Mindfulness for Stress Relief
“In a world full of doing, doing, doing, it’s important to take a moment to just breathe, to just be.” – Unknown
Happy Sunday! Today we’re talking about mindfulness for stress relief. You have probably heard this term thrown around, but what does it really mean? 🤔
The Oxford dictionary defines it as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.”
Then how does it help with stress? 👉 Being more mindful makes you aware of your thoughts and needs, helps you to react more calmly to stressful situations, makes you more compassionate and aware of others’ feelings, improves focus, gives you more control of your attitude, and actually reduces activity in your amygdala. This is the part of your brain that switches on your stress response. 😲
That all sounds great, so how we actually practice mindfulness?!
It requires quieting your mind and body and slowing down all your racing thoughts. Many people find mindfulness meditations helpful. Certain breathing techniques can help to do this. There are many Biblical meditations and prayer audios to focus in on God’s word as well. While exercising, tune into your body, your breathing and your environment. While eating, chew slowly and for longer, using all your senses. Take time to stretch or lay down while relaxing your mind and body.
The key is to take your body out of auto-pilot or even worse, flight or fight mode. Become aware of what you are doing, how you are acting and reacting. Practice taking control of your mind and body, so the stress does not control you. 💕
Stepping Up Our Slumber
Who else often wishes for more sleep?
This week, with Spring Break upon us, I thought it would be a great time to start stepping up our slumber inside my Living Life Fit with Angel facebook group! 
When you want to elevate your effort during the day, you need to improve your sleep at night.
With the time change , it is more important than ever to step things up with your sleep for a well-rested mind and body!
Let’s start with the science of sleep and some fun stats from the Sleep Foundation…
Most healthy adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
One full sleep cycle lasts about 90-110 minutes. A typical night of sleep is 4-5 cycles.
Sleep has 5 stages: wake, N1, N2, N3, and REM. About 75% is spent in stages N1 to N3, mostly in N2.
The amount REM in sleep cycles increases throughout the night, while deep sleep decreases.
Humans are the only mammals that willingly delay sleep (interesting!).
We naturally feel tired at two different times of the day: about 2:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
All sleep is important, but deep sleep (N3) is the most crucial for overall health. Most average healthy adults get 1-2 hours of deep sleep in an 8-hour stretch.
Did you learn something new? Whether it’s a refresher or new information, it is helpful to start with these sleep facts so we can keep talking about how it affects our health this week! Join the “Slumber Party” inside my Facebook community: Living Life Fit with Angel
Grilled Vegetable Chickpea Bowl
Grilled Vegetable Chickpea Bowl
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
VEGGIE BOWL
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 pint cherry tomatoes (or 3 roma tomatoes)
1 large zucchini, sliced into 1/2″ rounds
1 eggplant, sliced into 1/2″ rounds
3 portobello mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & black pepper, to taste
DRESSING
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste
Directions:
1.) Preheat a grill to medium heat. Coat the vegetables in a touch of oil and season with salt. On the first side, grill the veggies for 5 minutes. Flip and then grill them for 5 more minutes or until your desired tenderness. If preferred, you can cut into smaller bite-size pieces.
2.) Whisk all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Transfer to a large bowl along with the chickpeas and herbs. Add in the roasted veggies and toss to combine. Allow to marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes. Taste and season as desired. Then toss again before serving. Enjoy!
WARRIOR Strength Pop Up Classes
I’m so excited to invite you to some pop-up classes I’ve been invited to teach WARRIOR Strength at several local YMCA locations in the DFW area this Spring! Click here , then scroll down to see all the details for upcoming Pop Ups. You can attend one or all! Come to as many as you like – I’d love to see some familiar faces – and yes, they are all free and open to the public!
Get Certified to teach WARRIOR Strength
Click here to see how to enroll and grab my coupon code!
Workout with me this week!
Click here to see where you can sweat with me this week, including some extra classes I’m subbing here and there.
See you soon!
Angel
Angel Ballance 