How to Deal with Stress: The Secret Guide to Living Your Best Life
Have you ever wondered why 3 out of 5 professionals are on the verge of burning out? It's easy to blame capitalism, corporate policies, and a prolonged pandemic. Yet, learning how to deal with stress depends entirely on you.
You're the one calling all the shots. You prioritize work and screen time over mindful activities. It creates a domino effect when lines between work and home continue to blur. Consequently, this mindset pushes you towards a downward spiral.
So how do you deal with the stress (of living in a post-pandemic world)?
Effective stress management techniques require you to adopt holistic habits. It's about looking beyond mental strain and investing in emotional and physical wellbeing. Meditation, exercising, self-care, and building better relationships can help you overcome stressors.
The road towards a mindful lifestyle begins with a positive mindset.
This article takes a closer look at the causes of stress and how to beat it.
Here's everything you need to know:
The Premise: What Is Stress?
We can define stress as a defense mechanism against change. It's activated whenever we feel nervous, frustrated, or fearful. You can experience most symptoms before, during, and in the aftermath of an unexpected event.
From a medical perspective, the body prepares you to overcome challenges. The nervous system shoots stress hormones (adrenaline, oxytocin, and cortisol) whenever you feel overwhelmed. Their presence activates the fight-or-flight mode.
As a result, your heart starts pounding, your throat dries up, your pupils dilate, and you break into a sweat. You might feel on edge, and your mind starts racing as you brace yourself for the oncoming danger.
This adrenaline rush helps prey overcome predators in the jungle by outrunning or fighting them. Once the interaction ends, an animal's body returns to a normal, relaxed state.
Unfortunately, the concrete jungle and these uncertain times prevent you from doing the same. Due to this, your adrenaline-inducing mind and body go into overdrive. Prolonged stress affects your health and social life.
Why Are Stress Management Techniques Important?
Failing to manage stress can have lasting effects on your health. Over time your health deteriorates and puts you at high risk of heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic gastrointestinal issues, obesity, and other long-term conditions. Mentally, you become anxious, unmotivated, distressed, and forgetful.
Without effective stress management techniques, you become more and more frustrated. You might act out, procrastinate or indulge in addictive habits that provide short bursts of happiness.
Like:
Overeating
Spending hours mindlessly scrolling on your feed
Distancing yourself from other people
Regular intake of alcohol and drugs
These behavioral changes can put a strain on your work and social life. Therefore, learning how to deal with stress becomes vital.
The Solution: How to Deal with Stress?
You can avoid stress by ensuring your mental, emotional, and physical health receives equal attention. It would help if you took time out for yourself regardless of how busy life gets. Meditation, exercise, sleeping well, self-care, and socializing are a few ways to cope better.
Here are a few stress management techniques to incorporate into your routine:
Start Your Mornings with Meditation (5-10 Mins)
Beginning your day with Wordle might feel great, but it's a short-lived success. You might want to spend time recollecting your thoughts instead. Meditation techniques can help you do that.
The ancient art of mindfulness through meditation requires you to focus on breathing. Alternatively, you can visualize a happy place or chant a mantra to prevent your mind from wandering off to negative thoughts.
How to Meditate Daily?
Choose a relaxed position and distraction-free zone in your house. Then perform some deep breathing exercises. If sitting in one place makes you restless, you can walk. This time around, focus on your breathing and steps as you move.
Is it that simple?
Yes.
Many people skip meditation and yoga because they think it requires a guide. These days you can learn how to deal with stress through meditation online. Once you figure out which technique works for you, practicing it every day won't be challenging.
You can dedicate a few minutes before breakfast for meditation by finding a quiet and comfy space. Ensure you are seated correctly and begin to take deep breaths. During this time, focus your attention on your breathing, heart rate, and feelings. Use this strategy to push away other thoughts.
Meditation combines mind, body, and soul for a few minutes. It's adequate time to catch a break from the draining motions of your mundane routine.
Stress-Buster: If you're looking for a way to block distractions during meditation, you should try listening to rain sounds.
Swap Junk Food with Healthy Homemade Snacks & Meals
Do you crave a bar of chocolate after a tiresome day? Or, you might like chugging down beers and munching on salty snacks?
Stress eating causes us to snack at impromptu times during the day and pick up unhealthy eating habits.
It's your way of filling an emotional void caused by stress. These habits start slowly. Yet, within months you become accustomed to eating away the stress with a high-calorie count.
As a result, you might develop obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and a possible heart condition.
Homemade cooking and a well-balanced diet can turn things around for you.
How to Start Eating Well?
For starters, you need to stop picking up processed food and rely on home cooking. Also, learn to incorporate fresh produce into your daily diet. It can include veggies, pastured meat, and fruits. These changes can turn everyday meals into one of the most effective stress management techniques.
Eating at home can reduce your carb-laden habits. If you don't know where to start, we can share some tips.
Here are some steps to eat healthier:
Eat a Hearty Breakfast.
