Stress; How Eliminating Stress Can Improve Your Life
Stress can be hard to manage. The overwhelming feeling of something might go wrong takes over and suddenly you are uneasy and cannot stop overthinking. It happens to the best of us. For those of us that go through random stress cycles in our regular, everyday lives, there are ways to help manage it.
Sleep Better
Sleeping is just as important as eating and exercising for your health. Our brains do not function properly when sleep deprived, so a full night of sleep is definitely needed. Stress can affect your sleep schedule. You can take a hot bath in dim lighting, stretch and make sure your electronics are off and tucked away before going to bed. A couple of simple stretches will also help relax your joints and muscles for a more comfortable snooze. If you have chronic sleep issues, ignoring them won’t make them disappear, instead, they will get worse.
Meditate
Simply just sit and focus on keeping a positive outlook. Close your eyes and think ‘’I feel at peace’’ ‘’Things are going to be fine’’ ‘’I can get through this’’ while breathing in from your nose and out from your mouth. Daily meditation has scientifically proven to help reduce stress as it alters your brains neural pathways, making you feel more at peace and less at war with yourself.
Reach Out
Ask for help. Asking for help sometimes worries some of us because we don’t know the response we will get or worried about looking a certain way to someone. Think about it this way, if someone asked you to help them with something they were worried about, you are probably likely to help them without feeling in any bad way. We all need help sometimes, it is okay to reach out and ask for some guidance on whatever we are doing. Help thy neighbor, right? Getting help and socializing while doing so can help reduce your stress levels, helping you to feel more in control.
Understand How Useless Stress is
Stress, while unavoidable sometimes, is manageable. Understanding that problems don’t get solved because you are stressed, and they only go away by finding the right solution to them will help reduce stress and help you focus on finding a solution instead. Sometimes we get stressed about things that are out of our control, a common problem. Meditating and focusing on positivity and just hoping the best can put you in a positive mindset and keep you stress-free a little longer.
It is okay to be stressed once in a while. However, if you feel crippled by stress and it is affecting your mental health and/or physical health or everyday life, please contact a mental health professional for help. Otherwise, follow these steps for a less stressful life and learn how to get in touch with yourself and take control.