The trouble with stress

On overwhelm and stepping back

Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

You may or may not be aware that April is Stress Awareness Month.

But the thing is if you are experiencing stress, then the chances are you’re already aware of it. Or at least, that’s what you’d think.

The trouble with stress is that it can creep up on you.

For me, life has been life-ing recently, and with it there have been extra doses of stress. A combination of horror and feelings of helplessness at what’s happening in the world, the curveballs life likes to throw sometimes, navigating self-employment in a cost of living crisis, perimenopause and more have contributed to me feeling overwhelmed and wired of late.

Being resilient is important and part of this involves knowing when to take a step back and make some space for yourself. So, I did just that. I took my own advice and stepped back from a few things for a while, including Substack.

Most of my recent freelance work involved much more screen time than was usual for me and I know that too much looking at screens leaves me feeling frazzled. Substack, as enjoyable as it is meant more screen time, and then I found myself feeling overwhelmed and guilty because there was so much that I hadn’t read or engaged with.

That might sound silly but it’s often these seemingly little things that can send you over the edge if you’re not paying attention – if you’re not aware. Those little things are often a symptom of something bigger.

Aside from getting outdoors to take a walk or be in nature when I can and taking some time to stare out of the window and let my mind wander when I can’t (I wrote last year about the benefits of mind wandering here), I find that I always return to yoga practices.

It was stress that brought me to yoga in the first place. (As well as some bonus back pain). 

I’m currently in my thirteenth year of teaching yoga and more than two decades of practice so far. I don’t claim that yoga is a cure all (because it certainly isn’t), but various practices from the yoga tradition (which include breathing, meditation and self-reflection too - not just postures) can offer you relief from stress and provide you with mental space – among other benefits – in a way that is accessible to you.

Because as nice as it might be to go on a holiday, retreat or spa break it’s not always possible.

With that in mind, I’m sharing just a few of the practices that I find helpful in the hope that you might find something here that’s helpful for you too:

Breathing practices

A number of practices like Box Breathing have been shown to help soothe the stress response. Listen to my guided Box Breathing practice here.

Restorative Yoga

This is very effective at facilitating physiological relaxation, calming the nervous system and toning the vagus nerve to name a few benefits. If you’re able to attend a class in-person then that’s ideal but if not, there are lots of online practices available. I have shared a number of restorative classes here on Substack (see The Reset).  You can try my Restorative Yoga for Anxiety class.

Yin yoga

This is another practice that calms the mind and body, encourages you to slow down and on a physical level can improve joint mobility and release fascia. I have yin classes on Substack too like this one from last Spring.

Guided meditation

Meditation has been proven to ease stress and anxiety, increase self-awareness and much more. You can find a number of guided meditation practices from me here on Substack as well, like this one, which I’ve removed the paywall on for the next 24 hours. Find more guided practices from me at A Peaceful Pause.

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Over to you:

• How do you navigate stress?

• An initiative you might wish to support here.

• If any of the above is helpful to you I’d love to know.