Stress. Let’s call it by its name, it is a four-letter phrase that negatively impacts our mental and physical states. Stress may be in the form of work duties due dates, financial obligations or even relationship problems, and it appears to be a normal thing in everyday life. But the good news is that it doesn’t mean that you have to let it rule your life. Here are 10 great tips of how to deal with stress and get your life back and find your inner self again.
1. Mind Your Body: Move It or Lose It
One could not ignore the fact that our bodies are partners with our mind. Something like physical activity is an excellent way to reduce stress. Exercise relieves tension because it produces endorphin hormones which are natural stressbusters. So, tie your shoe laces, go for a jog, to the gym, or for a flashy walk. Sometimes it only takes a little bit of activity – a flight of stairs, some stretches – to do the trick.
Also important is the fact that one should take enough relaxation in order to overcome stress. That is why when we are healthy and well rested we are more capable of dealing with issues and overcoming failures. It suggests seven to eight hours of quality sleep ideally for a healthier life.
2. Learn how to Make the Use of the Relaxation Methods
In today’s fast-moving society, people are quietly in a hurry and completely forget about such niceties. Deep-breathing exercise and meditation have been found to help the body to relax and chase out stress in the same manner that a dog can chase an intruding squirrel. Calm breathing exercises include the controlled use of the diaphragm which eventually slows down the heart beat in addition to the blood pressure. Meditation is a process of arranging your mind and helping it to become calm and get to a relaxed state of the present time. One can listen to guided meditations available on YouTube or get applications for this purpose which makes it so easy to follow them.
3. The Magic of Mindfulness: Be Present in the Moment
The concept generally understood in mindfulness is the concept of paying attention in the present period without any kind of disapproval. When paying attention to breath, physical feelings, or noises, other problems cannot interfere with an individual’s thinking process. This is can done through practices like mindful walking, mindful eating or even devoting some ten minutes each day to watch and listen to thoughts and feelings without being hijacked by them.
4. Connect and Confide: Thus, the attainability and stability of social support.
It is a common knowledge that human beings are social creatures. While having an intense job and having less time with friends and family, results in having little social support which is detrimental to the execution of stressful tasks. Discuss what is troubling you in one’s circles of trusted friends, family or a counselor. As demonstrated by ready made opinions on confessions apps, which, if shared with someone close, can feel like a load off the chest.
Perhaps you should consider being part of group that tackles such issues in order to be able to interact with other who are facing such a problem. Secondly, never despise the opportunity to engage in laughter. Hanging out with people who bring out the laughter in you reduces stress levels and is an added bonus on your mood.
5. Fuel Your Body Wisely: Nourish for Calm
The things that we consume define the tolerance level in stressful situations in one way or the other. Eating healthy fruits, vegetables, whole grain foods and low fat proteins will help your body’s organelles function without stress because they are being fed the right nutrients.
However, stressful response is worsened by junk foods, soft aged drinks, and lots of caffeine containing products. It is okay to occasionally give in to one’s cravings but it is even more paramount to stick to a proper diet for most part of the time.
Additionally, proper hydration is also important in order to keep stress levels also under control. The early signs of dehydration include tiredness, dizziness, confusion and headaches and any of these can help to contribute to feelings of stress. Try to drink more than 8 glasses of water a day to make sure that your body organs will work efficiently.
6. Challenge Negative Thinking Patterns: Reframe Your Reality
They determine how we perceive stress and how we respond to the same. Whispering to our self and focusing on problems increases the level of stress and make it more dreadful. However, you can take control of the way you feel by disputing these irrational beliefs which make up pessimistic thoughts.
CBT is a therapy style of helping you understand and change negative thought processes and find better ways to deal with them. There are also numerous online and library books and articles on how to go about practicing cognitive restructuring.
Most of the time, stress can be minimized, after one has learned to change how he or she perceives certain situation or events.
7. Embrace Nature’s Tranquility: The Power of the Outdoors
There are nothing like relaxing in nature to effectively work wonders on both the mind and the body. Strolling in a park, walking through a forest or maybe just spending time next to a stream eliminates stress.
Being in touch with nature gives one a way to look at things and frees one from the daily hustle and bust. Several researches have found out that by spending time in nature it is possible to reduce stress by having low blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol level.
Hence, it is very important to start making conscious efforts to make time for nature whether it is in the days or even in few minutes per day.
8. Schedule Time for Fun: Make Room for Joy
The hustle and bustle of everyday life, can make us forget to arrange time for things that we just want to do. But occupying some leisure activities is crucial when it comes to managing stress. Enjoying yourself is a way of taking a break, letting stress off your neck and basically, re-energizing yourself.
The year is long, but it is only necessary to turn to it, and put time aside for work, for walking, for reading a book, for listening to music, playing a sport or working on a creative creation. Well, this does not have to take a lot of time now does it? Just 20-30 minutes of conscious “fun time” can make a huge difference in how you feel and how stressed you are.
9. Learn to Say No: Protect Yourself By Setting Limitations
This is something that students must learn not to do, as whatever is taken must be completed, and overloading oneself can lead to so much stress. Another challenge is to start figuring out those things you cannot agree to do in a given week for example, meetings that would only drain you more. But as much as people would love to make the people they hold dear happy they should not sell themselves short because this often leads to burn outs.
Negativity doesn’t mean you are confined to being selfish when you told others a word ‘no’. It is just a way of saying that you should put your health first. Make sure your partners know your limits and do not offend them. Common sense will tell the majority of civilization that they will appreciate your honesty most of the time.
10. Seek Professional Help When Needed: And here we go, the final, yet most important tip: do not be afraid of asking for help.
That is why, sometimes, stress fully transforms into a complicated issue and is hard to work on if you are on your own. If you can’t deal with it, do not hesitate to turn to a specialist. A therapist can assist in directing one on those assets and methodologies that can help in overseeing stress in addition to encouragine health emotions.
Counselling can be an opportunity to find out your difficulties and learn how to overcome them appropriately. And once again, it’s important to remind you that getting help from a professional is never a weakness but it is strength.
I hope these tips can help you fit into your life and help you live a less stressed and a calmer life. Just remember; stress management is more of a process than a state. Have tolerance with your process and learn to embrace every success no matter how small it is.
Sources
- Mayo Clinic: How to Manage Stress Mayo Clinic.
- Sutter Health: 10 Simple Ways to Cope with Stress HelpGuide.org.
- WebMD: 10 Tips to Manage Stress WebMD.