Is there a connection between stress management and spirituality?

November 30, 2021 2:39 pm | Better Life, Happiness, Personal Development, Wellness

Understand the connection between stress management and spirituality and how it can be handled

We may have stress related to uncertainties or problems in relationships, the spiritual well-being of loved ones, finances, and health. Just what is the relationship between Stress and Spirituality? How can we reduce our response to stress in a spiritual way? Known as spiritual stress relief. Stress management and spirituality are closely related.

Stress refers to physical, psychological, and spiritual responses to demands. It isn’t the demands themselves, as much as believing in one way and living in another. Stress isn’t the distance we pedal as much as it is the distance between what we value and what we do. When the people and activities that are important to us receive little of our time and energy, we feel STRESSED! Our alignment with our inner truth can help u: to creatively live with our values, rather than in opposition to them. This perspective may explain why persons with terminal illnesses can live with more joy and peace while facing significant losses. So…

Four ways to manage stress with spiritualit

Fully Rely on God Whoever God you believe in or call him. The Universe, Force, God, you name it.

Do not be anxious but let yourself slight

  • Relax: Close your eyes and slow down your breathing. Scan your body for signs of stress, tense all muscles (starting with clenching your teeth and go down to your toes) as you take a breath in, and slowly relax all with slow deep breaths using your belly, rather than your chest, to breathe. Repeat this 4-5 times. Several other stress busters are praying, diaphragmatic breathing, and meditating. Try thinking the word “Love” as you breathe in, and the word “Gratitude” as you breathe out.
  • Observe: It is essential to be able to scan your body, mind, and spirit in terms of where and how stress is affecting you. Try keeping a stress log or journal.

Four tips to de-stress your spirit

1. Connect with yourself

Look deep into your eyes in a mirror. Contemplate. Who is looking? Realize the same awareness inside of you today has been there from the beginning of your life. There is a steady, abiding Self that does not change with the changes in your body, emotions, or thoughts. This strong core is a foundation for inner strength and support.

Why it works ~ When you are not dependent on outer conditions to define yourself, you feel free. The outer world is continuously changing and undependable. Your inner being is stable, grounded in reality, and invulnerable to attack by others. Viktor Frankl describes this beautifully in “Man’s Search for Meaning.”

2. Connect with the moment

Feel the water on your hands as you wash them. Notice the specific way you wash them, the slipperiness of the soap, the temperature of the water. Feel your feet on the ground, notice the sights, sounds, and smells around you.

Feeling your experience at the moment is a practice in being present and helps you connect with life in a deep and meaningful way. Set an intention at the beginning of your day to stop and be present frequently. This practice reduces stress by increasing awareness and makes your every moment meaningful.

Why it works ~ Connecting to the present moment centers, relaxes, and enlivens your life experience. You are not ruminating about the past or worrying about the future, which is stressful. The insight, knowledge, and experience of this moment are available to you. Stress decreases when you have a sense of control within yourself.

3. Connect with your purpose

How do you know what is important to you? You feel it. Notice the small voice or sense of knowing inside when something is attracting you. Your body alerts you to what is dangerous or attractive long before your minds can explain why. Pay attention to those cues. This is your intuition or sixth sense. Your most profound values and purpose are not in your head but in your heart. What does your heart respond to; what touches your spirit? The purpose is the force that energizes. It inspires you to get up in the morning. What excites your passion for life?

Why it works ~ When your inner promptings guide you, you cannot make a mistake. These are signs that lead to your truest desires and lasting happiness. Joseph Campbell, the great mythologist, says, “Follow your bliss”. When you follow your right path or calling, you are invigorated rather than stressed.

4. Connect with nature

You are part of a larger cosmos. You are not isolated as the boundaries of your body suggest. Whether you look at life from a religious, spiritual, or scientific perspective, what you think and feel affects the environment, and the environment affects you. Spending time in nature reconnects you to your natural rhythms. It is easy to lose your center when attending to other people, television, computer, shopping, and so on continually captures your attention. Taking time every day to be quiet in a natural setting, reflecting, journaling, or just being present can bring you back to yourself. When you take a break or before going home at the end of the workday, take a moment to smell a flower, watch the river flow by, or appreciate a tree.

Why it works ~ Earth vibrates at a specific frequency. Spending time in nature synchronizes our vibrations to the natural vibrations that support us. Closed up in hermetically sealed buildings with fluorescent lighting and re-circulating air all day can cause a loss of balance and connection with yourself and your natural rhythms. Spiritual stress results from the loss of connection to your true self, values, purpose, and nature. Taking time every day to reconnect with these aspects of your life reduces stress and supports happiness, security, and connection.

Because life is what you make it.

Together We Thrive

Anastasia Mouzina

Anastasia Mouzina

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