Today’s post is written by a special guest, Ryan Rivera of The Calm Clinic. Stress is an issue that affects us all, and can have a negative effect on your eating habits. So I’d like to welcome Ryan who is sharing his tips on managing stress and anxiety.
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It seems like every day there is a new research paper about the harmful effects of long term stress. Stress is more than an emotion.
It’s among one of the most damaging issues of our time, especially as more of the population are stuck in toxic workplace environments, are facing financial struggles, and or other issues facing the world.
Learning to Cope with Stress and Anxiety
Stress management is easily one of the most important strategies for living both a happy and healthy life. Whether you experience profound anxiety or just a little bit of daily stress, it’s crucial that you focus your attention on stress free living. Some strategies to relieve daily stress include:
Create a stress free room
If you have an extra room in your home, turn it into a stress free room. No TV, no phones, no technology whatsoever. It should have muted walls, a comfortable couch, and be completely free of distractions. Taking a break in this type of environment is a good way to catch up on your thoughts and slow your life down. Just 30 minutes a day can have a positive effect on your mental health.
Keep a journal
A lot of stress comes from two things: missing sleep, and having thoughts in your head that you feel like you need to say/remember. Whenever you have persistent thoughts that keep you awake, no matter what they are, write them down. This tells your brain that it is okay not to focus on them anymore, giving your brain an important break from the day’s events.
Exercise
Don’t underestimate the effect that daily exercise has on your mental health. Not only does it improve your health – it also reduces the damaging hormones caused by stress and increases production of a neurotransmitter that improves mood. Physical activity also tires out muscles so that you experience less physical tension. Daily physical activity is, in many ways, its own safe and natural anxiety cure.
Avoid minor stressors
Stress isn’t something that just hits you the same amount every time. Stress builds based on your life experiences. To incrementally cut down on your stress, you need to cut down on the issues that cause stress that you are able to control. So if you’re engaging in anything that causes you stress – spending time in dangerous neighborhoods, gambling, watching frightening movies – the more of these you remove from your daily life, the less stress you will experience.
Set/Reach Goals
Hope is a surprisingly important emotion when it comes to battling stress. When you lose hope, you lose the ability to overcome stressful events. One way to create hope is to set more goals for yourself – small goals, large goals, and smaller goals that need to be accomplished on the way to larger goals. Accomplishment renews a feeling of hope that can have a lot of power on your ability to maintain good mental health.
Develop a Routine
Stress can affect your comfort, so regaining your comfort can be valuable, especially before you go to sleep (when stress can affect you the most). Give yourself a routine every night, and let it put you in a comfortable mindset.
Use stress as a tool
In Japanese psychology, they teach the idea of learning to use stress as a tool to get you through your day, treating stress like a friend rather than an enemy. When you learn to see stress as something good, you will have an easier time coping with stress when it occurs.
Also, never forget the value of therapy, good nutrition, and supplements that help control stress. As long as you’re committed to living a life of better mental health, you can learn to control your stress and anxiety and live a happier and better life.
About the Author: Ryan Rivera’s stress bled into every aspect of his life. The relief he found was his motivation for writing tips for others at www.calmclinic.com.
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