Stress and its rude cousin distress follow us day in and day out these days. Whether it is Monday or it is Friday, there is always something to worry about. Little bit of periodic stress is good for us. It helps us to get going, optimize immune system and sharpens thinking processes. But only if it is periodic and does not last longer. As long as we have time to recover from it, stress is our ally. E.g. if things go wrong once in a while, it is manageable. But if they do go wrong every day, that is very taxing for our body and mind.
Truth is that in our complex world, there is a large likelihood that things are going to go wrong with high frequency. In that circumstance, what can we do?
Don’t lose heart. There is something we can do about it.
A recent study published in the Journal of Research in Personality indicated that mindfulness offers us a reliable antidote to daily stresses. Not only, the study states, the mindfulness (present-moment awareness) moderates responses to daily stresses but it impacts positively how we respond to negative emotions the subsequent day.
It is just like psychological vaccination: we do something today and it prevents us from what happens later on.