Life Level

At the life level, we find ourselves constantly putting out fires. We’re busy being reactive to life’s problems. We find it hard to step back and gain perspective of our situation as we’re so consumed by our problems. We constantly feel like we’re ‘in’ the problem. Rarely feeling empowered or at peace. Relationships suffer. Work stress builds. Zest for life wanes.

Health Level

At the health level, we hold onto tension in our mind-body. Often our body feels heavy and tight. It can be hard to sleep at night and we feel tired all the time. Stress builds up inside and leads to all sorts of chronic pain, weight fluctuation and a general feeling of low energy and fatigue.

Root Level

At this level, it’s hard to stick to wellness practices and it’s easy to become emotionally triggered. Often described as feeling like drowning or like wanting to explode or give up all together. It’s likely there is compounded stress from past experiences which need to be resolved.

Most people get tangled up in these 3 levels which creates a viscous cycle that’s hard to get out of.

If this resonates with you, you can find out more here. 

For now, check out the 7 most common stress relief mistakes that are preventing peace of mind, happiness and good health.

7 Stress Relief Mistakes

#1 Mistake – Taking the Bullet Wound Approach

More often than not, we’re on the lookout for a quick fix to our daily stressors.

This includes, blaming others, emotional eating, misusing alcohol and other substances, compromising sleep, immediate medication or supplementation and over-exercising to name a few.

Just like in the Matrix when Neo had the choice of the blue and red pill – every day we have the choice of the life-changing option or to stay in contented ignorance.

It’s much easier to choose the quick, easy option.

But when it comes to stress, this is like putting a band aid over a bullet wound.

The reality is, the quick option may ‘fix’ the problem on the surface but stress keeps bouncing back.

Fixing symptoms doesn’t last.

In the long-term this is just repressing the root of the issue and causing more problems down the line.

What To Do Instead:

Get to the root of the issue.

The root of stress is happening on the inside.

It’s an inner-vortex of our everyday life responsibilities, past experiences, past traumas, our belief systems, our perceptions, our physiology, our habits and our lifestyle.

You can get to the root of your own stress by exploring all the elements of what it means to be well.

#2 Mistake – Thinking Stress is 1 Dimensional

The solution to your stress might not be what you think.

Often those who suffer with negative thinking, immediately assume they need to work on their mental health.

Those who suffer from chronic pain assume they need to work on their physical health.

Those who suffer from anxiety or depression assume they need to work on their emotional health.

But this couldn’t be further from the truth and holding onto this narrow-minded perspective is likely doing more harm than good.

The truth is, for lasting long-term stress relief we must realize that stress is a multi-dimensional issue.

The root of our chronic pain can be in our emotional health, the root of our anxiety can be in our mental health and the root of our negative thinking can be in our physical health.

It’s easy to overlook solutions for our stress when we’re looking in the wrong place.

No human system works alone. Stress is interlinked in many different ways inside our mind-body-heart.

What To Do Instead:

Treat yourself as a whole-being. Enjoy a 3-pronged approach to stress relief.

This means zooming out and looking at yourself to see what else could be going on.

Notice how stress is manifesting for you and then ask yourself;

What is my mind, body and heart trying to reveal to me here?

Make time in your day to connect with mind, body and heart.

#5 Mistake – Intellectualizing Stress

When we try to ‘reason’ our way out of a stressful situation we’re often blocking out the feelings involved.

Often this is a coping mechanism of someone who’s learned to avoid conflict or negativity.

Problem is, we can end up disassociating from the problem which leads to stress compounding our feelings.

We can also intellectualize our stress by overanalyzing the problem by constantly asking things like: ‘why is this happening, why am I feeling xyz, why am I reacting this way”.

When this happens, it’s easy to become paralyzed by the problem versus solving it.

We try to think our way out of a feeling problem which can make the problem worse.

What To Do Instead:

Ask: Where in my body am I feeling this? What does my heart say?

