What are you doing every day to help reduce the effects of stress? 

Creating a plan is simply another way of saying routine and creating a routine to support your mental health makes self-care so much easier! 

Your plan (aka routine) can be really simple because the easier it is to implement, the greater the benefit. 

Try this simple 5-10 minute exercise starting tonight or tomorrow morning: process your feelings. 

I think it’s one of the best practices, and you can do it for as little as 5 minutes a day.  I do it after my daily meditation practice, and you can do it after a meditation too, or sit quietly and write out your feelings. 

Reflect on things that feel pent-up or feelings you want to release. 

You can write down anything. 

Here are a few examples of what I write down in my journal….

“I now let go of feeling anxious about the outcome of X.” 

“I let go of putting any expectations around Y.” 

“I let go of any feelings of resentment towards this person.” 

Evenings are nice because stressful feelings can keep you up at night. 

Find a quiet place and feel your feelings. Digest them. Let them come up, and then let them wash over you and diminish. That’s an essential part of the process.  When you hold on to numerous (even small) stressful feelings, resentments, anger and expectations it can become overwhelming.

That’s when things become really chaotic. Little by little, you can release these feelings so they don’t continue to build in your system. You can journal and write it down as I do, or simply feel the feelings and release them. You’ll feel the shift! 

Remember, the body and the mind are not connected. They are actually one continuous system! 

To think about it as one continuous system, you acknowledge that it’s one continuous energy flow between the mind and body. When you think about that, the power of mental health and your emotional well-being means that you’re nurturing your body. 

You’re nurturing your body’s rhythms, hormones, digestion and all of the systems in your body. 

You’re eating well, which helps support your gut health and to create clarity, calmness and openness. 

This is the interconnection and flow of energy between your mental and physical well-being.

photo credit @livetheprocess