Stress management: the gift of ten minutes
Stress is a trigger for IBS and we all have different ways of relieving our stress. How do you relieve your stress? Meditation? Listening to music? Going for a walk? Reading a book? Nothing at all you just power through?
It’s likely you have the best of intentions. But it’s more likely you just THINK about doing something to reduce your stress and then you go back to whatever was stressing you out in the first place. And maybe, to make matters worse, you grab a cup of coffee and a candy bar as an afternoon “pick me up” and then you’ve compounded the problem. Now you’re stressed out and you have a stomach ache.
Here’s a thought. What if you gave yourself the gift of ten minutes each day. Put it on your calendar at a time you feel you will be most likely to honor that gift to yourself. Then decide, ahead of time, what you will do with that time. Don’t make it complicated or you won’t do it. Put a visual queue out as a reminder (like your walking shoes for example.)
Can’t think of anything you can do in ten minutes? Try this:
Take a walk. Even around the block. Or, around your house if it’s bad weather outside. Just walk for ten minutes.
Want to make that walk even more valuable? Pop your headphones in and listen to music while you walk.
And one last thing…take some deeeeep breaths while you walk. Fill your lungs completely with a focus on the very base of your lungs and hold it for a few seconds. Then breath it all the way out and hold that for a few seconds. Do this a half a dozen times while you’re walking.
I promise you will be amazed at the results. Your stress will be reduced. Your mind will be more focused. You will be ready to tackle whatever it was that was stressing you out with renewed optimism and energy.
Once you get good at this ten-minute gift you might find you’d like to expand the gift to 15 minutes or even longer. The benefits will far outweigh the few minutes it takes to do.
Want to learn more about handling stress and other IBS triggers? Join me in the IBS Game Changer program. We’ll map out the perfect ten-minute gift for you and start working together to get your body and your mind into a nice rhythm that will help you change your game and thrive.
