Stress
Management Tips:
Making Your Health a Priority
Listed below are some of the most helpful stress management
tips and techniques. You might find that some of these are real
easy to adopt while others make take a great amount of effort.
Either way, these stress management tips are all effective and
work to keep your mind and body healthy.
To learn more, read the full articles by following their
links.
Prioritize Your Life: Set your priorities in order! Ask
yourself how important the situations you are feeling stressed
over are. Prioritize your concerns and tackle the most important
ones first.
Control
That Bad Temper
: Learn to stop overreacting! The best way to rate a problem
is to rate on a scale from 1-10. Keep in mind that your 10's
should be reserved for major life stressors. When you feel
yourself stressing, ask yourself "How important is this problem
to my life?" Be realistic! Is it worth the reaction you are
giving it?
Use Visualization Exercises: By visualizing success you
create a less stressful response in your reality. Learn to be
visually optimistic! This will bring balance to your emotions
and help your anticipatory anxiety.
Stop Procrastinating: Turn worries into solutions. Worrying
makes you feel bad and it doesn't serve any purpose at
all. Many of our worries can be put to rest simply by "doing
something" about it. By acting, we are taking control. We can
find solutions to our problems. And if it's something we
assume then it helps to find out the real facts first! We
are NEVER hopeless and anything is better than worrying.
Laughter Is The Best Medicine: Find humor in life. Learn to
laugh at life and yourself. Developing a sense of humor about
life will help you save your tears for real problems.
Learn To Slow Down During Stress: If we are always rushing
around and keeping "busy" then we never feel like we can really
ever relax. Everyone needs time to take a break and "recharge".
Take time to enjoy the things around you that really matter.
Talk
Therapy: Talk to someone! By talking to a trusting friend
you can reduce stress tremendously.
Time
Management: Be realistic with your time. Don't try to cram
so much in such a small time frame. Accept it when things "pop
up" because they always do, even if you don't plan for
them. Prioritize most important to least important and remind
yourself that other things can wait if they have to. Do what you
can, when you can.
Have Some Fun When Coping With Stress: Learn to balance work
and play. Setting aside time for yourself is healthy so do not
feel guilty for doing it. Do something you enjoy!
Remove
Perfectionism From Your Life: Perfectionists are never
satisfied with themselves or their accomplishments. Set
reasonable goals and be satisfied when you complete them. It's
okay to make mistakes. We all make mistakes, this is how we
learn.
Follow A
Good Diet: Healthy foods rich in vitamins and minerals help
boost our body's immune system, making us less susceptible to
illness due to stress.
Follow A Good Exercise Plan: Exercise is also one of the
BEST stress reducers. It burns away excess adrenaline generated
by stress and reduces the "fight or flight" response. I
encourage you to learn all you can about the healthy benefits to
exercise.
Get Some Sleep: A
good nights rest goes a really long way! Included are some good tips if you are
having trouble sleeping.
Music Therapy:
Listen to music! Music has the ability to aid in relaxation and promote a
healthy, positive outlook. Music is considered a great form of therapy for those
suffering with stress.
Look At The Positive: try to stay
focused on what's good in your life. Even if something negative
happens, try to find something positive about it. Remind
yourself of the good that's in your life. List it off on paper
if you want to, so you can see it with your own eyes!
Try Visualization Exercises: Close your eyes and breathe
slowly and deeply. Visualize success before attempting your
goals. A little visualization goes a long way.
Meditation:
As you breathe in, imagine that you are
inhaling peace, that is, imagine that peace
is filling you up, coming in through your
lungs and circulating around your body. As
you exhale, visualize all the stress and
negativity leaving your body through your
nose and mouth. After several repetitions,
you should feel your stress significantly
lessened. The Mayo Clinic offers some great
information on
meditation.
Practice Progressive Muscle Relaxation
: The more you practice progressive
muscle relaxation to relax the body, the better results you will have. This will
help produce the automatic relaxation response when done on a regular basis.
Isometric Relaxation Exercises: Unlike
progressive muscle relaxation, isometric
relaxation exercises can be done in everyday
situations. (again, this exercise needs
repetitive practice in order to receive the
full benefits!)
Additional Helpful Resources for Stress Management:
DIY
Stress Relief offers natural, hands-on ways to combat the
negative effects of stress on your health. Tips and techniques
for inducing relaxation; including meditation, breathing, using
essential oils and herbs, as well as massage and other lifestyle
tips.
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Tips to Sound-Mind.Org Homepage
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