How to Reduce Stress: Part 2
In How to Reduce Stress: Part 1 we covered the first 4 steps in detail, forgiveness, eliminating worry and anxiety, changing your attitude, and learning to say no. This blog will help you follow through and take actionable steps towards the stress free life you are looking forward to.
5. Impact of your own words
When your self-talk is negative, you may perceive things as being more stressful. Starting everyday with some positive self talk is extremely important. When you look in the mirror as you are getting ready for your day, you should be reassuring yourself with positivity. Instead of saying to yourself, “Today is going to be a long day,” use positive words like, “Today is going to be a great day” and “I can’t wait for this meeting.” Don’t be afraid to pat yourself on the back, at the end of each day remind yourself of the 3 most impactful and positive things about the day. Allow yourself to feel accomplished for the little things if you need to: you made it home safely and can enjoy your glass of wine, you had a great phone call with a potential client, you listened to your favorite song on the way home. Using self-talk that is optimistic rather than pessimistic has stress management benefits, productivity benefits and even health benefits that have been proven by research.
6. Sleep is a stress buster
Believe it or not, your body was created for sleep. This “down time” every night helps the body restore, remove, and replace worn out and dead cells. Sleep gives the brain time to rest from all the sensory input in order to categorize and store information for use as memories that guide future behavior. Sleep also boosts the immune system and slows down the aging process. Unfortunately, most Americans today don’t get enough sleep at night. Only 63% get 8 hours of sleep and 31% get fewer than 7 hours each night. Our bodies were designed to stay in sync with the cycles of nature. When the sun goes down and it gets dark our bodies want to sleep. When the sun comes up and the sky turns light our bodies want to come alive and get up!
7. Exercise to relieve stress
Aerobic exercise can lower stress and combat depression. With all that airflow coming into the body and the endorphins being released this reduces cortisol levels in the body. This can have a calming effect on the body. Adding resistance training to your routine can help as well with weights and stretching. So whether its yoga, martial arts, pilates, dancing, swimming, riding your bike, the key is just do it. A person needs to exercise 4 times a week for 30 minutes to really keep stress at bay.
Live a Stress-Free Life
Check out How to Reduce Stress: Part 1 for the first steps to maintaining lower levels of stress on a daily basis.
As a life coach, my job is to help you utilize these tips so that you can eliminate several of the sources of stress in your life. Contact me today so you can be on your way to a stress free life.
