Just Stop and Breathe for a while: It helps!
Life on earth is never easy. It is like a never-ending cycle. We will be born, raised, attending school, and will get a job after graduation. We will make a living and a family. We will get old and die. Through the years, I have already experienced a lot of challenges and happiness in life. I have learned various life learnings from it, but did you ever feel like you sometimes want to go on an isolated place where you will be unattached to the reality because you do not want to think of anything else but happiness and comfort? Because I do.
In my 19 years of existence, I realized that allowing myself to stop for a minute, breathe, and reflect enables me to feel at ease, happy, and free from worries. I also realized that breathing out the negative vibes and breathing in positive vibes are useful to my wholistic health. Stopping to notice my breath and body for a while is a go-to tool to maintain my sense of calm, mainly when my stress and demands are high. Here are some of the moments where I stop from what I am doing and breathe for a while:
- When I have many worries in mind, may it be due to a combination of school works, family, peers, or financial problems.
- Having a combination of these worries in mind is unhealthy for your body. Stress and anxiety affect our bodies. You may experience difficulty concentrating, anxiety, depression, and irritability. You will be at risk for hair loss, dry skin, acne, indigestion, pain, and discomfort, decreased immune function, lowered immune defenses, reduced hormone production, muscle tightness, and heart attack, and stroke (Younger Chiropractic Clinic, 2017). If I have these worries in mind, what I do is that I rest for a minute, go for an exercise or a walk, then list all the problems in my diary, and work on how to solve each issue in the best way possible.
2. When I am feeling down, may it be due to failures in school or life.
- When I am feeling down, what I do is to have positive self-talk. I learned this technique from my development course in Senior High School. Words of encouragement like “I can do this.”, “I can make it.”, “I will be better soon. I will give myself a chance, and I will get through this.” motivates me a lot. It became my stepping-stone to move on. When I am feeling down, I experience denial and acceptance. What I do is that I will stop for a while, will look in the mirror, and will talk to myself with words of encouragement, then goes back to what I am doing. I am glad that it works for me!
3. When it seems like life falling apart
- Life can be brutal at times. I always hold on for a while when it seems like life is falling apart. I realized in my life that not all would work on us. What I do when it seems like everything falls apart is that I go for a morning jog, eat whole-healthy foods, and sleep at least 8 hours a day. I also prioritize rest, relaxation, and recovery. I realized that I wouldn’t be able to find a solution to my problems if I am always stressed out, low energy, and lethargic. I also express daily gratitude for what I have. When life gets hard, we often stop prioritizing laughter, but based on my experience, watching funny shows is one of the best ways to pull myself out of a routine and get back my energy for life. I also have me-time. Thus, I either get social support or reconnect with my old friend and family.
Life is a roller-coaster ride. We are always in a hurry and are steadily running to either our class or work. Almost all of us are about surviving, making money, etc. Many of us are in a rush, and sometimes, we forget to make new friends or enjoy life because we are focused on our goals. We always say no and still say, “I don’t have time.”.
I have learned that I must take a break on everything when I feel that the demand is high, and get back on track when I feel alright. We need to learn to slow down. The best way to eliminate stress, worry, and anxiety is to calm our hearts and souls. I am currently a college student and trying to get to my destination as fast as possible. But sometimes I’m starting to get burned out. I realized that there must be a balance. We need to take time to calm ourselves, be happy on simple things, and slow down. Thus, we can do all of these with the help of God.
I hope this helps.
Stay strong, and be thankful for what you have.
Fighting!
