Nataxja Cini

Sometimes you need to bring back some calmness into your day. It’s good to know that you can quickly create a sense of calmness through deep breathing. The key to deep breathing is to breathe deeply from the abdomen, getting as much fresh air as possible in your lungs. When you take deep breaths from the abdomen, you inhale more oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and less anxious you feel. Sit comfortably with your back straight with one hand on your stomach. As you breathe in through your nose feel your stomach rise. Exhale through your mouth; pushing out as much air, your stomach will sink.  Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to inhale enough so that your lower abdomen rises and falls. Count slowly as you exhale. In a short time you will feel more relaxed and calm.

1.      Draw new lines around yourself. Sometimes we get caught up in doing things for people when it is not our role or responsibility. Don’t let your boundaries be violated when it comes to tasks and responsibilities that are not yours

2.      Prioritize. Sometimes we get immersed in doing a thousand things that may not be necessary or even important while we get this illusion that we are doing a lot of things – even though they might be eating away at your precious time and energy

3.      Look into yourself. The subtle reality about prioritizing is that it takes some soul searching and reflecting on what is important to you and your life. It is particularly important to know what you want. Knowing where you would like to end up requires that you spend some serious time exploring what makes you tickabout where you would like to go in life.

4.      Cut out time and energy drainers. Knowing what to overlook is a good half of the task of reducing stress. Sometimes we end up doing a great deal of things that may have been energy drainers rather than the important tasks that would have lead to accomplishing your major tasks and duties.

5.      Create buffers. Even if you are the best planner, you need buffer time to do nothing. That’s right – doing nothing is harder than you imagine, because societal values tell us we must be busy all the time and doing nothing brings shame and guilt. Rejoice and do nothing.

6.      It’s not just what you do, but how you do them. Keep a keen interest in not only reducing your tasks or stressors but your attitude. Be curious about how others accomplish the same task. What secrets do they know?