Quick Stress Management Tips!
I get it. You’re busy.
As of matter of fact, if I talk to you for any length of time, you’ll probably tell me HOW INCREDIBLY BUSY YOU are! For some insane reason, our culture glorifies “busy.”
Personally, I think that’s silly!
We wear our busy-ness like a badge of honor, as if our fatigue is a testament to how much we love our families.
I am doing my part to change that.
In my life coaching business, I create a save place where we can honestly look at the “tasks” that keep us occupied. Hour by hour, minute by minute, I encourage my clients to put themselves FIRST in their life and create a life that is filled with self-care and peace. Most often, families barely notice the change…
The truth is, if we don’t take care of ourselves, no one will do it for us. And (this is a hard truth to swallow), we have no one to blame but ourselves.
TIPS TO MANAGE STRESS
- BREATHE: This may seem ridiculous until you understand the biology behind the tip. Here is the quick and dirty version: The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is divided into two parts: The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system triggers the fight-or-flight while the parasympathetic nervous system promotes the “rest and digest” response (Harvard Health Publications, 2016). For chronic stress, we need to find a way to cue the body into believing that everything is fine. How do we do this? We breathe slow and deeply… our bodies think we are all relaxed! It doesn’t know we are tricking it!!!! When we take deep, slow breaths, we can convince our ANS that everything is A-Okay.
- MEDITATION/MINDFULNESS: The most basic way to describe mindfulness meditation is bringing 100% of your attention to your breath. It means learning how to control your busy monkey mind and its crazy, stressful thoughts! Mindfulness doesn’t need to be difficult or stressful. After all, that would defeat the purpose! It DOES have to be practiced regularly to be successful. Mindfulness is a huge part of managing my own Anxiety and a solid part of my 90-Day Health Program.
- EXERCISE: I exercise for my physical and emotional health! I don’t know what I would do without it. The research suggests that engaging in at least 20 minutes of exercise can help with anxiety/stress reduction (Petruzzello, Landers, Hatfield, Kubitz, & Salazar, 1991). I’ve always thought that exercise “completes” the stress response by tricking my body into thinking it has gotten away from the threat! As your body learns to adapt to one form of stress (phycial stress) it will improve its management of emotional stress as well.
- NATURE: Spending time in nature can have some amazing health benefits. A study by Hansmann, R., Stella-Maria, H., & Seeland, K. (2007), showed that spending time in nature relieved headaches and stress significantly. The results were even better when the subject exercised in nature! Spending mindful moments surrounded by trees, digging in the dirt, or walking barefoot in the grass has a calming effect on your mind.
- JOURNAL: I encourage journaling in my life coaching practice. I am particularly fond of gratitude journaling and process journaling before bed. The journalling method that would benefit you the greatest would depend on your unique personal needs and specific kinds of stress.
- FOODS: Watch what you eat! Like it or not, certain foods can affect your mood. Learn to identify these foods so you can avoid them during the high stressed times in the season. Unfortunately, simple carbs (cookies and sweets… you know, the yummy kind) can increase the feeling of stress by spiking our blood sugar.
If you feel too stressed to relax and can’t figure out how to carve some self-care into your schedule, then set up a time to talk with me and we can figure it out together.
Click on this link to sign up for my NO COST 30-Minute Discovery Session and lets figure out what may be holding you back from becoming a healthier and happier version of yourself.
If you share this blog on any social media platform, I will add an additional 15 minutes to your session! (That’s a $94 value)
Sooooooo, what are you waiting for? Share this blog below.. and lets schedule a time to chat!
I’ll pour the coffee….
