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Elections are one of the most stressful recurring events in American life. Dealing with the uncertain future of your preferred candidates and ballot measures can drive your anxiety through the roof, but with a few simple techniques you can curb any perturbation you might be feeling. Let’s outline a few ways you can refocus and eliminate your stress around this unusually nail-biting election cycle.
1. Catch up on your favorite TV shows
This one is simple. Instead of turning on the news, check to see if any of your favorite TV shows have updated their catalog recently. Disney’s second season of The Mandalorian is promising to be a wonderful alternative to any news outlet at the moment. Star Wars is not always the calmest franchise to turn on, but a few good shots of the adorable baby Yoda should turn any anxiety you might be feeling into at least a few moments of undisturbed delight. Netflix, Hulu, and HBO are constantly churning out wonderful content that will keep your thoughts from drifting off into negativity surrounding the race.
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2. Meditate
Meditation is the easiest way to remove stress from your life. Psychiatric doctors are increasingly promoting mindfulness as a way to prevent negative thoughts from spiraling out into destructive or otherwise harmful behaviors. To begin, just sit anywhere that you feel comfortable with your back straight. Turn off any distracting noises around the house, close your eyes, and simply listen to your breathing for a few minutes. You don’t have to breathe any differently, simply watch the way that your breath falls in and out of your lungs as you observe your thoughts with detachment. If you have a good thought, you should not indulge it. If you observe a bad thought, do not condemn it. Simply sit and watch them come and go. The longer you are able to do this, the better.
Meditation is not a state of zoning out. Rather, it’s the ability to observe any and all events around you and to accept them exactly as they are. Once you’re able to do this, it’s easy to find the best way to deal with them. You can move your attention from your thoughts to the state of your body. Again, observe any painful or pleasurable feelings without clinging to them.
3. Exercise
This is somewhat related to mindfulness meditation, described above. There is practically nothing better for dealing with unwanted thoughts and feelings than treating yourself to a good run. Being fully immersed in the condition of your body will keep you from focusing too deeply on the difficulties you’re facing that you cannot control. You don’t need to work out to the point of feeling sick, and exercise does not necessarily mean working out in the first place. Consider dancing as a good alternative. Sports, Tai Chi, walking, or any other engagement with your body will help considerably, even if it is not your preferred means of recreation.
4. Breathing exercises
Although breathing exercises are not necessary for any of the above activities, it is something that will help you in all aspects of your life in the subtlest of ways. It is especially good for those experiencing chronic anxiety, which might only be exacerbated by the worry that comes with an election cycle. There are many breathing techniques that can help you reorient your mind to something positive. Try breathing slowly and counting the seconds between inhalation and exhalation to begin with. Visualizing the flow of your breath through your body is another easy way to relax and energize all at once. For more exercises, check Google. The list of techniques is long, and there is sure to be one or two that will help you without fail. Best of all, breathing consciously can be combined with any of the other techniques outlined in this ariticle.
5. Reading
Reading calls for a certain amount of concentration that is not possible when you allow your mind to wander toward worrisome thoughts. This is one of the more difficult techniques I’ll suggest here, but it is well worth the effort if you can fully engross yourself in a good story. For the best results, pick up a book rather than a short article or any other digital media. Outlets like Facebook and Twitter are great for keeping up with current events, but that is exactly what we’re trying to curtail here. The longer you can keep yourself focused on a good book, the better your results will be. Within about 20 minutes, you will have forgotten that you were so troubled by the state of the union to begin with.
6. Music
If you love music, and most of us do, there is hardly anything better than putting on a record for improving your mood if not the fate of the country. Just sit back and feel the good vibrations that your favorite musical talents have concocted for an audience just like you. If you can help it, don’t skip directly to your favorite songs. Just queue up a few of your best-loved albums and let them work their magic.
In conclusion, the point here is to switch the track of your mind toward any one thing for as long as you possibly can. Whether you are deliberately observing and controlling the output of your mind, or just turning on your favorite record to check your mind out for as long as possible, there is no reason to spend your afternoon fretting over the state of a contest that you cannot decide on your own. Here’s to being your best self, with or without the help of government authority.
