Does your body feel heavy and lethargic due to stress eating and turning to comfort foods?
How about your mind? Do you feel overwhelmed and anxious around the uncertainties of this moment? Are you losing sleep, feeling stressed and fatigued?
You may not be experiencing all of this, but chances are there is a low level of some of this going on – for all of us.
Hit the reset button so you can effectively respond to change and uncertainty, and create space for freedom, new possibility in your life.
That’s what your body and mind are actually craving when you feel the need for a reset: space.
Here are 5 simple ways to help you hit your reset button:
1.Take a Walk
Step out of confusion, overwhelm and lethargy with a walk outside. Don’t make it complex. You don’t need special shoes, clothes or a big time commitment. 1o minutes will work wonders.
Walk outside as you are and walk around the block. Look at the trees, feel the sun on your face and enjoy the movement of your body.
2. Skip Breakfast or Dinner
If your body and digestion need a reset then skip breakfast or dinner and eat a big lunch. Fasting is one of the best ways to reset your digestive health and even skipping one meal can offer great benefits.
According to Ayurveda, skipping a meal, especially if we’re not hungry, makes the mind sharper and allows the digestive tract to do some extra cleaning of the system.
Try it one day this week, and remember no snacking – that defeats the purpose. Making friends with your hunger helps you build resilience for doing hard things.
3. Shutdown your Screens
Stop the madness of checking email, scrolling social media, watching the news or mindless TV. These things aren’t life affirming, especially not at 9 p.m.
Allow your mind (and your eyes) the space to settle and rest away from screens at least an hour before bed. I also highly recommend a time and space with no screens for at least an hour after you wake up in the morning.
If you’re at a loss for what to do without a phone in your hand, read a book, practice relaxation, yoga, meditate, sit and look at the night or morning sky, savor a cup of herbal tea, take a bath or take a walk. There are many other things you can do that are life affirming and possibility creating.
4. Give 1 thing up 1 day per week
I recently listened to a podcast on the science behind happiness, and one of the ways to get happier is to give things up. When you take a break from something you enjoy it more when you go back to it.
Researcher and psychologist Liz Dunn put it this way: “This is one of the most important ideas across all of happiness research, which is that whatever we have, we tend to get used to it. So no matter how awesome our lives might be or what wonderful things come into our lives, we tend to get used to them over time. And the pleasure that they provide gradually diminishes… Instead, the idea is that we can kind of restart our happiness systems a little bit by taking a break from the things that we like.”
A simple way to do that is commit to giving 1 thing up 1 day per week. It could be meat, alcohol, coffee, sweets, TV, social media etc…
Hit your happiness reset button by giving something up. You can do anything for 1 day – and again – it builds your resilience to do hard things.
5. Take 3 Mindful Breaths – Anytime, Anywhere
The next time you find yourself commenting to yourself that you could really use a reset, stop right there. Take 3 deep, full and mindful breaths following the path of the breath through the body.
Make sure that you breathe in and out through your nose to get the most benefit. You can do this anytime and anywhere without anyone even knowing that you’re doing it.
Your eyes can be open or they can be closed. I do this all the time when I’m in conversation, especially difficult conversations where I want to keep my connection to who I want to be.
If you only have the time/space for 1 then take 1. The key is to remember to breathe and reset THIS moment right now.
These reset strategies are simple and available to you right now. There’s no need to stay stuck in overwhelm and stress. Time to take action and create space and possibility in your life. You got this!
If you’re looking for a reset that has lasting and transformational benefits, my Guided Fall Cleanse could be what you’re looking for. Click here to learn more.
My Fall Wellness Circle group coaching creates a supportive environment for a steady, grounded and powerful fall and Holiday season. Click here to learn more.