If you are living a life filled with stress, you already understand how it can damage your mental and physical health, productivity and hurt your personal relationships. The tips in this article will help you relieve stress and prevent it in the future.
A journal can help reduce stress. All it takes is a pen and paper and a few minutes to write down whatever is bothering you. Often just getting it out on paper puts things in a better perspective. Writing about our problems releases emotions that may otherwise be pent up, thus increasing our stress levels. Furthermore, seeing our problems on paper can sometimes allow us to see possible solutions to our problems.
Consider getting a pet as a way to relieve stress. Having a dog waiting for you at home with his tail wagging can be a great boost after a hard, stressful day at work. Even jut have a fish can really improve your mood. But don’t take on a pet if you’re not going to be able to care for it.
A great tip that can help you fight stress is to simply exercise. Exercising is great because it releases chemicals in your body that will make you feel better. You’ll also be able to put your nervous energy to good use by exercising. Exercising is a fantastic way to keep stress down.
Before you do or say anything you might regret, stop and count to 10. Take a moment away from the thing or person causing you stress and get yourself together. Take a few deep breaths, recite an affirmation, or stretch. Do whatever it takes to re-center yourself, and get rid of the stress.
Stress is a natural part of our lives. How stress affects our ability to interact with the world, however, can be anything but positive. One way to reduce your body’s negative reactions to stress is to make sure you get an adequate amount of sleep. When we are tired, stress has a greater potential to impact us in negative ways. Minimize the impacts of a potentially stressful day by getting an adequate night’s sleep the night before.
When you are feeling overwhelmed and are dealing with a great deal of stress, it is important to learn how to breathe. Stress is most common with fears, sadness and anger. When you feel any of these emotions, breathe and imagine you are breathing the emotions out of you. Awareness of what triggers stress is the first step to tackling it and breathing will ground you in the moment and make you aware of what you are feeling.
Persistent headaches are one of the more common symptoms of stress. That’s why we often refer to an undesirable experience or task as a headache! There could, of course, be other underlying problems that are contributing to headaches but stress should certainly be investigated as one of the more logical culprits.
A great tip that can help to you keep your stress levels down is to take a hot bath. The hot water will make you feel relaxed and you’ll forget about all of your troubles. Taking a hot bath can help keep your stress in check and it’s something you can do everyday.
To identify hidden sources of stress in your life, start keeping a stress journal. Each time you find yourself feeling stressed out, make a note of it in your journal. Record what happened, how it made you feel and how you responded to the stressful event or situation. This will allow you to spot patterns of stress over time so you can develop an effective long term stress management plan.
A good tip that can help you keep your stress levels down is to stop worrying about what other people are or are not doing. You only have control over your own actions. Worrying about what other people are doing constantly will make you feel very stressed all the time.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Learn to appreciate what things are worth stressing out over and what things are better to let go. There are so many things that you can’t control. If you have no control over what is going to happen, or the outcome, then there is no point in stressing out about it.
Prepare in advance for situations that may cause undue stress. Keep a spare key in a handy, safe spot, always have a ready-to-go meal waiting for you at work, and be sure you always have a backup sitter on speed dial. It pays to be prepared when it comes to reducing and eliminating stress in your life.
If the stress in your life is causing any of the problems mentioned at the beginning of this article, like relationship and health problems, make sure you don’t let this cycle continue! Apply these tips today and every time you need to so that you can stay healthy and happy.