Stress Reducing 101
While it is virtually impossible and unhealthy to live a stress free life, there is good stress that we actually need to function properly, there is also bad stress that we need to minimize and deal with effectively to live a healthy life. Stress is not something that should be pushed aside to be dealt with later. These aren’t things that we can just internalize and think they will go away. Stress can have a profound impact on our health. What are common causes of stress?
There are many events, situations and things that cause stress. For most of us it is money worries, work and family life issues that cause us the greatest amount of stress. Health is another topic that can cause stress, especially for people that have chronic conditions, medications to buy and testing that needs to be done.
When you are facing stress whether it is acute (short term) or chronic (long term) stress it can affect your overall physical and emotional health. Short term stress is not as dangerous if you deal with the situation causing the stress and handle the stress properly. Chronic stress is another story, at first the symptoms that this stress causes may be very mild, but you may find that you are more susceptible to colds.
The longer the stress goes on though you may begin to experience more health problems such as depression, diabetes, heart disease, hair loss, hyperthyroidism, OCD or anxiety disorders, tooth and gum disease, sexual dysfunction, obesity, ulcers, fatigue and lethargy, difficulty sleeping and possibly death at the most extreme end.
The longer the stress and worry goes on though you will begin to experience more health problems such as depression, diabetes, heart disease, hair loss, hyperthyroidism, OCD or anxiety disorders, tooth and gum disease, sexual dysfunction, obesity, ulcers, fatigue and lethargy, difficulty sleeping and possibly death.
Quiet time and deep breathing can also help soothe jangled nerves. Perhaps taking a powerful nap would be very restorative. Turn off the cell phone, music, TV, computer and other noise making items. Sometimes we just need quiet.
You can also create a gratitude book. Naturally do this when you aren?t stressed and use it when you are. In the gratitude book you are going to write the things in your life that you are thankful for. This can be as simple as the fact you are able to get up and live another day, that you are able to take a breath on your own and so on. Sometimes we just need quiet. Quiet time and deep breathing can also help soothe jangled nerves. Perhaps taking a powerful nap would be very restorative. Turn off the cell phone, music, TV, computer and other noise making items, unwind and unplug!
Get a massage if you can. If you can?t, do a hot foot soak bath for your feet, and run some beautiful scented oils on your feet afterward. Then put your feet up and relax.
Talk a leisure walk outside, especially if you can find a beautiful quiet area to walk.
Read a great book and curl up with a cup of tea.
Have some friends over for dinner, or go out for a meal. Surround yourself with positive people who care about you, but don?t let the friendship be one sided. Share and enter into their lives as well, be a giver, not just a taker.
Write in a journal, sometimes getting your thoughts and anxieties on paper help diminish the power of those anxieties and worries.
Read a great book and curl up with a cup of chamomile tea.
Write in a journal, sometimes getting your thoughts and anxieties on paper help diminish the power of those anxieties.
Find a hobby you enjoy if you don’t already have one. Invest in your creative side and if you don’t know of one, set on a journey to discover it. Many times people have hidden talents that are just not yet known. Take a class that interests you to learn.
Try to stop stewing the problem over and over and over in your head. This time of destressing can be such a rich, rewarding and really life altering time. Sometimes change is hard to embrace, but sometimes it is the best thing ever!
