The Impact of Where We Keep Our Focus On Our Stress

00:00:12 Hello. This is Dr. Shawn with reduce stress and thrive today. I would like to share with you how we experienced the reality, wherever we keep our focus. You see, if we allow ourselves to continue in stress, we will experience more feelings of being overwhelmed, stress, worried, and anxious. Yet. If we allow ourselves to refocus change as possible,

00:00:36 there are many things going on in the world today, around us and in our lives that can produce stress. Stress is a natural response to these perceived threats that Rob us of joy and peace in our lives, how we perceive and experience stress has so much to do with our limiting beliefs and ongoing stress has so much to do with where we keep our focus today.

00:01:01 I would like to encourage you and myself to reflect where do we keep our focus when stress, the most challenging part of being stressed is to interrupt the response inside and begin to refocus, having a different and better perspective in my own journey. At times, I found it challenging not to get carried away with stressful thinking when dealing with bigger problems or difficulties,

00:01:24 the harder things in life that we face fear of the future or fear of what will happen starts to get the better of me until I recognizewhat is going on and interrupt the streams of thoughts that rob me of peace and calm. I have found three practices that really helped me to interrupt feelings of stress and overwhelm allowing me to refocus and continue my day from a better perspective,

00:01:49 they are breathing awareness and listening. The first practice is breathing. I encourage you to take five or six deep breaths breathing in and out through your mouth or through your nose and out through your mouth. As if you're breathing through a straw, I found this practice very useful in helping interrupt stress and bring a peace and calm inside. The second step is awareness.

00:02:15 Step back and observe your thoughts and emotions. This is a no judgment zone. We all have thoughts and emotions. They are there for a reason, but they do not define us. They do not determine who we are or our future. As you begin to reflect on your thoughts and emotions, ask yourself what is true and what is real. The third step is to listen.

00:02:38 I encourage you to pause and listen inside asking the questions like, what are you grateful for or what is good in your life today? Each of these three things can interrupt the stress response and stressful thinking that goes on inside yet. When put together, they can really help us refocus and gain a different perspective, changing our day and allowing us to be tuned into the present moment.

00:03:02 I hope you found these three practices helpful, and I encourage you to try them as you experienced stress in your life. Feel free to watch this again and take notes or DM me and let me know, how have you experienced stress and what has helped in this session or in this season. It's been great. Sharing this with you today,

00:03:21 Make it a great day.