Let It Go
Your blood pressure (BP) is influenced by your emotions. When you’re angry, your BP will shoot up. If you’re stressed out, your BP will sky rocket. If you’re calm and relaxed, your BP will be lower.
Your blood pressure has a huge impact on your health. The higher your BP, the more damage you do to your organs. The best way to mitigate this harmful effect is to release the energy sucking feelings. The best way to do just that is to train the mind to let go of what’s bothering you.
Let’s say a co-worker was talking about you behind your back. She said that you made mistakes on a project that could have been avoided. Your first reaction is to get angry, causing your BP to spike. This is normal because these accusations could cause you to be reevaluated by your manager or worse - lose your job. When you finally cool down your feelings are probably still stewing inside you. Your body is meant to take a spike in BP every now and again, but prolonged stressful feelings can result in long-lasting damage. It’s up to you to release these feelings and feel good again.
You can release bad feelings by “redirecting your thoughts,” a simple technique that will improve your mood. I usually do this when I take a walk on my lunch break.
Step 1 – Process the thoughts and feelings
When a co-worker talks badly about me, I let myself have a little fun and trash her, but this will only last for a few minutes. Then I try to understand why it happened (I try to put myself in her shoes). Usually I begin to see reasons why she probably decided that it was a good idea. Maybe she thought I was getting too much adulation when she was the one who deserved it. Maybe it appeared as though I was blocking the path to her potential promotion. And I hate to admit it, but maybe she is right and just because the approach was wrong doesn’t mean that my co-worker was wrong. After I am done making a list of excuses for my co-worker or myself, I try to create compassion for her bad behavior. Maybe she never really had a loving mother, so putting everyone else down is soothing. I will never understand the reasoning behind the bad behavior, so I make up an imaginary compassionate scenario. Being compassionate sometimes requires creative thinking.
Step 2 – Let the upsetting feelings go
Imagine the upsetting feelings oozing out of your brain, thinning out into your blood stream and evaporating out of your skin. By physically picturing this happening, you’re redirecting your thoughts to let go of something that you can’t change.
Step 3 – Create positive thoughts
When I was younger I used to get upset for days after every distressing thing. I was too sensitive for my own good. I’ve learned that every situation can teach me something. It usually took a few days to extract the positive, but eventually I began to see it. Now I am able to process through my feelings a lot faster and see the positive in almost any situation. When a co-worker trashes you it may mean that you are outshining her. It means you are doing a good job and she may be jealous of your talents. Maybe you can create a positive experience by learning to increase your tolerance of people that don’t like you. Not everyone can like you, so learning to accept that will help you in the future interactions with difficult people.
Step 4 – Reinforce these new feelings
You may feel the need to slip back into old habits and feed your need to feel upset, but try to stay focused on what you’re learning from this situation. Staying focused on how the situation is helping you become a better person will improve your ability to let the past go and enjoy the present moment.
When you take the time to be with yourself and process through your feelings instead of pushing them aside, they are less likely to linger and raise your BP. Try any of these four steps and it should help you let go of a problem that is nagging at your thoughts.
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Karl @ January 6, 2008