Lyons Leadership

Wouldn’t it be nice to find tips to reduce stress? Recently, I came across something that seems to fit that bill quite nicely. It is simple and effective. And for this parent of a teenager I need both in my life. Not to mention any help I can get on how to control anxiety.

One of my favorite stress reducing techniques is getting centered. What is ‘getting centered’? That is for you to figure out. Everyone has their own individual way to do this. Some even have more than one. But let me tell you once you figure it out, you will be able to start using it immediately.

Where does stress come from?

In my opinion, our lives are spinning so quickly and are so intricate, that we quickly become out-of-control. It is in that place out-of-controlness that we become stressed. It doesn’t mean our whole life is off kilter, maybe just an area or two, like kids, health, money. But those areas can be just as if not more stressful than you can believe!

So how to we reduce our stress?

In my opinion, you can’t reduce the stress. But you can learn to handle it. One way to do this is to get centered.

Tell me how to get centered.

It basically means to find a way to give yourself a sense of control over something in your life. It doesn’t have to be huge, trust me! It might not even be anything that is not in control, but just something you can have control over for that moment. It will do amazing things to your relieve your stress.

How do you get centered?

All you need to do is find an activity that helps you to feel relaxed. These come in all different sizes and shapes and are what you like to do, so don’t use your neighbors idea as a measure of the effectiveness of your centering ways. If it works for you, do it. I must tell you I love to mow the lawn. The sense of relief and completeness I feel in looking at the completed project, grass all neatly in a row, reduces my stress at once.

Like I said you can have more than one stress reducing way and I do. I love making the bed! Military tight corners, smooth sheets and blankets. And the spouse gets centered here too as it is one less chore on her list.

Speaking of my wife, she too has a centering tool – cleaning the glass on our sliding door. When life is whacko, she sprints down the hall and grabs the cleaner and towels and goes to town. She gets it so clean our kids have been known to try to walk right through it! But boy is she centered.

Separate those paper clips!

I know of a corporate bigwig who got centered by going through his paper clips and sorting the small ones from the large ones. When his secretary offered to do this mundane job for him, he politely declined. He knew this little secret kept him centered and at the top of his game!

So there you go. Is your life out-of-control? Well, figure out what gets you centered, and you’re well on your way to figuring out how to prevent stress.