Guest Post: Mitigate Stress, Unwrap Inner Peace this Season

Mitigate Stress, Unwrap Inner Peace this Season

By Julie Potiker, author of Life Falls Apart, but You Don’t Have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm In the Midst of Chaos

Fighting traffic, bundling the kids up in snow gear, caring for aging parents, planning holiday meals and parties: When the holiday stressors are piling up, Julie Potiker suggests calling on this simple mindfulness solution to turn down the chaos and turn up the peace.

R.A.I.N.

R = Recognize your feeling and name it (i.e., “Oh, that’s overwhelm. I’m feeling frustrated. I feel upset.”).

A = Allow your feeling to be there without judging it.

I = Investigate gently with curiosity why this feeling is there.

N = Nourish yourself. What do you need give yourself or hear or do right now to make yourself feel better?

“Stepping back for a moment from what you’re feeling to observe it, instead of being stuck in it, can enable us to handle even the most stressful moments,” Julie says.

BONUS: Change the channel by popping in a positive mental state from a memory. Really feel that goodness for a breath or two to transform it from a mental state to a neural trait. “Rewire your brain for more happiness and resilience,” says Julie.

P.S. About Julie Potiker: Author and mindfulness expert Julie Potiker is an attorney who began her serious study and investigation of mindfulness after graduating from the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of California, San Diego. She was trained by Kristin Neff, Christopher Germer, and UCSD as a Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher. She went on to study with Rick Hanson, becoming a graduate of his Positive Neuroplasticity Training Professional Course. Potiker also completed Brené Brown’s Living Brave Semester. Now, she shares these and other mindfulness techniques with the world through her Mindful Methods for Life trainings and her new book: “Life Falls Apart, but You Don’t Have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm In the Midst of Chaos.” She holds a B.G.S. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from George Washington University.