We all have stress in our lives. Today, national stress day, gives us the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate what stress is and how we deal with it to improve our lives.
What is stress?
Stress is defined as an organism’s total response to environmental demands or pressures. Let’s simplify. On its most basic level, stress is your reaction to the events in your life that may be demanding or put pressure on you.
Causes of stress
As everyone is different, we all may experience stress from different situations. A friend of mine was recently stressing as she was considering the idea of Life Insurance. The only reason she was getting so worried about it was the fact this wasn’t a topic she was comfortable looking into. When she was informed of the benefits that this type of insurance could have on herself and the future of her family if something was to happen, she started to see the positives and managed to control her stress levels. Looking into sites such as https://www.moneyexpert.com/life-insurance/ helped her quite a lot as well. It is always good to identify the cause before trying to find a solution.
However, here are just a few examples of things to look at that might be causing you stress.
- Routine stress- work, family and daily responsibilities.
- Sudden or negative change- such as losing a job, going through a breakup, or illness.
- Traumatic stress
Symptoms of stress
A little bit of stress is normal and doesn’t cause harm. However, if multiple stressful situations occur or a major stressful event occurs, your health could be affected. Here are some common body, behavior and mood effects of stress to look out for.
- Headache
- Muscle tension or pain
- Sleep problems
- Anxiety
- Sadness or depression
- Lack of motivation or focus
- Changes in diet
- Social withdrawal
Dealing with and preventing stress
When that stress continues to build and you start experiencing a symptom mentioned above, it is important to learn how to deal with stress. Even better is to learn how to prevent stress. As everyone experiences stress in different ways, everyone can deal with and prevent stress in different ways as well. It’s important to continue to experiment with different methods of stress relief until you find the most effective method for you. Here are some pointers when wanting to have a look into tips for relief, from magnesium powder to simple sleeping methods.
A few options to consider:
- Exercise– Not only is exercise great for your body, it also releases endorphins, which makes your mind happier. Go for a swim, jog, bike ride, hike, whatever you like to get your body moving.
- Yoga– Yoga helps to relax the body through relaxation and uses mindfulness to calm the nervous system. Learning proper breathing techniques through yoga is also incredibly beneficial.
- Prioritize– We all have busy lives. Schedules can seem impossible to manage, time never seems to slow down. Look at that schedule and find what’s most important. Get the things done that you have to and learn to let go what you can.
- Sleep– I know there isn’t enough time in the day. But, not getting enough sleep affects your entire body. Running on coffee alone will lead to a major crash. If you are well-rested, your productivity will actually increase, getting you through that list faster.
- Emotional support– Spend some time with family or friends who you can talk to and can help to share the burden of some of your stress.
- CBD– Most poeple don’t know that CBD products like oil and capsules that are sold by companies such as Neoteric Nutra can really help people cope with stress and it also helps promote all round health like maintaining healthy blood sugar level. This method of relieving the symptoms of stress can be seem as an alternative from doing things like exercising or finding a hobby to help focus on something else. With this being said, if this is something new, it may be worth checking out sites like https://buymyweedonline.com/concentrates/how-to-smoke-hash-and-other-hash-basics/ to find out more information, as well as doing research on the benefits that using cannabis related products is said to have on our health.
- Have some fun– Set aside some time to do something you enjoy. Go see a movie, go for a drink with your friends, take a day road trip. Take an at least an hour each day to set aside your stress and do something you enjoy. It will help clear the haze and refocus.
A very simple stress reliever for me is taking an hour at the end of the day to sit, decompress and watch TV, read a book or listen to some music to unwind (Except for the season premiere of The Walking Dead, that definitely wasn’t stress free).
Let National Stress Day help raise awareness about the stress in your life. Begin taking steps to try to reduce stress where you can and create a healthier lifestyle.
