E37: Releasing caregiver stress with your self-soothing techniques

Self-Soothing is your solution to reducing and releasing overwhelm.  That anxiety, stress and pressure you feel each day.

What is self-soothing?   We learn how to self-soothe from the moment we enter this world. Some of our first acknowledgments of our mental feelings and our physical bodies occur as young as a newborn. Infants learn how to self-soothe through means of thumb-sucking. It is from this early age, that we begin to learn and understand that we are capable of healing ourselves, something that we should acknowledge and remember as we move through life.

When we get hurt, physically or mentally, feel anxious, or depressed, we all hope to feel better. We seek feeling better by learning how to make ourselves heal and relieve anxieties, in both immediate and long term ways. In other words, we self soothe. Self soothing is a way in which we treat ourselves to feelings of betterment, so that we can move forward, past any negativity or pain. 

As caregivers, if we learn to self-soothe,  it can be a huge solution to managing our mindset, improving our mood and maintaining our health.  Finding those techniques that will keep you grounded and peaceful by self soothing. 

Good Self Soothing Techniques

• Touch. Taking a  bubble bath filled with Epsom salt to help relax your muscles
• Taste.  Drinking a cup of herbal tea to help relax. 
• Smell. Aromatherapy 
• Sight. Distracting yourself with your favorite movie or television show. 
• Sound.   Listening to your favorite music.

The sooner you release the anxiety and stress, the sooner you’ll find joy, health and positivity.  You don’t want to be stuck there.   If you are not self-soothing daily, you are not close to your real emotional powers.  

Most people go through the world reacting (anger, frustrations, biases)  as if they don’t have the ability to change that.   It’s not easy, but you can master your emotions

You might say stress just happens to me.  Emotions do too.  But, emotions are a physical and immediate impulsive responses.  Emotions are not a feeling.  They are a conscious mental reaction (such as anger or fear) subjectively experienced as strong feeling usually directed toward a specific object and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body.

Feelings are ongoing.   Feelings are what we hold on to over time.  Those feeling drive our mood.  A belief, especially a vague or irrational one.  That mood becomes an habitual pattern.  Then that mood become our attitude and personality.   Those moments of anxiety stress and overwhelm require you to do something with it

Self-sooth to reduce stress can be going for a walk, taking a bath, going to the gym, taking  breaths or making your protein shake.  

Self-soothing is your competitive edge or your ticket to being a peaceful warrior.  

There are two people in a stressful situations (One person loses it and the other stays calm (peaceful warrior).  When you see great leaders who are peaceful warriors (Nelson Mandella, Martin Luther King,   Their ability to switch stress and anxiety into a peaceful flow is remarkable.   They learned how to calm their self down.    They learned how to teach themself to release the stress/ anxiety.   

How to build healthy self soothing habits.  

• Be open to the idea of creating self-healing techniques
• Experiment with different approaches and ways to calm yourself
• Step outside of your comfort zone, you never know what might work for you
• Track your progress

Benefits of why self-soothing works ares self-control, confidence, reduces anxiety, reduces fatigue, establishes your independence and gives you comfort .