Summer is here — and that means many places have already begun to feel the heat.
As high temperatures soar up towards the triple digits outside, far too often the signs of the inner “pressure cooker” remain hidden in silence.
Often times the early signs of stress go unnoticed due to one’s disconnect from the communication of the body.
The body is a source of communication which holds many keys as to what is occurring internally if you are only willing to turn inward and listen to its messages.
Listening to Your Body
For instance, pain and illness will naturally manifest somewhere within the body after all attempts at communicating have gone unnoticed. Stress is no different.
Three key signs that your body is trying to communicate to you regarding a build-up of stress are:
- easily upset by outside stimuli
- mental and emotional overload and
- feelings of exhaustion
If any of these seem familiar to you, then chances are you are dangerously close to having your pressure cooker pop!
So how can you beat the heat from your stress filled pressure cooker?
Three Ways to Ease Stress
Here are Three Ways which, when implemented, can ease the discomforts, lower your own internal thermostat and return you to a state of inner dialoguing with your body.
1. Hydration
Believe it or not, the body becomes more easily dehydrated in both extremes of the weather.
Whether you live in a high or low humidity state, making sure you keep the body adequately supplied with fresh, natural spring water or distilled water is key.
It is standard that 8 -10 8oz glasses is sufficient, however, if you tune into the conversation your body desires to have with you, you will better determine what is the correct amount for your body.
You can recognize the early signs of water loss by the color of your urine.
The darker the color yellow, the more severe the water loss.
Other signs, according to www.MedicineNet.com which show a more severe water loss is dryness of the mouth, the eyes stop making tears, sweating may stop, muscle cramps, nausea and vomiting and heart palpitations.
2. Meditation
Meditation has been recognized for ages to be a method in which to bring about a state of quietness to the mind.
Often times the mind races with thoughts when you are faced with a decision or choice. Modern society has led you to believe that it is the thinking mind in which helps you in making your decisions.
This is what has previous led you to feel the pressure of stress as they build up within you.
Learning to calm the mind through quiet contemplation daily will help to alleviate the pressure cooker all together.
This can best be achieved by implementing a daily meditation practice of at least 15 minutes in the morning before beginning your day and 15 minutes in the evening as the last thing you do before falling asleep.
One way in which to achieve this state is to breathe in through the heart area and exhale through the same center and as you do so, smile!
3. Rest
There is a difference between rest and sleep.
Not everyone requires the same amount of sleep each night.
Some function best with 3-4 hours, while others require 8-10. As you begin to tune into the communication in which your body sends to you, you will quickly realize what serves you best.
Resting, however, is more of a “resting of the mind” when you find that your thoughts begin to move all over the place, when you realize that you have drifted into a state of daydreaming or when you feel like you simply want to Explode all over another, it is time to Rest.
Sometimes a catnap is all that is required, while other times the need to take a step back, catch your breath and regroup will serve you well.
Learning to tune into your body will help you in reducing the pressure cooker of stress.
As the heat of summer is upon us, you can beat the internal heat if you implement the three keys in which to reduce your own levels of stress.