Ease into Stress Relief

There is a phrase in Mehta Mediation that goes like this:

"May you have ease and well-being."

I have often thought about what that means and why those two words: ease and well-being are together.

When life is such that I feel I am trudging through mud and muck, I am not well. When life is stressful, complicated, messy or depressing, there is no ease and no well-being. Things--big and little--seem out of control and I get overwhelmed.




Ease. It has such a simple nice sound to it. I look around and sometimes see "ease" in my life. When I see it, I know I want more of it. And so sometimes that is really easy. Once I have "eased" it, I am so thankful I did. The phrase, "Keep it Simple, Stupid." comes to mind.

Here are some examples of ease in my life:

• a lock was re-keyed and I carried the spare around in my pocket separate from the rest of my keys. It was NOT easy. But once I did the simple act of removing the old key and putting on the new one, it was SO much easier. Ahh. Ease.

• The top of my dresser had become a catch-all. I hated looking at the clutter. Finally I spent the 15 minutes to clean it off, dust and on it put a simple vase and frame. Now i love looking at that space. Ease.

• My kids toys are forever running out of batteries. Since I use rechargeable wherever I can, they used to wait (and whine) for the 12 hours it took to charge them. Now I have a nifty 15 minute charger that is enough of a wait that the kids appreciate what goes into rechargeable batteries, but it's quick enough that I (almost) hear no whining. Ease.

• This is a biggie. We used to live without a garage because it was so full of clutter (which is the opposite of ease as far as I'm concerned). Now we can both park in the garage, rain or shine and it is SO nice. Ease.

• I now carry around a list for Walmart. When I notice we're out of something or will be soon, I jot it down. This has helped me remember the small and odd things like: garlic powder, lip balm, (rechargeable) batteries, which are a pain to deal with when I forget to get them. Ease.

• Medical receipts. Having one, central location for the receipts has been a godsend. It saves me the time I would hunt for them. It saves me money, too because I never lose those receipts anymore. Ease.

• Setting out clothes the night before. This helps the whole family. We make decisions when we are awake and can make reasonable choices about what the day will be like, what matches, if we need gym shoes, etc. Then in the morning, when we are crabby, tired and incoherent, we at least look like we have it together. Ease.

I've tried to give you a variety of "ease" examples to see how making things easier, can relieve stress. Sometimes it's the little things in our life over which we have control that can really make a difference.

(photo credits: Katie@!, mriggen, Charles Williams)