“It’s not good to cross the bridge before you get to it.”

Dame Judy Dench

Or to put it another way – don’t worry about something before it happens.

We are all balancing the conflicting demands of busy lives. To some, this can seem a major headache, weighing you down, yet to others it seems a dynamic way of living, giving vibrancy. Our inner environment also places demands upon us, often unconsciously. The key to having more energy and less anxiety is achieving balance and dealing with the automatic reactions which may increase the pressure you feel. You have to find your own point of balance and the right tools to reach it. Because we are all different and have different internal environments, each person’s balance point is unique to them.

This blog will give you some hints and tips for noticing and judging the levels of pressure you feel while making sure you don’t burn out!

Are Your Pressure Levels Healthy?

We all need a certain level of pressure to motivate us, keep us engaged, and moving forward. That is a healthy level of pressure as long as you don’t overdo it. Where the level of work and other activity in your life is about right for you, you’ll generally feel OK and able to cope easily. In fact, it may feel more like cruising than coping. Problems arise when:

• your mind and body are under pressure that you’re unaware of it
• you have too much or even too little to do
• you have the feeling that you don’t have much control over your situation
• the things you have to do appear too difficult, tedious, boring or time-consuming
• you keep yourself going beyond the level your energy resources will support
• you are creating fight or flight energy through your unconscious reactions
• you become overwhelmed by unexpected events or pressures, such as shortened deadlines or a sudden increase in demands
• you spend extended periods living with unhealthy pressure levels

Image credit: Christine Donaldson on Unsplash

It’s not unusual for physical, mental and emotional symptoms to creep up on you, unnoticed, if you have any of the things in this list happening too frequently, with no chance to recover, or in combination with each other. It’s much healthier to pay attention to and notice your pressure levels as they build, giving you the best opportunity to manage that pressure.

Let’s try a short experiment. Right now, in the middle of reading this newsletter, just stop, freeze your body in the position that it’s in right now. Don’t move or adjust anything. FREEZE – in whatever position you’re in.

Now – where do you feel tension in your body? Perhaps you have tight muscles, a clamped jaw, raised shoulders, a stiffened back, clenched fists. How much pressure do you feel in any one spot? Now take a breath, focus on where you feel that tension and consciously let go of as much as you can. Now re-balance your body as best you can to reduce pressure or tension at that spot.

Practice this freeze technique regularly and you’ll become more aware of where tension builds and will notice earlier the sensation of pressure starting to rise as reflected in your body.