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Why does mindfulness help with long-term stress reduction? What’s the difference between mindfulness and other approaches to stress reduction and stress relief?
Imagine this all-too-common scenario: Your job is very stressful. You work 60 hours per week and feel that your boss is never pleased. You want to look for another job, but the economy seems so bad that you’re feeling kind of hopeless right now - and stressed!
What can you do to reduce your stress? Many people attempt to reduce stress by eating junk food, drinking, shopping, watching hours of TV, or other addictive activities that reduce stress in the short-term but generally leave us feeling even worse afterward. Healthier approaches include getting a massage, practicing deep breathing exercises, working out, calling a friend, or numerous other stress-busting strategies. These are all pleasant and helpful activities that boost our good feelings and energy.
Despite the benefits of these healthy stress-reducing activities, how well do they work in the longer term? What happens when you return to work the next day? How do you handle stress when you finally do land the great new job, only to have a new venue for your 60-hour weeks and another “crazy” boss?
Regular exercise and massages are definitely beneficial, but they don’t always help you deal with the immediacy of the stress-inducing moment. They tend to provide only a short-lived “fix” before you need another dose.
Mindfulness helps in the long-term by facilitating a long-lasting shift in the way we interact with ourselves and our world. When we practice mindfulness, we aren’t simply making ourselves feel better for a little while. Instead, we are learning to welcome the full, rich array of experiences that come to us each day, allowing ourselves to witness our reactions to these events and maintain a healthy separation from our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. We learn to witnesss each present moment with clarity and insight, thus being able to respond appropriately rather than react unconsciously to stress triggers. We don’t get caught up in the struggles, but rather observe them as they come and go and play out in front of us.
For some ideas about putting mindfulness into “action” in your daily life, read my Morning Mindfulness blog post and try some three-minute vacations and half-hour vacations.
