Relax In The Face Of Uncertainty, Danger & Isolation

Are you feeling overwhelmed and stressed like never before? It's only natural that uncertainty and a lack of control will do this to you. Learning to relax under these conditions can help you be healthy and have a clear mind to not only survive, but thrive.

These 3 steps can help you do that:

#1 - Build Your Awareness

Build your awareness in order to address what is causing you stress. Just being actively aware of this very moment, right now, without any long-term building of awareness can help immediately, but building awareness over time is what will lead to lasting relaxation in the face of anything. There are many mental exercises to help you build awareness, but meditation is the most well known. Personal stream of consciousness journaling can also be very helpful.

#2 - Identify & Accept Stressful Body Sensations

Awareness (actively used right now or built over time) is what will help you identify what is causing you stress in a given moment, which allows you to address it. First, become aware of the uncomfortable physical sensations associated with your stress or fear. This is the reason why you don't like stress and fear. It doesn't feel good and can be physically painful.

Often these sensations drive an emotional reaction like anger, frustration, crying, panic, etc. These physical sensations are often felt in the gut, chest, shoulders, arms, or face, but can be felt elsewhere. When you identify a sensation, accept it, embrace it, even give it love. It is there to help you get to the cause, which enables you to address it. If you try to ignore or resist it, it gets control over you and amplifies. By recognizing its reality and fully accepting that it exists right in this moment, its grip loosens. This step (#2) can do wonders in alleviating your stress. However, stopping here won't give you lasting, effortless relaxation. This is the purpose of step #3.

#3 - Identify & Uproot Your Fears

Once you have identified the physical sensation(s) in step #2, it's time to get to the cause of it. What is that physical sensation saying to you? What are you afraid of that is making that sensation happen? Call it out in your mind, or even write it down to be very clear about it. When you identify it, it helps you look at its truthfulness and validity.

You will find that many of the causes that you identify are simple surface level things that can be let go of easily once recognized. You might think "that's silly to be mad about that" or "I can't believe I was afraid of that" or "it really doesn't make sense to react to that anymore". This can be very helpful in the moment, and can help you to not have the same reaction in a similar situation down the road. You should feel increasingly relaxed just by doing this type of clearing.

However, some of the causes that you identify may have much deeper root causes. They are often associated with very natural, very human fears ingrained in all of us. To get to these roots, you have to want the truth more than anything, and you have to have courage to face your deepest fears - even those that you may not currently be aware of. Start with your surface level physical sensation, then ask what is the cause of that sensation, then ask what is the cause of that cause - and so on until you can't go any further. This can be a challenging process, but by going through it, over time you will open yourself to lasting relaxation in the face of anything.