How to Use Mindfulness to Reduce Stress

So many of us struggle with feelings of burnout, high stress, and anxiety, and knowing how to manage these feelings in a practical way is so important. When we are in our stress response, our physiology is in a state of chaos – meaning our body enters a state of fight or flight. Our stress hormones kick in to ward off danger, further inhibiting non-essential functions in the body. This means our palms can start sweating, our pupils dilate, our digestion slows down, the frontal lobes of our brain shut down, and the breath becomes shallow and short.

To manage and hopefully mitigate this, we need to down-regulate our nervous system, shifting our physiology into greater coherency and balance. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) has two parts: ‘Flight and Fight’ (our stress response, or sympathetic nervous system), and ‘Rest and Digest’ (our calm state, orparasympathetic nervous system).

Both are equally valuable and important, however, the continual stresses and demands of modern life cause us to have prolonged periods in ‘flight and flight’, building up our stress hormones and heightening stress and anxiety, which over time can lead to bad sleeping, panic attacks, IBS and other health concerns.

Here are 7 simple tips on how to manage your stress and anxiety day-to-day.

1. Focus on simple breathwork

A growing body of research shows that breathing is an extremely important and effective way to bring a greater sense of calm to your body and mind. When we are stressed or anxious the amygdala gland (the alarm bell of the brain) is in overdrive. Just 3-5 minutes of mindful, rhythmic breathing will de-escalate this stress response and dial up the parasympathetic nervous system, the rest and digest part (PNS). When we breathe slow, deep rhythmic breaths, this interrupts the amygdala gland and stimulates the vagus nerve, which is the mediator between the body and the PNS. Additionally, when we are busy (which we all are all the time!) and stressed it directly affects our breath, and we begin to shallow breathe. This then communicates to the body that we potentially aren’t safe and need to be on alert; keeping us in our stress response. A great way to shift this is to place your hands on the lower ribs and direct your breath into the lower lobes of the lungs, and then exhale gently out the mouth. This communicates to the body we are safe and starts to dial up the PNS. There are some amazing breath practices on the app that you can follow, guiding you into this state of calm. 

2. Affirmations

When your mind is spinning and you are catastrophising, take ownership of this and learn to redirect the thoughts in your mind. There are 3 key steps in how to do this:

1. Notice and call out: 'My mind is spinning’; ‘My thoughts are not serving me’; ‘I notice that I’m catastrophising and thinking through all possible worst-case scenarios’.

2. Cut: Visualise cutting the thoughts at the cord and say ‘I banish that thought’.

3. Affirmation: Either flip the story on the head or try saying some affirmations that will offer you support in moments of stress. Some of my top affirmations are: ‘The fire within me burns through all blocks and fears’, ‘I am courageous’, ‘I am capable’, and ‘I am enough’. This is one way of rewiring the brain; in science, the rewiring of the brain is known as neuroplasticity.

3. Befriend your inner voice

We are our harshest critics. Befriending your inner voice is a powerful practice to support you in all times of life, particularly in times of need. When you are stressed or anxious talk to yourself like you would a best friend. Show the same kindness, compassion, and understanding that you would give to a best friend towards yourself. This practice stems from the Buddhist teachings on practising compassion towards ourselves and others. In the West, we now have a therapy called Compassion-Focused Therapy that uses tools like this to uplift and manage our minds. The more you can practice this the easier and more effective this becomes.

4. Visualise

Visualising is a hugely powerful tool to help shift what is happening in the mind and how we deal with things in the future. Often on a subconscious level, we are visualising and projecting our worries into the future. If you know you have a stressful situation coming up, start to visualise yourself overcoming the situation. Imagine yourself in that situation; as confident, eloquent, calm, and self-assured. How do you look in that situation? Do you embody the qualities you desire? How do you act? How does it feel in your body? Visualisation has been used for a very long time in sports and is supported by science. Muhammad Ali famously said, “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it - then I can achieve it”. He knew the power of visualisation as do many athletes.

5. Set yourself up

If you’ve had a super stressful day it’s really important to give your body time to wind down. This dials up the ‘rest and digest’ side of the nervous system and dials down the sympathetic nervous system (‘fight or flight’). This will help you sleep better and good quality sleep is key for helping with stress and anxiety. It’s equally as important to set yourself up for the best possible day so you are more resilient when curveballs are thrown your way. A great way to incorporate this into your week is to choose 1 night that you do a restorative practice.

6. Take action

Something that can be incredibly helpful when you’re stressed, anxious, or feeling overwhelmed is to write down all the things you can control, and all the things you can’t. Accept all the stuff that is out of your control and begin to write action points for all the things you can. This is super simple but super effective!

7. Flush it out

When we become triggered during our day, one of the best things we can do is to SHAKE it out of the body so it doesn't become stored negative energy. Shaking is the natural way to release tension and return the body to its normal homeostasis. It is a primal impulse to a stressful situation. Animals naturally shake to release tension after a life-threatening event. They simply shake it off and get back to the living moment. Humans should do it as well, but we have been taught to hold everything in. Put on a song you love and begin to shake and dance. Shake out the stress and worry, and exhale out the mouth, with giant audible sighs. Do this for 1 minute or an entire song. Give it a go!