People of all ages, including children, are prone to experiencing stress. While it’s important to recognize the difference between good stress and bad stress, some level of both types of stress is essential for a healthy life. However, when stress becomes chronic and severe, our bodies start to feel the detrimental and sometimes long-term effects. We become sick more often, we recover less quickly and chronic negative stress significantly increases the risk of heart attacks and diabetes.
It is crucial to understand your body and know the signs of stress so that you can take measures to reduce your stress levels before you have long-term and/or permanent damage to your body.
Follow these tips to help you reduce stress:
1. Plan each day. Having a schedule creates predictability which can reduce anxiety that comes with an overwhelming task list. Creating a to-do list that is rank-ordered with most important tasks helps to organize the jumble in your head so that the tasks become more manageable and you feel less overwhelmed.
2. Delegate and ask for help. Many people with high stress levels often take on too many tasks and don’t trust others to do them instead. Let go of perfectionist expectations and allow others to help you manage your to-do list. Know that asking for help takes strength and is not shameful.
3. Follow the 10-minute rule. Work on a dreaded or anxiety-provoking task just 10 minutes per day. Once you see yourself taking small steps toward completion, your anxiety will lessen and you will be more likely to complete the project.
4. Exercise regularly. Exercise improves overall health, which works the opposite of stress. When our bodies are fit, we are able to manage stress more effectively. In addition, exercise helps to clear your mind and help you view a stressful situation from a different perspective. If you have a busy schedule, find quick exercise tips that you can do while sitting at your desk or between classes.
5. Practice good life habits. Eat healthy food, sleep at a regular time and get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. With a healthy routine, our bodies are better able to fight against stressful situations. (For tips on ingredients that lower stress, please view our Food & Mood section.)
6. Cut out coffee, chocolate and soda. Caffeine, while it gives us an initial boost to push through a stressful situations, ultimately makes them worse by increasing anxiety.
7. Increase Vitamin C intake. Our adrenal glands, that produce adrenaline and cortisol when we are stressed, become weak after acute stress. With chronic stress, the glands become under extreme pressure and begin to work less efficiently. Vitamin C helps to repair the adrenal glands and reduce the level of stress hormones produced. (For ingredients high in Vitamin C, please see our Food & Mood section.)
8. Write. Writing down how you’re feeling during a stressful time helps to move the emotions from outside your mind onto a paper. This allows you to gain another perspective. In addition, the process of writing is far slower than thinking, which helps to slow down your thought process and reduce stress.
9. Use your hands. For most people, using their hands helps to reduce stress and anxiety. Squeeze with a stress ball, doodle on a piece of paper while on the phone, play with clay or play-doh during stressful situations.
10. Watch a funny video. Laughter has protective properties against the damaging effects of stress. Find a video on YouTube or watch a home video that makes you laugh. In addition, laughter helps to regulate our breathing and increases our oxygen intake, which is usually lower when we are stressed.
11. Reduce multi-tasking. The more activities you are trying to juggle at one time, the more stress you will feel. Our brains are not made to handle more than 2 tasks at one time so multi-tasking is actually taxing on our brains and body as well. Plan your days carefully so that you can minimize the amount of multi-tasking you have to do.
12. Know when to consult a professional. Sometimes stressful situations become far too overwhelming for us to manage alone. If you have tried numerous things to reduce stress and don’t feel much relief, consult a mental health professional who can help identify the sources of your stress and help you find more individualized tips on how to mange the situations better.
We would love to hear your thoughts about this article. Please leave your comments below.