Small habit changes can make a big impact on stress levels

I wanted to share how I was able to reduce my stress levels by just making a slight change to my morning routine.

During the weekday mornings I take “a half hour of quiet time” between the time my girlfriend leaves for work and the time I have to get her 10 year old daughter up for school. At face value this seems like a great way to prepare for a day, right?

Unfortunately, I was doing it all wrong.

I’d sit on the couch in little to no light and scroll through social media under the illusion that I was relaxing. There might have been a physical relaxation but my mind was being bombarded with all the nonsense that is posted. Yeah there’s cool videos and memes but your brain isn’t relaxing while “death scrolling” it's being over stimulated. All the ads and griping/complaining that is also associated with social media will tire the mind.

So I decided to change my routine.

Now my “half hour of quiet time” consists of 10 minutes of Ki Gong/meditation, 10 minutes workout and 10 minutes of journaling. It took some concentrated effort to not fall into the old habit but within a few days my mood, my alertness and my daily stress level all improved.

We all have habits that we fall into and sometimes those habits are unknowingly creating extra stress on our minds.

Here’s a challenge, next time you feel the urge to “death scroll” go do something else. Take a walk, meditate , exercise or write. See how you feel after a month.

I’d love to hear how different you start feeling mentally.

Best,

Nick Acri

P.S. If you need help with a meditation routine, I got you. Check out my Ki Gong basics course where I break down a very simple routine step by step. You can focus on one movement at a time for a few minutes a day or work through the entire routine. It’s a great way to begin a meditation practice since the movement helps pause all the other thoughts in your head while you concentrate on coordinating it with your breathing.