PERSONAL TRAINING FROM THE INSIDE OUT: BUILDING MIND-EMOTION-BODY MUSCLES

     Most of us have heard about tried-and-true methods for reducing stress in our lives, such as:  Deep Breathing, Meditation and Stress Management Techniques.
     These methods help us to focus and think more clearly by oxygenating our cells and brains, which contributes to calmer physical and mental states.  Further, time-management, pacing our efforts, exercise, visualization (and other techniques) help us to reduce stress by creating a greater sense of control over our energies and our ways of perceiving, and therefore, experiencing, our circumstances.  All of these methods, and others, are important parts of the stress management concept and bring us closer to reducing our physical reactions to stress.
     How we apply these methods, as well as our perceived benefit from them, are influenced by our relationship with our own thoughts and emotions and their management.
     Do you experience stress reduction as dependent upon that which is happening around you?  Or, do you experience it as a result of that which is happening within you?
     To get straight to the point, for the most part, it is what you think or believe that causes you to feel emotions that cause physical reactions.  This process applies to both negative and positive emotional and  physical reactions. 
The chain reaction is as follows:
          Thought >>> Emotion >>> Physical Reaction
     To manage stress effectively, get acquainted with your beliefs.  Build the mental and emotional muscles that support your ability to be consciously peaceful.  These muscles serve as shock absorbers that lessen the intensity of the bumps in the road of daily professional and personal life.
      Some mental and emotional muscles to develop that can mitigate the way you experience stress are:

​Choosing your daily activities (even the unpleasant ones), instead of forcing yourself to deal with them.  Approach your activities with intentionality so that the quality of the activities is less important to you than the purpose of them.
Know your triggers so that you are more, versus less, prepared to be the best version of yourself when you are faced with a challenge.  The situations that frustrate, irritate, upset or anger you are not the problem.  They are opportunities to discover the parts of your inner life that need your attention. 
Dance in the Zone of understanding and respecting the messages from your mind, emotions and body that are part of your built-in guidance system for navigating life consciously, effectively and peacefully.
     To be the master of your own mind, and of the way you experience your life, look within.  Purposely build the mental and emotional muscles that help you to lead a focused, intentional and more peaceful life.