Summary

The article provides strategies for managing stress and worry by practicing letting go, compartmentalizing, meditating, reliving past successes, taking a hot bath, and achieving deeper sleep.

Abstract

The article "Stop Stressing: 6 Takeaways You Can Apply Right Now" offers practical advice for dealing with the inevitable stress and worry of a busy life. It emphasizes the importance of acknowledging one's limits and actively choosing to release concerns about future events, either by surrendering them to a higher power or by consciously deciding not to dwell on them until necessary. The author suggests compartmentalizing problems by visualizing them locked away, which helps prevent constant rumination. Meditation is recommended as a method to achieve mental calm, although the author admits personal difficulty in maintaining this state. Recalling and embracing past successes is encouraged to build confidence and counteract negative thoughts. Additionally, the article advises taking a hot bath to relax and lower blood pressure, and it stresses the significance of preparing for the next day without fixating on problems right before bed to ensure a restful sleep.

Opinions

The author acknowledges the persistence of worry despite efforts to let go, suggesting that success in releasing stress requires repetition and dedication.
Worry is characterized as both a persistent foe and a persistent folly, implying that one must be more persistent in overcoming it.
The author expresses a personal struggle with meditation, indicating that individual experiences may vary and that what works for one person may not work for another.
Success is not to be taken for granted but should be celebrated when it occurs, creating positive memories to draw upon in future stressful situations.
The author believes in the power of a hot bath to not only relax the body but also to significantly lower blood pressure and prepare for a good night's sleep.
Watching calming content before bed, such as a comedy or travelogue, and engaging in activities like reading, are recommended to help clear the mind and improve sleep quality.

Stop Stressing: 6 Takeaways You Can Apply Right Now

Stress and worry are an inescapable part of a busy life — but they don’t have to dominate you, or rob your life of joy. Too many of us elevate stress and worry to an all-consuming, untouchable status. Discussed below are a few ways to cut these two down to size.

Problem: You have an important presentation or life-changing decision you must make. You have analyzed and prepared thoroughly, but the worries won’t go away.

Let It Go

If I am dealing with an intractable problem, I tell myself: “I have reviewed this enough. I’m done with it. I’m letting go of it till ______ (tomorrow, next week, whenever I must actually deal with it).”

If you have a higher power, turn it all over to the higher power. If you don’t, turn it over to the ether. The point is you’ve worried about it enough. Leave tomorrow’s problems for tomorrow (paraphrasing advice from the Sermon on the Mount).

Okay, I’ve released my mental grip on tomorrow’s problems. Are they gone? No. Telling myself to let it go works for a couple minutes, and I’m right back in the worry stew. Completely normal. I have to keep at it, keep letting it go. For worriers such as we, surcease doesn’t come easily. A new groove must be worn, a new tape loop recorded.

When the worry keeps coming back, keep letting it go. Letting it go is like so many things: success requires repetition, practice, dedication. You will become better at letting it go the more you do it.

Compartmentalize

This is an alternative form of letting go with different imagery. Got a problem to deal with? Spend time in developing a solution, then put the whole mess out of reach and out of sight. Lock it up in a box marked DO NOT ENTER.

Picture yourself tucking the problem and proposed solution into the box. Put a mental padlock on and clasp hard. Done.

You may find yourself trying to pick the lock, or realize your mind has somehow slipped inside the impenetrable box. Exit at once. Clasp the lock shut again.

Worry is both persistent foe and persistent folly. We must be more persistent than worry.

When you find your mind drifting back to the problem, remind yourself that it’s off limits till the time you need to address it. Once you get the hang of this, you will be surprised how well compartmentalizing works.

Meditate

When under stress, some are able to transport themselves to tranquil settings where their minds relax and rejuvenate. One technique is to picture a pastoral place of serene beauty where you can lie in repose, be calm, and let your mind go.

“Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream,” is how John Lennon phrased it in “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

I have not been successful with this. Many of us are more like George Harrison, meditating backstage before appearing on the Tonight Show. Harrison said he could achieve a very calm state through meditation, but it only lasted until he was given the cue and then he was awash in nervous energy.

We’re all different, and maybe in a time of stress you will be able to transport yourself to a bucolic setting of green grass, silken birdsong and soft sunshine. It is certainly worth a try, and like anything else, practice and dedication surely help.

Review and Re-Live Past Successes

If you have succeeded at a similar task, take time to recall that success. Your mind may want to brush it quickly aside with a dismissive “That was last time.” Don’t let it.

If you’ve done a similar task before and succeeded, dwell on that success. Embrace it.

Remember, if success is always your expectation and no big deal, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Instead, picture yourself performing at the desired level, and when you do succeed, celebrate it as an achievement! Create additional positive memories for the next time you’re in this position.

When you relive a past success, savor the feelings that came with it. Listen again to the congratulations you received, experience the euphoria, enjoy the feeling of achievement, the relief. Experience those emotions again. Drink them in. You are rewiring your mind from what-if-I-fail? to the healthier I-will-succeed-as-I-did-last-time.

Relax With A Hot Soaking Bath

Soak in the tub, stretched out with no distractions. Resist the urge to multi-task: No phones, TV, Kindle, no stimulus, no demands. If you like, soothing music is appropriate: classical, spa, new age.

I’ve measured blood pressure before and after and found that a good hot soak of a half hour can lower the systolic number. A pleasant, calming bath can be an excellent predicate for a good night’s sleep.

Achieve A Deeper Sleep

Reviewing tomorrow’s problems right before bedtime is an excellent way to trigger a shot of adrenaline. You will begin to fight tomorrow’s battles just when you should be winding down and replenishing your reserves.

Instead, early in the evening, make your list of tasks, and confirm the time of your first commitment.

Then, put the list aside and let it all go.

I don’t sleep well after watching an action movie. Too many frenetic images buzzing around in my head, and the images don’t settle when I turn off the light. Better to watch a comedy, or a travelogue.

Spend a few minutes stretching and deep breathing. You may be surprised to discover how much tension you’re holding in neck and back muscles. A few minutes of stretching and slow breathing can produce a deeper, quieter sleep.

Don’t forget, reading a good book is an excellent way to slow the body down, relax the mind, and sow an outside narrative into your thoughts. When in a highly stressful situation, I transport myself to other lands with works by Robert Macfarlane, Peter Matthiessen, Merrill Gilfillan, Ian Baker, or Henry David Thoreau. After a good read, the mind always breathes a little easier.

Summing Up

In the song “My Favorite Things” when the bee stings or the dog bites, I should “simply remember my favorite things/ and then I don’t feel so bad.” Good luck with that. Warm woolen mittens won’t get the job done for those of us needing more than temporary distraction.

Instead, devote yourself to learning how to make worry evaporate using the methods above. Put yourself in a frame of mind where you can enjoy life again free from the stress of tomorrow.