Who would you be without stress?
Imagine, for a moment.
Photo by Gordana Adamovic-Mladenovic
First, notice how you feel right now. Notice what is going through your mind, how relaxed or tight your breathing is, and how your posture is. Now, sit back and daydream about the coming year and how you see it unfolding over the next twelve months. Let your mind wander with this. What comes up for you? Take note and then let it go. Stay with this reverie and now imagine that this long year ahead of you is without fear, without pressure, without feeling overwhelmed, and without anxiety, dread, or stress. A stress-free year. How does that change what you may have first envisioned? Can you even read those words without immediately shutting them out as an impossibility?
A stress-free year.
When I use the word “stress” here, I’m talking about the utterly horrible feeling that somehow we can’t keep up with all of our responsibilities, commitments, and obligations. I’m talking about negative stress. The tightness in your chest, the feeling that you can’t take a deep breath, mind racing, not enough sleep, stretched thin, aches and pains, wishing there were 12 more hours in a day, and no longer enjoying your work, family, or friends. This is what I call stress and this is what I hear people asking for help with. Who wants to live this way? No one that I know, and yet this is how we find ourselves living our lives more than we like. So, let’s consider the alternatives. Maybe we don’t have to live like this. Can we entertain that possibility for a change?
So let’s play for a moment. I want you to abandon reason and suspend disbelief. Just humor me.
Go back to that daydream now and imagine who you would be without stress. Go there. The stress in your life is literally falling right off of you. Feel the freedom that comes with that. What else do you feel? Joy? Peace? What feeling fills you up when you let the idea of stress go? This is an important one, so linger here for as long as you can.
Photo by Pratani
What do you look like? What expression do you carry when you’re in this new space? Does your face feel more relaxed? Do your shoulders fall back a bit more than usual? What are you wearing when you feel this free?
How does your body feel? Is it strong? Comfortable? Do you radiate health? Do you feel like you’re glowing? Does it move easily and smoothly? Play with this idea.
Where are you? Where do you find yourself when you feel this relaxation, this strength, and this unwavering sense of freedom? What is the landscape?
Who is with you? Are you alone?
Spend as long as you want with this and imagine other things, too: what do you hear? What do you smell? If you could paint a picture of yourself in this place of freedom, what colors would you use? What would you say?
…..
I hope you’re smiling right now.
Keep at this. This is worth it. You spend a good deal of your life worrying about a great many things and usually you don’t even realize you’re doing it. It has become automatic for us. So it is important for us to consciously turn our minds to something more peaceful and freeing. Give yourself a break from the usual daily grind. Doing this opens us up to new possibilities and will actually help you make changes in your “real” life.
Photo by Guiri R. Reyes
This is my challenge for you. Go through this exercise and continue to imagine who you are without the stress we’ve all grown so accustomed to. Find activities that support this vision of yourself, surround yourself with people that support it, and keep your mind open. Part of my job as a bodyworker is helping people come closer to making this vision a reality, but much of the “work” happens outside of their treatments. The exercise we’ve done here is a great practice to do to move you in a peaceful direction for the new year. Let it help you figure out some resolutions that can actually benefit you and lead to positive change.
