Stress Make You Sick. Stress suppresses the immune system and has been linked to many chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome. Stress Kills. How can we learn to live in these stress filled times without succumbing to its ill effects?
Here are ten strategies for living stress free:
- Breathe.
Take time each day to practice deep diaphragmatic breathing, inhaling and exhaling through your nose while feeling the rib cage expand in all directions. I’ve begun to incorporate this into my life for five minutes first thing when I wake up and last thing before I go to sleep. It helps begin and end our days with the parasympathetic nervous system in charge which is a key to stress management and deep relaxation. Try to return to deep breathing whenever you think of it during the day, especially in stressful situations and see how much difference something as simple as deep conscious breathing can make. - Give Thanks.
It’s hard to feel stressed and thankful at the same time. Allocate a few minutes a day to being grateful for all the blessings in your life. Start a gratitude journal to jot them down if you want. - Focus.
Do one thing at a time, instead of multitasking. Pay attention to the task at hand. Focused attention brings us into the present moment, slows us down, and disengages us from our over-busy scattered thoughts. - Connect.
Make love and friendship top priorities in your life. Schedule time with your loved ones and stay in touch with supportive friends. Social connection helps alleviate the effects of stress, builds a sense of belonging minimizing isolation and loneliness, improves health, and encourages the release of stress-lowering hormones. - Journal.
Write away negative thoughts and feelings by recording them on paper. Writing removes negativity from body and mind in a way that talking doesn’t. - Assess.
Make a list of things that bring you joy and another list of things that deplete your energy. Keep track every day for a week. Try to incorporate more things that bring joy into your daily life and let go of the energy drainers where you can. - Cultivate Compassion.
Begin with yourself. It is not selfish; it is self-preservation and necessary for your health and well-being. Show yourself kindness. Be indulgent with yourself. Only from a place of true self-compassion can you be authentically kind to others. - Take a Timeout.
Visualize a peaceful place. Memorize an empowering phrase. Turn to these in times of stress to bring you back to center and calm down. - Unwind.
Set aside some time each day doing something that helps you decompress–take a walk, do yoga, talk with a friend, have a bath, read something uplifting. - Schedule a Siesta.
Studies show that people who nap for thirty minutes at least three times a week are 37% less likely to die from a heart attack. Give yourself permission to give it a try. Find a quiet space, close your eyes and try to drift off for just ten or fifteen minutes and see how refreshed you feel.
