Stress Relief Tip #4

Stress Relief Tool #4-Make a “lights me up” list.

This tool will allow you to identify and focus on what truly energizes you and gets you in the “zone.”

Many people live their lives from a place of shoulds, have-to’s and musts, without adding in those aspects that give “juice” to their lives.

When there are too many “shoulds, have-to’s and musts, it feels overwhelming, burdensome, heavy and stressful. Our spirits need more lightness, ease and joy!

When you make a list of “what lights me up,” you see what gives you life, vitality and feelings of well being.

You also get to see if you are getting enough of those!! It’s very possible, you aren’t. When we are depriving ourselves of those energizing experiences, we will feel stressed out and not tuned into the joys of life.

Be proactive and start adding in more “lights me up” aspects in your life. You’ll be giving yourself relief from your stresses, you’ll start to feel more alive, “lit up” and more easily able to handle those hills of life when they show up.

Here’s how to do this: 7 easy steps and an alternative process:

1-Have a notebook and pen ready, as you get yourself comfortably seated and ready to write.

2-Take 3 deep breaths…all the way down into your belly.

3-Now, write down everything that gives you feelings of well being and just “lights you up.”

For example: Taking a walk in nature; talking with certain people; taking a bath; doing creative work; gardening; swimming, horseback riding, playing with your children, playing with your grandchildren, playing with your furry children, an aspect of your work that allows you to feel connected, heard and contributing to others…you get the drift. Keep that list going.

4-Now take a moment and notice how you are feeling after having made this list.

If you are staying present to the feelings each of these gives you, I imagine you are feeling pretty lit up by now!

If you find yourself thinking “gee I never do that” or having any focus on the absence of those things that light you up, stop and simply focus on the feelings of one of the “lights me up” items you’ve listed.

5-After you’ve made your list, score each item on your list from 1-10 in relationship to how much this is in your life right now-how much “lights me up” are you giving yourself?

1=not at all

10=all the time

6-Now you can make changes. You’ve brought in the awareness needed to make a shift. You’ve felt the energy of being “lit up.” Now you can have more “lit up” time in your life!

Choose one item on your list you can definitely commit to having more of in your life.

7-Write that one item on a separate piece and put it where you can see it easily. Write it on around another piece that you can pull out of a pocket or purse when you are feeling stressed.

Simply focus on how it feels to be doing that or connected to that “lit up” aspect and you’ll get distracted from what is stressing you out, you’ll connect in to your feel good hormones, and you’ll be reminding yourself of how good it feels being “lit up”!

Hint: you’ll be inspired to keep having more “lit up” times!

Remember to make time to keep this commitment of adding in “lights up” aspects to your life and you will notice how much better you feel, how life seems to be brighter and how you are feeling generally just more “lit up.”

An alternate exercise using this same principle:

1-Write down all aspects of your life: i.e.: job, relationships, home, furry children, recreational activities you do, etc.

2-Rate each item/aspect from 1-10, using same scale as above, as to how much each aspect “lights you up.”

3-Then choose an item to eliminate or change how you relate to it, if it doesn’t score high on the “lights up” scale.

4-Use any of the remaining steps from the first exercise to deepen the process.

Either way you do this exercise, it works to give you the awareness and tools to take charge of creating a more balanced, joyful and “lit up” life…the one you were meant to have!

Please share which exercise you choose to do and what you discovered!

I’m excited to hear! Put your comments below!