Mindfulness as Optimization
Empowerment through tools that reduce stress while assisting the entire planet
Mindfulness is quickly becoming a buzzword as newbies and gurus alike find peace and power within the self-mastery of centering in the present moment. While the word is gaining popularity, it isn’t for the typical en vogue reasons you may assume, it’s more out of necessity. Because let’s face it, our society has a problem. Most of us are stuck in ‘go, go!’ mode juggling our schedules and finding less and less free time.
Busy No Matter Your Age
If you are a teen, the technological demands (given our capabilities) are increasing for you to find your productive place in the world as everyone scrambles to prove themselves in order to secure a bright future. In midlife, we are seeing the effects of non-traditional households as women rise up to meet a new world and often hold down fulltime jobs while simultaneously retaining the nurturing aspect of the home. Likewise, men are taking on traditionally feminine roles in the family while simultaneously providing through traditional work efforts. The aging folks are finding that their savings are not stretching as far as they had hoped and are returning to a workforce in which they are having to take less pay while competing with younger people (who are willing to take even less pay). To say that our Society by enlarge is stressed out would be an understatement.
Some of us try to escape the demands of our busy lives through digital outlets including smartphones, games, TV, and any digital app that can distract us if even for a moment from the high demands of our fast-paced world. Stress has increased in proportion to our technology. As we have more capabilities, we often have more expectations.
The Effects of Overstimulation on Your Body
Let’s talk for a moment about what happens when we are in a state of chronic stress. While it is natural to activate supportive hormones in the short-term to rise up and get the job done, when you sustain high levels of stress hormones over time, the effects on your body are catastrophic. And it only makes sense, your body is not built to endure high levels of stress because your energy retracts and conserves which shuts off natural functions essential to happiness and fulfillment. The optimization and expansiveness when at peace aren’t reachable and your body goes into self-preservation mode. Your energy layers literally contract and you become less and less aware of the joys that the world has to offer. After all, you have to focus if you’re going to survive. When this occurs, it’s not only your mind that suffers, it’s your emotions as you have less access to the feel-good hormones essential for creativity, desire, and passion. When you’re in survival mode, you don’t have time for miracles and out-of-the-norm adventures. Playful curiosity just isn’t on the agenda.
Inaction and efficiency
Stress prevents you from being your best as you ironically push to perform at greater levels. The Taoist philosophy of “wu wei” is a great illustration of the power of rest and the paradox of efficiency which comes through inaction. Who would have thought that by spending more time doing less, that your actions would be more effective than when you do more? But when you think about it, how many times has the answer come when you surrender? Mindfulness of how you’re using your energy often points out the inefficiencies of stress and we receive very helpful alerts through frustration, overwhelm, and even anger. Helpful, that is, provided we listen. When we can recognize the beautiful alerts which our emotions are trying to share with us about the ways in which we are overworking our bodies, we can begin to set healthy boundaries and build efficiencies that serve not only us but the entire planet.
Ripples of Positive Change
When you’re at your best, the world improves. We can begin to prioritize our wellbeing as something beyond self-interest as we see how our attitude and beliefs ripple out into the world around us. And it doesn’t have to be a complete change in lifestyle. Spending just 10-minutes per day focusing on your breath, while planting your feet in the ground can do wonders to manage your stress levels and center you into a productive use of your energy (called coherence). When we can leverage tools that facilitate that type of transformation, we are no longer adding something more to our day, but rather, providing ways to reduce the overall intensity of the information coming at us which requires a response.
“To slow time down, practice enjoying the moment. It is where we spend our entire lives.” ― Wu Wei, I Ching Wisdom
Curated Activities That Support You
It is solely our choice as to the path we carve in each day. Even when the external world appears to be happening to us, it is happening through us. When you can empower yourself to leverage the tools that technology has provided us to sink purposely into flow, there is nothing you can’t achieve! The Vybe Life app allows you to witness the moment and assign no blame or shame to it. In doing so, you begin to realize the full consequences of your lifestyle in a way that liberates you from the restraints of it. Completing Vybe Activities to further train up your mindfulness and self-mastery, creates a path of optimal experience which allows you to achieve and succeed in all aspects of your life. When you are at your best, you experience the best, and amazing experiences come to you through personal magnetism. In this way, you improve yourself and extend out that raw potential to everyone you meet.
We invite you to explore and expand with us as a valuable member of the Vybe Life community by downloading the app. Be sure to like and share this article with anyone you know who deserves a little less stress and a lot more happiness in their life.
It’s apps like Vybe Life that are empowering people to remember the purpose of life: to soak in the goodness of what we all have available to us, regardless of circumstance, in a way that adds value and gratitude in which others can also enjoy.
How will your life change through building new habits that de-stress while empowering you? The sky is not the limit here; it’s a portal to your infinite and expansive potential. Tune in and expand with the Vybe Life app today.