When we drop into our senses we move away from the pressure of thoughts.

In turn, this reduces the frenetic energy stress brings.

#6 Mistake – Being Under the ‘Stress Illusion’

The stress illusion is when we believe that stress exists outside of us.

For example, if you’ve ever said “my <boss/partner/kid is stressing me out” or if you’ve ever got road rage because of someone else’s driving…

Then I’m sorry to break it to you - you’re living under the illusion that the stress is in the outside world.

It’s not.

Your perception of the outside world is what’s stressing you out.

And you create and are in charge of the way you perceive the world.

For as long as we believe that external things are the cause of our stress we will always fall victim to them.

What To Do Instead:

Take full responsibility for how we feel and the meanings we attach to our experiences.

If something in your outside world doesn’t serve you, take responsibility for making a new decision or action that will help you live in alignment.

When we take responsibility for our life situation and our feelings, it gives us the capacity for change and improvement

#7 Mistake – Neglecting Intuition

Stress leaves clues but as we’re often so busy it can be easy to overlook them or not be aware of them at all.

Some clues are:

• The feeling we get when we want to say no but say yes
• Knowing we need to switch off but don’t
• Reaching our limit
• Niggling feelings that somethings not right
• Not sleeping properly
• Racing mind
• Not feeling in control of emotions

What To Do Instead:

Allocate a time daily to check in with yourself.

Ask yourself, what stress clues are present? What is my mind, body and heart trying to tell me?

What can I learn from today that’ll help me feel even more peace tomorrow?

You’ll notice there are some common themes in the ‘what to do instead’ parts of these mistakes. Pick the ones that resonate the most and see what happens.

Now you might be thinking….

“But I don’t have time to do all that’ or ‘it takes too much effort’ to do what’s been suggested.

But here’s the truth, a wise person once said "If you don't take time for your wellness, you will be forced to take time for your illness"

You’ll be spending time either way, the question is, which will you choose?

It will take some effort, especially in the beginning. It may feel hard but staying stressed also takes effort.

Here’s the words of author Brianna Wiest,

“Everything is hard in some way. It’s hard to be in the wrong relationship. It’s hard to be in the right one. It’s hard to be broke and miserable, it’s hard to achieve your dreams. It’s hard to be stuck in the middle, not really feeling anything at all. Everything is hard, but you choose your hard. You choose what’s worth it. You don’t choose whether or not you’ll suffer, but you do choose what you want to suffer for.”

So, it’s time to choose your hard.

Here at Wellness Theory, we’ve made a hard journey much easier by creating the 4-Phase Human Blueprint.

It’s a unique method that effortlessly helps stressed out men and women, transition from where they are now, to where they want to be.

Anyone can go through these 4 phases to take their life to the next level and thrive.

Unfortunately, most people will wander blindly without having a clear map of how to get to the results they want.

It's like getting in a car and not really knowing where you’re going and hoping that somehow because you’re a good driver you’re going to reach your destination.

And that’s what most people do…which we don’t like because it doesn’t work well and results are very hit and miss, this leads to disappointment and slows you down in the long run.

This is why we use a map. We created a map that has 4 specific phases.

Just like any journey, you might spend a different amount of time in each phase but this guarantees you reach your end result.

Click here for more information on this. Plus a bunch of inspiring example from our clients here.

In Summary

There are 7 common stress relief mistakes that are preventing busy men and women from living their healthiest, happiest and most meaningful life.

Life is faster-paced with a ‘never off’ mentality, and stress continuously on the rise.

The way to overcome this stress is by addressing stress at the root and health level and life will take care of itself.

Old ways of relieving stress won’t relieve new levels of stress.

Recognize what’s working for you, and what’s not. Try the tips in this blog and let us know how you get on.

If you feel like you need further we’d love to invite you to join

If you resonate with some of these mistakes and would like further support then you’ll love to join us in our upcoming workshop: