I guess this is probably a good time to talk about managing stress!

First, we need to understand what stress is.  It's not the environment, it's your reaction to it.  If it were the economy, for example, that was causing stress, everyone would be similarly stressed.  But we're not.  Our reactions are unique. 

Stress differs from pressure in the level of emotional content that goes with the way we think about the adversity we're facing.  Emotions, by definition, don't come packaged in words.  They're feelings, and they're loaded with physical consequences (adrenalin rush, tightness, shallow breathing etc).

Second, we need to know how it operates on us. Stress-carrying emotions are largely the product of our sub-conscious.  We get into a sub-conscious thought pattern that takes us downward or inward or backward -   wherever it takes us, it's not a good place.  Your mind starts working from a script that has a "repeat" loop.

Understanding this is the key to reducing eliminating stress.  The vital first step is to break the pattern by disrupting the script.  We do that by inserting a conscious circuit-breaker, which disrupts the sub-conscious script and stops the spiral.  If this is all you do, you will be well on your way to reducing stress.

The next time you observe that your breathing is shallower, you feel nervous or tense, you're a bit twitchy - whatever your stress symptoms are, you can take an immediate step to break the circuit.

Take three deep breaths, low and slow.  Think about nothing but your breathing.  Say to yourself as you breathe "I feel the air flowing through my nose".  And as you calm, feel the breath flowing through into your diaphragm and lungs.  Say to yourself "I feel the air filling my belly and chest".  You only need to do this four or five times to disrupt the stress circuit. 

If you're still feeling tight, try saying this to yourself as you breathe "My mind is still, my heart is calm".  Your subconcious will be unable to ignore the message.

You can do this anywhere, anytime. It takes two minutes and it works.  Every time.

In the next blog we'll have a look at a more comprehensive strategy, but it always starts with this.  Take conscious control of your subconscious script.