It may not feel like it, but some stress is good. It gives you focus when you need it, protects you in dangerous situations, and motivates you to step up to the plate and tackle challenges head-on. Then there’s bad stress, which really doesn’t help you with anything, and causes all kinds of physical and emotional pain. If the latter is really starting to get to you, here are a few proven, healthy ways to control it…
Identify your Triggers
Recognizing the things that set off your stressful reactions is a key step towards getting them under control. Obviously, there’s no real way of removing all of life’s stress factors. However, understanding what stresses you out, and the way these things do it, can be extremely helpful when you’re trying to solve the underlying issues. Spend some time thinking about what stresses you out, and how you react to it. There’s a range of physical and mental reactions that can happen due to stress, and everybody will react in slightly different ways. Get to the root of your stress, and you’ll be one step closer to finding a good balance. You can read more about this at http://www.healthline.com.
Pay Attention to your Diet
By nourishing your body with all the right food, you’ll give your body all the energy it needs to tackle whatever life throws at you, including various stress factors. When we eat poorly, our bodies don’t feel nearly as good as they should, and our mental state is affected by this. If you’re feeling stressed out all the time, then your diet is a great thing to look at. Make a point of planning out healthy foods every week, and cutting out any pollutants that could be causing you stress.
Achieve Stillness Every Day
Meditation and similar practices such as yoga are among the best tools you can use to combat stress, and turn around our brains’ natural inclination to negative emotions. There are countless online resources like https://bestyogablog.com that can teach you everything you need to get started. During meditation and yoga, your mind releases stress, and reverses the effects of your natural flight or fight response, which is a major source of stress for a lot of modern people. This psychological mechanism was pretty useful back when we were living in caves, but doesn’t have much practical application in 2017!
Sleep a Little More
For many people these days, one of the biggest causes of stress is simply not getting enough Z’s. Healthy, natural sleep for the recommended amount of time each night is absolutely crucial to our mental wellbeing. Understandably, you might be getting less sleep because you’ve got so much to do. However, when you’re well-rested, you’ll find it easier to tackle stressful situations, and will be able to do more stuff in less time. If you think you are getting enough sleep but you’re waking up feeling terrible, the issue may be in your room. You not only need to be getting enough sleep, but making sure the sleep you get is deep and restorative.
Melissa Storms says
These are really great tips. I know I always benefit from more sleep and knowing what exactly is stressing me out.
Terry says
These are great tips to which I have recently had to pay a lot of attention to my diet to keep my health intact.