Spiritual center is hard enough to achieve with regular stress levels, but if you let it get out of hand, your day-to-day stress might take over. Incorporating a higher level of thinking, which is one of the many great methods used to reach spiritual center, can help you reduce stress and rise above other material issues. While some stress levels are unavoidable, knowing how to manage it as it happens and, even better, learning how to prevent yourself from overreacting is a key to reaching spiritual center.
Building defenses against stress is almost guaranteed to bring you closer to spiritual center. When you know how to block stress factors, you will eliminate nearly all of your avoidable stress. If you suffer from a great deal of environmental stress, make sure you can get privacy when you need it. If your work environment is what causes you too much stress, this can be a challenge. One tip is to take short breaks, as provided in your work agreement.
If your highest stress levels occur at home, make sure your furniture is comfortable, and that your home is lit well. These ambient features might not seem as though they would make a big difference, but if you try relaxing in an uncomfortable chair, you will know what a difference good furniture can make to the spiritual center. If your home is cluttered and unorganized, that environment could be causing you stress.
In 1984, Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman defined stress as an “imbalance between demands and resources.” They began their techniques of stress management by identifying stress factors. They would then identify methods of intervention that would best target these stressors. The methods Folkman and Lazarus used became known as the Transactional Model of fighting stress, which views stress as a result caused by an external force. This model signifies two types of stressors, good and bad. A good stressor is one that might push you to work harder, whereas a bad stressor can overcome you. Being able to tell the difference and fight bad stressors is a great tactic to work on spiritual center.
There are other models of stress management that state stress comes from within. These models ask you to look into yourself to deal with the stress. Proponents of this method claim that a person’s thought process is what can cause stress, not the environment. Following this philosophy will force you to meditate on what makes you stressed. If you choose to view stress as either externally or internally caused, being able to identify the reason for its presence and eliminate it is a great way to help boost spiritual center.
