Living Mindfully

This week in WW (Weight Watchers) world we focused on living mindfully. Living in the present moment and how stress plays a role own our journey. There is acute stress—short term and in the moment versus chronic stress. In this chapter of my life, I mostly deal with acute stress. While my partner was living and ill over a long period of time I was dealing with chronic stress. Some of us are in both chronic and acute stress. Those are hard moments of our lives and kindness to oneself is key!

I have learned to be curious and appreciate my distress and pain. It is a great teacher. What has been helpful is to think of pain as a fire alarm that is calling us to take action versus a stop sign.[1] The question is what action will we take?

We all deal with stress differently. Taking action will also be different. I hope you find what works for you.

When faced with stress our safety is challenged and some of us go into the freeze state of the fight, flight, freeze. Some fight and some flight. Some of us turn to food and some of us turn away from food. The key is to be aware of how we each deal with the stress in our life. Find actions that will be helpful to our situations.

I go to freeze and need to use techniques like hand to chest to bring me back to safety. Breathing is also key to bringing me back to safety.

You can increase or decrease the number of seconds. Play and be curious!

Box Breathing was introduced at WW workshops and can be helpful regarding to stress. A quick google search will give you some videos on box breathing and opportunities for you to practice it. I practice my breathing techniques while in the cold state or while in new brain depending on the language you use. I practice so when I am in an acute stress situation, I can utilize my breathing to help me shift from the hot state and/or old brain.

Coach Sara introduced five finger breathing, which is also awesome! A quick google search will also give you a little more detail.

My go to is 5-7-8 breathing in 5 breaths, holding 7 breaths and breathing out 8 breaths. I find this helpful when dealing with stress. We can narrow or expand the number of breaths depending on what works for each of us. In this technique the key is to breathe out longer than we breathe in. Again, a quick google search will provide more information.

I recognize that much of my early life and adult life I dealt with chronic stress and the consequences are clear when I look in the mirror. I have stored my weight around my abdomen. This can lead to chronic health consequences. I am working at living a new lifestyle to see if I can mitigate the outcomes. While I have been very successful in my health journey, I recognize I still have a ways to go to be in the healthy weight range for my stature. It is a work in progress.

Living my life through the lens of my values motivates me to walk the highway of change and be the best I be can every day. On the highway of my life. I run into pain, and I use my skills of urge surfing or I surf the urge. I find compassion for myself when I am not willing to change. Recognizing where I am on the wish, want, commit continuum and finding compassion are key to my success.

I hope you explore the different breathing techniques and make them part of your toolbox. Recognize that stress is part of living our lives and there are tools and techniques out there that will work for each of us. Have a great week!

[1] Dr. Adriana Wilson, Inspired Living Medical