Do life’s demands have you pulling your hair out? Drs. Stephanie McClellan and Beth Hamilton are here with the answers you need
Ever feel pressured, rushed, edgy or just totally exhausted? Have you experienced sleep problems, loss of sex drive, weight gain, or suffered from chronic pain or heart problems? These issues, not surprisingly, are directly related to stress level. But fret no more: the slideshow below reveals 10 easy ways to lift your spirits and diffuse your tension. So relax — and enjoy!
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1. Calming Breath
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This is a fundamental relaxation technique that all stress types should practice. You have probably taken a deep breath before plunging into something – a difficult conversation, serving a tennis ball, trying not to cry. This will work while standing in line, sitting at your desk or preparing a meal. When you sigh, you are unconsciously using a relaxation technique by inhaling more air than usual and exhaling. Breathing deeply has a calming and centering effect, and you can do it anyplace, anytime for a quick fix for acute stress.© Shutterstock
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2. Smile or Laugh
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When you smile or laugh, endorphins are released from the brain. These endorphins are naturally produced chemicals that make a person feel good. A hearty laugh can also give the body an internal workout. The process of laughing instigates a cycle that makes you breathe faster and makes your muscles tense. Then your muscles relax, your breathing slows and your heart rate decreases. Smiling and laughing allows you to connect with something other than tension or stress, so think of a fond memory or focus on someone or something that makes you happy.© Shutterstock
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3. People Watch
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Take a moment to enjoy the energy and excitement occurring right in front of you. During your lunch break or while running errands is a great time to let go of yourself, take in your surroundings and watch others. Even if just for a moment, this will help you to refresh and regroup.© Shutterstock
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4. Go Nuts Over Chocolate
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To boost your brain and calm stress, eat a handful of walnuts and a piece of dark chocolate. Walnuts are full of omega-3s, essential fatty acids that elevate the mood, and tryptophan, an amino acid that, when combined with dark chocolate, provides your brain with the soothing effects of the beloved anti-stress messenger serotonin.© Shutterstock
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5. Listen to Music or Flip Through a Magazine
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Sometimes allowing yourself to be distracted momentarily is a helpful way to refocus in moments where you feel stress building up. By withdrawing your senses from life's demands and what is troubling you, you can gain control over your attention. Honing in on the music playing in a store or flipping through a magazine while in the checkout line is a great way to relieve whatever might be provoking stress in the moment.© Shutterstock
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6. Eight Words That Can Change Your Life
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It's not all that difficult when receiving an invitation to say, "Let me get back to you on that," then look at your schedule and see if the invite warrants the effort. It's a great way of managing your time and giving you the space you may need to reflect on the importance of every event you are invited to.© Shutterstock
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7. Help Someone
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Keep an eye out for those that may need assistance around you. One of our central themes in our book is that humans are social by nature. Your brain works in a way that reflects the world and people around us. When you make a positive social contact, your opioid pathways kick in and your stress response is quieted. Helping those around you is one of the best ways to counter stress. You are fulfilling a real social function when you do so.© Shutterstock
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8. Eat Breakfast Before Drinking Coffee, or Try Tea Instead
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If you must drink coffee, wait an hour or two until after breakfast, because it will interfere with the absorption of the nutrition you are getting. However, green tea is a much better beverage choice. It has less caffeine but is still stimulating and has additional health benefits, such as a rich supply of antioxidants, and it won't interfere with the absorption of your morning nutrients.© Shutterstock
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10. Keep a Stress Journal (It Doesn't Have to Be Complicated)
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When you start feeling stressed, journal about what has happened during the day and see if your physical symptoms connect with your emotional patterns. Simply making these mind/body connections has been shown to relieve the pressure. Also, writing your thoughts in a journal will help you to control and manage anxieties, and will reduce those last-minute worries about having forgotten something important.© Shutterstock
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9. Exercise in the Sun
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Spend more time outdoors in natural sunlight in the morning to help elevate your mood. This will help synchronize your circadian rhythm – the internal biological clock that regulates your sleep cycle, your temperature regulation and your endocrine system.© Shutterstock
Dr. Stephanie McClellan and Dr. Beth Hamilton are the authors of So Stressed: The Ultimate Stress-Relief Plan for Women. Their practice, specializing in gynecology and women’s health, is based in Newport Beach, CA. Follow them on Twitter here
{ 2 comments }
My own favorite advice: Learn how to say NO. There are so many different ways of saying it without offending another person, i.e. could we put it off for a week? and i could go on forever. Make the other person feel good is easier than you might think.
Forget being SUPERWOMAN. Once you have the reputation, much is expected and the expectations will come back to haunt you and run you down.
Share responsibilities — there is something about teamwork at work or at home that more often than not draws people closer, doing things for a common cause.
Definitely have a room all your own with a door you can shut and the interior filled with color and light and things that warm your heart. Get the family get used to seeing you drop into your space and respect your privacy. If done right, you come up often renewed and refreshed.
Hopefully, have a best friend — the kind of friend who was listen when you need it most. Just talking it out allows you to go forward without that stone of worry on your back. And in some cases, in talking, you come up with a solution.
I find that deep breaths and chocolate certainly don’t hurt, but the results are short-lived. You really must have more long-term plans at the ready as the stress I am thinking of is usually not of the short-lived variety and should be treated with changes in life, changes in lifestyle, and some deep thinkng on some of these ways to turn your life around.
Some of it I agree with, some of it I don’t, but I solved my stress problems by doing a couple of things;
1) Stop hurrying. In everything.
2) No coffee. Tea only
3) Walk to the train station and commute to work rather than drive. It’s less stressful and I get some exercise.
4) Read or meditate on the train. It works!
5) Be the change you want to see. That thought alone has changed my attitude.
6) Be positive. That can also change everything you do in a day.
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