Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Take A Step Back To Reduce Stress

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When you are feeling stressed out it can be useful to take a step back and put things in perspective, a strategy that can help lower your stress levels without having to doing anything to change your set of circumstances. For a human being, the difference between perception and reality is pretty blurry because your perception of reality is your reality, a fact cognitive behavioral therapists know all too well.

It’s very easy to blow things out of proportion when you’re feeling stressed out, losing sight of how good you actually have it. Here are some things to ask yourself.

– Am I healthy in mind and body?
– Do I have a roof over my head?
– Do I have enough to eat?
– Do I have people I can turn to for moral support?
– Will I care about what is stressing me out right now six months from now?

If you ever wonder how some people seem to be stalwart in the face of tremendous pressure, one answer is that they don’t perceive these stressors in the same way you do because they take the longer view, situating a stressful situation as a temporary annoyance while remembering to feel gratitude for all the good things they have going on in their lives.

If you can remember to do the same, this energy of mindfulness will transform your stress energy, making you more calm and resilient in the face of what you view as a transitory challenge rather than an interminable torment.

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