Episode 108: Feeling Stressed? Use Mindfulness to Stay Focused

We all have days when we feel overwhelmed as the to dos pile up. Sometimes we can feel pissed off as we sit in traffic or deal with a problem we can't solve. Or maybe you just find yourself feeling unfocused and scattered. Mindfulness can help in all of these situations. I'll show you the ACE method to help you to be able to reset in just a few minutes so you can move through your day more easily. 

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The information contained and documents referenced in the podcast “Your Priority Centered Life” are for entertainment, educational and informational purposes only, and are not intended as, and shall not be understood or construed as, professional medical or health treatment, diagnosis, or advice. We strongly encourage listeners to consult with medical providers or qualified mental health providers with issues and questions regarding any physical and/or mental health symptoms or concerns that they may have. Furthermore, the opinions and views expressed by podcast guests, partners and/or affiliates are not necessarily those of the podcast host. Dr. Alise Murray’s opinions and views are expressed in her individual capacity and are not to be construed as those of any of her podcast guests, partners and/or affiliates.

Transcript

Do you remember the last time you felt overwhelmed? Like everyone wants a piece of you? Do this, do that, and btw, I needed it yesterday. On top of your head spinning with your own things that need to get done. Augh! Where do you even start? Or maybe it’s not having too much to do, it’s just garden-variety stress that has heated up to boiling. Here’s a way to help yourself through difficult times and to help prevent the overwhelm. It’s called dropping anchor or grounding. Psychologists call it dropping anchor, yoga teachers call it grounding, and as you may know, I wear both hats so I call it both.

Here's what we’re talking about. When you feel stressed out, you’re probably lost in racing thoughts. It’s like an emotional storm. Now, imagine a boat in a harbor. A storm begins. The boat could easily be swept out to sea, BUT if it is anchored, it is secured within the harbor and won’t go anywhere. Or imagine a tree in a storm. A tree with shallow roots can topple over, but one with deep roots, deep into the ground, will stay upright. In both cases, dropping an anchor or sending down deep roots won’t make the storm stop, but it will keep things secured until the storm passes.

So how do we do this? There’s an easy acronym to remember it.

ACE

A = Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings. Listen in to how you’re feeling and the thoughts that are connected with how you’re feeling. This is important because if you try to shove your feelings aside or think happy thoughts, it usually doesn’t work. The emotional storm could get more powerful in response. 

C = Connect with your body. This is to counteract being completely in your head in analysis paralysis and worry. It’s a reminder that even though things are stressful, you do have control over your actions.

E = Engage with the world and what you’re doing. 

Let’s do this together, just for a minute. You can close your eyes or relax your gaze and let it get unfocused. It’s up to you.

So just take a moment to acknowledge how you’re feeling. 

At the same time, see if you can notice your body being supported by the furniture or the floor. Press your body against the chair or press your feet into the floor. Gently move your neck. Notice that movement. Have a little stretch, whatever might feel good. Notice your muscles stretching.

There are thoughts and feelings here. And there’s also a body here surrounding these feelings and thoughts, a body that contains them, a body you can use to hear, to move, to communicate.

Now open your eyes or focus your gaze. Look around you. Notice five things you can see. Notice what you can see right in front of you. Notice what you can see further away. Now notice what you can hear. You’re hearing my voice. What are three other things you can hear?

Notice that there are feelings here, and a body that you can use. And notice what’s around you. Notice the work you’re doing, right now, even with all these feelings present.

Ok. So we did A, acknowledge your feelings and thoughts. C, connect with your body. E, engage with your surroundings and what you’re doing. You could repeat A, C and E as long as you wanted. 

Now this is a mindfulness exercise. It’s not a relaxation practice. You might find it relaxing, but remember, we’re not trying to get rid of the storm, we’re getting grounded and present. So you might notice that the thoughts and feelings are still there. That’s ok. You might notice that you are less jerked around by the stressful thoughts and feelings. You are here, and you are ok. 

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The great thing about grounding or dropping anchor is that you don’t have to be stressed to do it. You can do it pretty much at any time and anywhere during the day. You can do it for one minute or several minutes, repeating it over and over. It’s entirely up to you.

When I teach yoga, we always start our yoga practice by doing this. People may have come to yoga class feeling happy and ready to go, or they may be pissed off by fighting traffic to get there. It’s all good. We’re acknowledging our experience, connecting with the body, and then engaging with being in the yoga studio. That helps us be more self-aware as we practice yoga and more self-compassionate, which can make yoga a lot more enjoyable and less likely to lead to injury.

So I invite you to keep the ACE acronym in mind – Acknowledge, Connect, Engage - and give grounding a try today.