28 May 6 things to think about when your mind is racing and you’re feeling stressed
It’s hard to be happy if your mind is racing with negative thoughts and you’re feeling stressed.
But happiness is possible when we manage stress effectively and learn to control our thoughts rather than letting them control us.
Feel like you could use some help in this area? Keep reading …
via Elite Daily by Annakeara Stinson
Have you ever felt so incredibly stressed out that your mind refuses to stop racing, no matter what you try to do? Whether you’re in a rough patch with your SO and you keep mentally going over that late-night convo you had, or you just got offered a lot more responsibility at work, any number of things can cause your head to start chattering with no end in sight. But there are things to think about when you’re stressed that can help you get rid of those racing, anxiety-inducing thoughts. Take a deep breath, girl. It’s going to be OK.
Listen, I totally get it. There are so many things to be stressed out about in today’s world, so you, my friend, are certainly not alone in your ruminating. As The American Institute of Stress reports, a survey done by the American Psychological Association in 2017 found that the most common sources of stress right now include the future of our nation, money, and work. What’s more, the survey found, 73 percent of Americans say they “regularly experience psychological symptoms caused by stress.” Yikes.
To say the absolute least, the effects of stress and anxiety can wreak some serious havoc on your mind, body, and spirit, so finding ways to cope with those lingering symptoms of stress, both in the long-term and in the present moment, is, absolutely necessary. To start off small, here are a few, calming things to think about when you’re feeling beyond stressed out.
1. Visualize How You Want Things To Go
Everyone daydreams from time to time, so why not fantasize about a positive outcome for a stressful situation in your life? Dr. Sanam Hafeez, a New York-based neuropsychologist on the teaching faculty at Columbia University, tells Elite Daily that one immediate response you can have to those mile-a-minute thoughts is to envision the situation (or situations) leading to your racing mind, as playing out exactly the way you’d want it to go.
For instance, maybe you wake up one morning with a cascade of stressful thoughts about a presentation you have to give at work later that day. Instead of just letting your brain run wild with that toxic stream of consciousness, try picturing yourself conquering the crap out of that presentation and impressing every single person in the room. “This visualization technique is soothing, and shifts us from anxious thinking to possibility mindset,” Dr. Hafeez says.
Never forget that your thoughts are a powerful thing, and that you do have control over them, even when it seems like you don’t…
…keep reading the full & original article HERE