What is stress? Why
do we have stress? How can we relieve stress?
Do you ever feel like you have too much on your plate? Everyone expects
something from you and you don’t seem to have the time required to deliver.
You notice the muscles in your neck and shoulders become tense and painful, your head hurts, you feel a bit queasy in your stomach, and your heart races. These are all signs that your body is stressed.
Stress is inevitable and no one can ever be stress-free. The body has a built-in mechanism to push us through difficult situations.
Stress Hormones, and effects of Stress
When you have a lot on your plate, the biological changes that occur are that your body releases two stress hormones one is ‘cortisol’ and the other ‘adrenaline’.
Prolonged effects can become destructive, in that, these two chemicals actually suppress the immune system and can cause numerous health problems like heart disease, stroke, cancer, and depression.
The stress hormones are released in the body, this is referred to as the “fight or flight” response. The adrenaline and cortisol are released to aid in a physical form.
For example; you are in a car accident and a loved one is pinned under the vehicle, you suddenly have the strength to pick up the vehicle to pull the loved one out.
You didn’t turn into the incredible hulk although the chemicals in your body do provide an instant surge of strength that makes you feel like the big green monster!
Overtime when you suffer from psychological or mental stress, these chemicals build up in the body without an outlet to dispel them.
An abundance of these
stress hormones over a prolonged period of time can cause numerous health
issues, such as depression, anxiety, and panic disorders.
Three Tips for Relieving the Stress Hormones:
- Exercise
Taking time to exercise will not only improve your body and its physical appearance, but it will also assist in relieving the stress hormones that have been building up.
A daily vigorous walk, jogging, weight lifting, aerobics, swimming, bike riding, dancing, or a dance class, football, basketball, etc are all great ways to relieve the chemical stress hormones.
These physical activities and other simple ones such as stretching is a sure way to go. You can stretch right in the office, or at home within daily activities.
Get moving with the simple exercises to manage stress. These activities can bump up endorphin hormone production, hence, leaving you mentally and physically alright.
2. Eating Right
Eating a balanced diet will not only make you feel better it will relieve some of the stress and certainly won’t add to it. When you eat a diet high in sugars, cholesterol, and fat, you add to the trauma in your system.
Concentrate on a high protein, veggie, fruit diets and you will see remarkable improvements. Also, whole grains promote the production of the brain neurotransmitter serotonin for a greater sense of well-being.
When you combine healthier eating with exercise your body will respond favorably and the stress levels will start to decrease.
Some stress-busting foods you can eat
- Green leafy vegetables
- Brazil nuts
- Oatmeal
- Fatty fish e.g. salmon
- Blueberries
- Eggs
- Pumpkin seeds
- Milk
- Seaweed
- Oranges
- Green tea
- Oyster
- Chamomile
- Dark chocolate
- Avocado
- Turmeric
- Chamomile
- Yogurt
3. Change Your Mindset!
If you walk around all day saying “I’m so stressed”, you will be. Positive thinking is crucial to relieving mental stress.
Our minds are so powerful that we can actually increase our stress by the way we think and the things we speak. If you develop a new mindset that is positive in nature and optimistic, studies have shown it is to be a reliever of stress.
Ways to Improve your Mindset
Meditation
Learn to meditate. Meditation is a prime way to change your mindset and refocus on the positives and what is really important.
It is a mind practice where an individual applies techniques to train his/her awareness or attention in order to achieve mental clarity or emotional calmness. Such techniques are mindfulness, or focus on activity, event, thought, or object.
You can practice concentrative meditation, mantra meditation, and mindfulness meditation with the basic techniques mentioned above.
How to meditate: Stay in a cool, quiet place and in an enjoyable position, close your eyes, and focus your attention while taking a deep breathe.
Yoga
Try yoga or visualization imagery to assist. Yoga takes into account a group of mental, physical, and spiritual practices that offer mental clarity, inner peace, and stress relief.
Hatha yoga is a kind of pose that includes most yoga postures and breathing exercises. It is highly effective for relieving the stress of the body and mind, hence, preparing the body for meditation.
Other types of yoga pose you can practice for stress relief are:
- Cat/Cow Pose
- Low lunge
- Breath Work/Pranayam
- Easy pose (Sukhasana)
- Child’s pose (Balasana)
- Seated forward bend (Paschimottanasana)
- Happy baby pose (Ananda Balasana)
- Standing forward bend (Uttanasana)
- Downward facing dog
How yoga helps to fight stress and find serenity
Body and muscle relaxation
Yoga comes with a relaxation technique that calms both the mind and body. Take different yoga posses whenever you feel stressed.
It’s a remedy for general mood enhancement by eliminating anger and stress directly. That’s why it benefits people who’re stressed from office work and other activities.
Mind clarity improvement
Yoga practices calm the mind and provide clarity. Take a 10-minutes yoga in a daily basis to obtain a clear mind and improve your concentration.
All the types of yoga poses can relieve stress by offering a peace that comes from within, and when we attain inner peace we can be able to concentrate on everything that we’re doing.
Positive self-talk
Stress is inevitable, but when we experience, we have to effectively deal with it. One of the easiest ways is using positive self-talk to boost your mindset.
Always get inspired, and develop a strong in a higher power to have a higher purpose than self. In this way, you can always think positively than depressing yourself with negative thoughts that hinder your mindset.
Again, believe in your success at all times, and then, cut off negative people out of your life. Use positive talks with certain scenarios to clear self-doubt; boost your mind and relieve stress.
These three (3) basic steps; exercise, diet, and change of mindset alone can improve your mental and physical status.
Here is a poem that helps me to put things into the correct perspective:
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
There are two days in every week about which we should not worry. Two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.
One of these days is yesterday with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.
Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone.
The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow. With its possible adversities, it’s burdens, its large promise, and poor performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.
Tomorrow’s Sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn. This just leaves only one day . . . Today. Any person can fight the battles of just one day.
It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities’ – yesterday and tomorrow that we break down.
It is not the experience of today that drives people mad. It is the remorse or bitterness for something that happened yesterday and the dread of what tomorrow may bring.
Let us therefore live but one day at a time.
Author Unknown (Possible author Jennifer Kritsch)
Concluding Sentence
Today is a new day, live for today and don’t worry over tomorrow or yesterday. Take measures to make this day less stressful and each day that comes.
Fight for today because tomorrow is not here yet, and we do not know what tomorrow brings. Make your plans for the future; however, those plans should focus on your preparation to handle whatever is thrown your way.
Prepare by setting up an exercise program, a better diet, and a new mindset, and everything will fall into place.
And one other important bit of advicestop, smell the roses along the way, and whatever you do make time for laughter. Laughing increases endorphins that make you feel so much better. On your way home tonight stop and rent a good comedy or watch ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’.
Best Wishes in your endeavor to relieve stress in your life!
Darla G. Dawald
Stress Expert, outofstress.com
Author, Speaker, Consultant
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