If your days have left you feeling like you’re running on empty, your mind and body could be in need of a simple reset. Those of us who have been going, going, going for a while know that it can lead to fatigue and stress. But even when our schedules get a break, we can be left feeling restless, psychotherapist Niro Feliciano tells TODAY.com.
Resetting Your Nervous System
That’s when an intentional reset is especially helpful, and you can start to feel better in just one minute, she explains. When your life is feeling extra busy, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But taking the time to reset your nervous system will help you through those stressful moments and allow you to actually enjoy the quieter ones.
One of the things we can do is literally slow down physically, like slow your pace down when you’re walking, Feliciano says. Try slowing down your walking pace with tai chi-inspired movements or taking a few intentionally slow, deep breaths. Or you could take “moments of slow ritual” during the day, Feliciano says, like reading a chapter of a book every morning or watching the sunset each night.
If you’ve been booked and busy for a while, you might notice yourself feeling extra stressed and restless — even when you have a moment to rest. That’s because, when we’re in that overworked mode, “we definitely have an excess of adrenaline in our body, and we have that so that we have the energy to keep going,” Feliciano says.
But when you finally get a moment to breathe, your body is still producing adrenaline at a high level, she says, which can feel “restless” and “uncomfortable.” That’s why taking time to intentionally reset your body and mind by slowing down is so beneficial. Find a way to incorporate slowing down into your day in a way that makes sense for you.
Feliciano suggests starting with a simple slow breathing exercise during a transition period, like when you first get home from work, or during the day when you notice anxiety is picking up. It shouldn’t take long to start to feel the effects, even when you’re body is in fight-or-flight mode after a stressful day. “That begins to reset your nervous system,” she says, “and you feel the effect of it within one minute.”
Slowing down intentionally in this way also allows us to practice mindfulness, particularly in moments of awe or gratitude, Feliciano explains. Taking just 30 seconds to soak up the moment and appreciate where you are, whether that’s on a beach vacation or on a walk in the park, can have a ton of benefits for your emotional and mental health.
Original reporting: NBC4 Los Angeles — read the source article.
