Inner Peace When You Feel Stressed 
At some point or another, we all experience stress. Some of us experience small doses of stress daily, while others experience big stress spikes every once and a while. However, it is that you experience pressure, you probably wish you had more inner peace. While you can’t totally eradicate stress from your life, but you can choose how you deal with it. If you want to feel more calm, cool, and collected in your busy life, try these four scientifically proven methods.
- Practice Gratitude
Does it sound silly? Maybe. Is it hard? Absolutely. In the grand scheme of things, though, you probably have a lot to be grateful for. Don’t let that slip away from you! Studies show that people who practice gratitude can reduce their levels of cortisol by up to 23%. High cortisol levels typically align with high-stress levels, so this number means a lot to anyone who is trying to reduce stress in their mind and body. It’s simple enough, so why not give it a try?
- Understand Your Fight or Flight
“Fight or flight” is universal — the body’s response is not. It truly varies from person to person. What you can do is take time to understand how you respond to it on an individual level. Do you get out of breath? Do you feel mental stress? Then, you can decide how you’d like to deal with it.
- Get in the Zone
Think about the last time you were in the zone. Maybe you were working on a project, going for a run, or having an interesting conversation with your best friend. In many ways, that “zone” is a happy place for your mind. It’s when your brain is balancing just the right amount of information with a sense of calm. Now, it’s probably not possible to be in the zone 100% of the time, but you can make a concentrated effort to get in the zone more often than not. The next time you feel yourself getting stressed or experiencing “fight or flight” to the max, get in the flow!
- Chalk it up to a Lesson
A lot of the time, we get stressed about things we can’t control — at work, with family, around friends, the list goes on. But, what percentage of the time is that under our control? Probably not much! When you find yourself getting stressed out, take it as a lesson. Tell yourself that you’ll do better next time. And then move on.
At the end of the day, we can’t control much in life. But we can control how we manage those uncontrollable things, right? Be patient with yourself as you work towards these goals — and be proud of yourself for doing it in the first place!
