often stronger than we think. Left unchallenged, this fact can be easy to forget.
Fortunately, there are ways to cultivate more patience and resilience. Try the following practices to fortify your reserves:
-Take notice of the little accomplishments: Be mindful of all the little things you accomplish. Taking notice of how capable you are on a day to day basis is a great way to train your brain to trust your abilities, instead of always kowtowing to your inner critic.
-Challenge your muscles: It is well documented that exercise benefits the brain in a myriad of ways. Physically holding tension in the body, especially while concentrating on keeping calm as in yoga, can increase your ability to metaphorically hold the tension in day to day life.
-Know when to hold’em…. : In the heat of the moment, it’s easy to get ahead of ourselves and act out in a way we may come to regret later. When feeling irritated, experiment with conscious action instead of reaction. Even something as simple as counting to ten or taking a few deep breathes before responding to a triggering situation can have a big impact on relationships (and your own sanity!)
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T is working on holding the tension…..
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