You can substitute sugary cereal with yogurt for your morning meal. Eggs, avocado on toast, fresh fruit bowls, and smoothies are other tasty alternatives. Having a good breakfast prepares your body for a busy day.
Mix Veggies into Your Lunch.
Veg pasta, sweet potato sides with lean meats, and leafy greens with omega-3-6 fish filets are an excellent way to go.
Grab a Homemade Midday Snack.
If you work for long hours, you might get peckish. Instead of heading towards a vending machine, opt for a homemade snack. Fruits, vegetables, trail mixes, and energy bliss balls can curb cravings without increasing your waistline.
Cook Something Light for Dinner.
Avoid oily, greasy, and fatty food as it causes gastric issues. Due to this, you might not sleep well. It causes a chain of unhealthy events that lead to groggy mornings and dullness.
Stress-Buster: Can't get the hang of meal planning? SpruceEats shares some secrets and recommends these digital cooking assistants.
Make Time for Physical Activity (15 Mins)
"Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy." This iconic quote has helped people with depression.
Also, it gives you a straightforward explanation of why physical activity beats stress.
If you want to know how to deal with stress, you need to get up from the couch and walk around. Otherwise, you'll be stuck replaying stressful moments and drowning in sad thoughts.
More importantly, your body needs that burst of energy to unknot those tensed muscles. Exercising can boost your mood, productivity levels, and brain health too. These physiological and psychological changes promote a positive mindset.
How to Move More?
15-minutes of morning workouts at home can do wonders. It beats excuses you might make for skipping the gym.
However, if your routine or lifestyle doesn't allow that, you can exercise differently.
Some examples include:
You can do stretching exercises while sitting if you're stuck in your cubicle all day.
Take the stairs whenever you need to ride an elevator.
You can dance to your favorite tunes to unwind in the evening.
Join a gym or a dance class with a friend/family member to ensure you don't bail on exercising.
Pick up a sporty hobby (tennis, football, or ice hockey).
The key lies in finding a physical activity that fits your schedule. Then consistently perform it to make it a regular part of your routine.
Stress-Buster: Bust some moves while you walk, jog or hit the gym with this energizing workout playlist. It features 50 tracks shortlisted by Time Magazine.
Set Boundaries and Practice Self-Care to Form a Healthy Work-Life Balance
When your work takes over the whole day, you begin letting go of personal pursuits and socialization. It's one of the reasons why 3 out of 5 people reported a spike in their stress levels. Setting boundaries between your professional tasks can eliminate stressors. In addition, you should engage in activities that help you unwind.
In other words, learn not to overcommit and say "no" when someone demands extra time. Also, log out after business hours to ensure your work life doesn't overtake personal commitments. Subsequently, refrain from checking business emails during your downtime. Learning to switch off work mode can ensure you find time to focus on yourself.
How to Deal with Stress and Improve Mental and Emotional Wellness?
Stress takes a toll on your mental and emotional wellbeing. Use mindful activities to recharge yourself. Proper sleep, digital detox, socialization, and hobbies are some stress management techniques that benefit you.
Many of us end up scrolling through our phones instead of using personal time mindfully. Such casual habits can result in additional stressors as you overstimulate your brain with doom scrolling.
Here's what you can do instead:
Get creative through mandala art therapy.
Reconnect with nature through gardening.
Use the evenings to text friends or arrange monthly video meetups to maintain long-distance friendships.
Cook with your family on the weekends to bond better.
Go on staycations to take a break from your stressful routine.
Read and meditate before bed instead of doom scrolling.
Treat yourself to a relaxing spa day or a bubble bath.
Make sure you get 6-8 hours of sleep.
Maintain a gratitude journal to reflect on positive things in life.
Volunteer at a nursing home soup kitchen or tutor children with learning challenges to make time-off seem productive.
Lastly, don't hesitate to reach out to loved ones when you're struggling.
Health Psychologist Kelly McGonigal points out that we can make stress our best friend. The trick lies in reminding ourselves that stress works like a "built-in mechanism" to overcome challenges. "Caring creates resilience" because stress releases oxytocin to increase our empathy levels.
Hence, many studies show that spending quality time with friends, family, and the community can reduce stress.
Stress-Buster: Expanding your social circle can be beneficial. Conversely, holding onto toxic relationships can add to the stress. Identify the 5 Relationships You Deserve to break free from the ones that stir up drama.
Are You Ready to Beat Stress?
The most effective stress management techniques replace destructive routines with healthier habits. Meditation, eating well, socializing, sleep hygiene, and positive thinking lay the foundations. These strategies help you recharge to face everyday battles.
Moreover, you start practicing gratitude and celebrate small victories. In turn, you shift focus away from fears and potential failures that once left you in despair. That way, you learn to stay cool, calm, and collected at work and outside it.
In the end, learning how to deal with stress isn't easy. Yet, small steps make a significant difference in your life.
Are you interested in receiving more wellness tips? Watch this virtual space for more insights on reconnecting with humanity and our inner self.
