I asked this very question in our members only Facebook group the other day.

“What’s the opposite of stressed?”

And got the answers you’d expect.

“Relaxed” (or similar).

If you look in a thesaurus (no need, I’ve done it. Well, I’ve Googled it which is what we mean nowadays when we say we’ve looked in a thesaurus or “the dictionary”) it gives;

laid-back, relaxed, rested, carefree, devil-may-care, happy-go-lucky, lighthearted, unconcerned

But………….

I’ve got another consideration for you.

The opposite of “stressed” is……………

“Present”.

As in “in the moment”, not “Christmas”.

I know it’s not technically.

But it’s something to ponder.

Because, I’m sure you’ll agree if you have a good think about it, most stress is in the past or future.

We’re thinking about what has happened.

Or what might / could / will happen.

Not all, sure.

But a pretty high amount.

If we’re awake for 16 to 18 hours a day, how many of those hours are actually spent doing the thing that is stressful?

Some, sure.

But not most, I’d wager.

Most of the other time we feel stressed it’s when our mind is in the past or future.

Ruminating.

Worrying.

This, of course, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t think about the past or future at all.

We can’t operate that way.

But there comes a point where it’s less beneficial, not more.

Remembering that the thing we’re doing this very second is all that really exists, is freeing.

Even stuff that happened 5 minutes ago, or is happening in 5 minutes or is happening somewhere else now is only really in our head at that point.

All that actually exists right now is you reading this.

All that exists when you’re with your partner / child / family member / friend is that moment.

And, whilst some of those moments can be stressful (cough ** four kids ** cough)………….

They’re often not.

The more we practice being in the moment, the easier it comes.

Easy?

Probably never.

Easier?

Definitely.

Next time you catch yourself feeling, stressed it’s worth questioning how much your mind is in the present and how much it’s in the past and / or future.

Remember, the opposite of “stressed”……………

Is “present”.

Much love,

Jon ‘Eric’ Hall

P.S. Part of the reason that our programme works well is we don’t give you 17 things to change that have to be added on to the 50 things you’ve already got to do today. We’ll start with one or two big wins and only build up when appropriate. Apply now at www.myrise.co.uk/apply if you like the sound of that 🙂

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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!

Jon Hall
Jon Hall

When not helping people to transform their lives and bodies, Jon can usually be found either playing with his kids or taxi-ing them around. If you'd like to find out more about what we do at RISE then enter your details in the box to the right or bottom of this page or at myrise.co.uk - this is the same way every single one of the hundreds who've described this as "one of the best decisions I've ever made" took their first step.