Maybe you don’t need to have less stress.
Capacity is a concept which I find works for pretty much anything you’re working with.
Relationships, business, work, stress, anxiety, fear.
When we come across difficulties, we can try & hide from them. We try & create less of that thing, to be able to deal with it, as we believe that’s the answer. It’s certainly the easiest answer.
However what we may need to do, is to develop greater capacity to be able to deal with the issue with ease.
Let me give you an example that’s relevant for this time of year particularly, as most people around this time tend to struggle with overwhelm. Everything becomes too much & the answer that’s glaring us in the face, is to consume less & cut back. To have less input; less to deal with. To make the decision to ultimately be less.
Now yes, there may be times where that does need to happen, of course. You may have taken on FAR too much & it may well be necessary to trim the excess. But as our main rule of existence is to evolve, I want you to consider if in fact this tension that’s being created, is an opportunity for you to grow.
The answer to that can’t be given to you by someone else, it’s entirely your intuition & inner guidance that will give you the answer. Just ensure that the voice you’re listening to is an empowered voice, making empowered decisions. There will be a scared voice that often crops up, who is more of a victim. Take your awareness deeper & listen to the tone of that voice & how it’s making you feel.
Ask yourself the question: am I avoiding growth, or am I facing it.
If you are avoiding growth, which from my own personal experience is more often the case than not! Then your answer is that this is an opportunity to create more capacity for growth.
If the feeling of that excites you, then that’s your answer. That’s you remembering who you are.
Remember that excitement may well be paired with feeling scared. They’re a duo that go hand in hand with anything that’s going to take shifting out of your comfort zone, so it’s going to take courage. Courage is one of my favourite traits, as it isn’t about gaslighting yourself that you’re not scared. It’s about acknowledging that fear & doing it anyway. That tag on is along for the ride.
How to create capacity, will depend on the specific issue, but think about creating more depth, capacity & space internally.
Some things that I find helpful for capacity, regulation & balance are; clearing my home, practising yoga, meditation & interospection, breathwork, not rushing (getting up earlier), cold water dips, boundaries, eating & drinking (well) at regular times, sleeping soundly for 8 hours, better planning, not avoiding the difficult things (eat the frog).
Life shouldn’t be filled with stress & it certainly wasn’t designed for always living outside comfort zones, but it might take a minute in those zones to get to the other side of greater capacity & ease.