Living Life Low Key
Some stress in your life is okay. It motivates you to make a deadline, it helps you build endurance and strength, and it gets your blood pumping so your fight or flight mechanism is ready to go when needed. However, too much stress leaves our bodies prone to disease and illness, so why do we allow it to continue to have a hold on our lives? Stress, in simple terms, is emotional and physical strain created when we fight against reality. Stress is caused by worry, anxiety, and extreme emotions (both good and bad). Do you ever feel like your stress is managing your life and what you do with your time? Here are some tips on building a healthy lifestyle through stress management.
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Tip #1: Identify your stress.
Stress is most easily managed when you identify that it is there. Saying aloud, "I am stressed" is actually very stress-relieving. Also, identifying where your stress is actually coming from can help you in the management process. Find the events in your life that cause stress, for example, deadlines at work can be very stressful. Once you have found the events that you think causes stress in your life, remember that events don't cause the stress, but our thoughts about the event do. What are you thinking that causes you to stress over deadlines at work? If you can harness your thoughts and keep a positive outlook, your stress will be a much lighter burden.
Tip #2: Breathe, just breathe.
When you can feel the stress creeping in and getting under your skin, a tightening of your muscles, that stress headache, the ball of nervous energy in your gut, or whatever indicates that you are stressed, start breathing deeply. Breathing deeply allows more oxygen to your blood and more oxygen to your muscles with allows them to relax. When you breathe deeply, you can relax almost immediately.
Tip #3: Avoid unnecessary stress.
Some stress that we take on is not needed, is not helpful, and should and can be avoided altogether. Set personal limits on what you will and will not do, then learn how to say no when you've hit your limits. If you have relationships that put more stress on you than others (your one very needy friend), then limit the time you spend in that relationship or avoid it altogether. You do not need to make yourself sick just to keep a friend. Stress makes you sick. If certain situations create stress for you, like rush-hour traffic, then avoid it. Take control of your environment and make it work for you. You can shut off the TV, unplug the phone, avoid problem traffic, shop online, or any number of things to control your stress levels.
Tip #4: Move on.
Some stress you can avoid, and some you really can't. For the stress you cannot avoid, accept the fact that you can't change it, quit fighting against reality, and move on. You cannot change or control the behavior of other people; you can only control your thoughts and reactions to them. You will have much less stress if you control your own thoughts. Crap happens to everyone. Realize it, accept it, look for the bright side in it, and move on. Forgiveness isn't always easy, but when you exercise it, you are also alleviating stress. You cannot change the past, so why try by hanging on to the bad experiences? Forgive, forget, and move on.
