4 Exercises to Start the Morning Stress-Free
“No way, today will be a nightmare.” Have you ever thought about this before you turn off your morning alarm? Even when we’re half asleep, relaxed, and safe under the sheets, we can begin to imagine the disasters the day can bring. On the one hand, we may feel productive and think, “I am preparing myself for worst-case scenarios”. However, according to new research, we inevitably create a difficult day for ourselves when we plan our days before the event starts. A study shows that predicting stress can prepare us to experience daily stress. As the researchers recruited 240 adults for the study, they had them answer some questions in one app seven times a day for two weeks. The questions asked were: ︎
- Do you think tomorrow will be stressful?
- What is your current stress level? ︎
- Morning Do you expect your day to be stressful? ︎
They were then given working memory tasks five times a day to test the part of the brain that helps with learning and retaining information. It turned out that people who wake up thinking the day will be stressful perform worse on these tasks, even though there is no genuinely stressful situation during the day. So what does this mean? When we think we’re going to be stressed, our minds open to stress, which can make us less focused and more prone to mistakes throughout the day. “When you wake up in the morning with a certain perspective, the mold has already been cast,” says Martin Sliwinski, one of the study’s authors. “If you think your day is going to be stressful, you will feel these effects even if nothing stressful happens.” There are several ways to reduce stress estimates so you don’t experience such a situation.
1-Take Action Immediately
When stress arises, we tend to avoid it in several ways. Any form of distraction, ignoring what’s going on or thinking it’s going to disappear… But these avoidance techniques don’t do much to relieve stress. To do this, you need to take action. This can happen in several ways. You can get physically active by taking a walk or doing quick stretches. Or you can activate your brain and start generating solutions. You can make a mind map. You won’t be able to fix everything immediately, but it can even be helpful to list ways you can set a problem.
2- Keep Stress Notes
Do you wake up stressed every morning? For a week, when you wake up every morning, do a little experiment and measure your attitude. Keep a notebook beside your bed where you answer the question “Do I think today will be stressful” and record your answers for seven days. Recognize how often you anticipate a stressful day; if you find yourself anticipating stress, take that as a sign to reset your perspective. However, you can also try doing a gratitude exercise. Research shows that gratitude can help reduce stress and build resilience.
3-Strengthen Resilience Muscles
It is believed that most habits require 21 days of continuous use to be adopted. So once you try these exercises, you will see that they work. While you can’t control what’s coming your way, you can control how you approach each day and respond to the stimuli that make up your daily life. And it all starts with waking up and changing your assumed “today will be stressful” approach.
4-Imagine Stress Will Pass After a While
This is one of the most effective exercises. If you can’t get can’t the stress, ask yourself if the focus is justified. However, think about the 10-10-10 rule and ask yourself, “What will” the results be in 10 minutes, ten months, And ten years?” 10-10 can help you paint a long-term picture. Even if something is stressful at the moment, it can be strangely comforting to realize that in 10 months, you will forget everything.
