Stress is an inevitable part of our daily lives. Sometimes we don’t realise the impact it has on us until it’s a bit too late and the symptoms of stress start to impact our mood, relationships, health and mindset.
Fortunately, there are multiple ways and healthy habits we can include in our daily lives to manage the stressors that we experience.
Let’s see if you can recognise the symptoms and effects of stress on your mind and body.
The Symptoms of Stress
Some people are heavily affected by stressful situations, while others cope better.
The truth is, stress is always around and we will experience varying forms of stress through our lives.
Our personalities, wellbeing, history and education are all aspects that will influence and determine how we cope with stress.
We also manage stress differently and it affects us and our bodies in different ways. Some might feel tired and grumpy, while others experience stomach and digestive issues and/or sleeplessness.
It is important to become familiar with the impact of stress on you and your body. These could serve as a warning light for you to slow down and take the necessary steps, early enough, to prevent a breakdown or the onset of chronic conditions.
Let’s go through a few questions to assess whether you are currently stressed:
- Are you worried most of the time, or feel anxious and overwhelmed quite often?
- Are you struggling to concentrate?
- Do you have mood swings, feel irritable, have a strong temper or find it challenging to manage your emotions?
- Do you find it hard to relax or practise relaxation?
- Do you feel down, depressed and have a low self-esteem?
- Are you eating significantly more or less than what you used to?
- Are you struggling to sleep?
- Do you experience stiff muscles in your neck or back?
- Do you get migraines and headaches more than once a week?
- Are you experiencing diarrhoea or constipation?
- Have you noticed a drop in libido?
- Do you feel dizzy and/or nauseous at times?
- Are you smoking or drinking more alcohol than what you used to?
If you answered yes to several of the above, you might be experiencing the symptoms of stress. You should think about implementing a stress management strategy using some of the tips below.
Human beings are incredibly resilient and stress is a natural response to help us become stronger.
A bit of stress will force people to make changes they wouldn’t otherwise, and healthy stress can thus lead to increased performance and focus. It is ongoing stress, for long durations, that becomes a problem.
Want to know how to relieve stress? These strategies or steps will help you minimise its impact.
Alleviate Stress With These 8 Habits
1. Follow a Healthy Diet
Addressing stress means you are taking a new and refocused look at how you can take care your body and mind in a holistic way. You cannot address your stressors without having a good look at your diet and physical health. Following a healthy diet is imperative and unfortunately most people eat less healthily when they feel tired or down.
A healthy and varied diet will give your body the necessary nutrients to fight environmental stressors, like free radicals, while also restoring cells and refuelling them after a stressful time.
Drink enough water to rid your body of toxins and be sure you take vitamins daily and avoid fizzy drinks and sugar. Increasing your intake of healthy vegetables during a stressful time can also boost your immune system and prevent you from getting sick during a time when your body starts to feel run down.
2. Make Exercise a Part of Your Life
Regular exercise has been known and proven to be an excellent stress reliever. Not only will it help you to stay physically healthy and mobile, but it has also been proven to impact people’s mental state in positive way.
Try and seek out a fitness activity that you enjoy as this will ensure you return to it frequently. A good cardiovascular session will reduce the physical impact of stress on your body and release endorphins (happy hormones) to make you feel better. It is thus an ideal way to destress and disconnect from a busy work day.
3. Cut Down on Alcohol, Smoking and Anything Chemical
Many people use smoking, drinking or eating, to escape the stressful realities of their lives. Any personal development coach or life coach will tell you that it’s more important to address an issue at the source than trying to fix it’s symptoms. You cannot use substances like alcohol of smoking to take away your stress. It might give you temporary relief, but unfortunately your stressors will return afterwards and you will still have to cope, manage or learn how to deal with stress.
Avoiding destructive habits will make more space for healthy practices.
There’s a subtle psychology in self-care where you decide to take a step towards the betterment and benefit of yourself and your health. This will mean less of the things that negatively impact your life, and more of the things that benefit you while you build a happier and healthier life. Smoking and drinking excessively will work against the wellbeing and mental clarity you are seeking.
4. Relax And Recharge
Modern life is busy and rushed. With our mobile phones and laptops, we are connected to our work and our emails even when we're not in the office, which makes it hard to relax. Human beings are not made for constant ongoing stress, and it is therefore imperative to find or make time where you can relax and disconnect from the things that cause you stress.
Chronic stress is a prolonged and constant feeling of stress that can negatively affect your health if it goes untreated.
verywellmind.com
Find the things you need to recharge your batteries. Whether it be short breaks during the day, like a 10 minute coffee break every two hours, time with friends and family or taking leave to get out of the city and away from work. Both short and longer types of breaks are important so try and work them into how you plan and live your daily life.
5. Practise Mindfulness
You might’ve heard of mindfulness and meditation, two techniques that have become increasingly popular over the last decade.
Mindfulness is being aware and awake in your own life. You truly notice and experience emotions, but are not controlled by them and see experiences for what they are. More importantly, you learn to live in the moment.
This is a life skill which we'll always try and master, but if you live mindfully you can improve your life and eliminate and manage the things that bring stress to your life. Being in touch with yourself also means you’ll know whether something will stress you out, allowing you more time and the chance to plan and take precautionary measures to minimise it.
Meditation, although it helps with the development of greater awareness and mindfulness, is slightly different. It is a practice that comes from ancient times and will quieten the mind and bring most peace into your life with frequent practice. It normally goes hand-in-hand with breathing exercises.
Both meditation and breathwork have been scientifically proven to reduce stress
6. Learn to Sleep Well
Restless sleep or struggling to sleep, could be because of worrying thoughts running in the back of your mind. Sleep is imperative for your brain to reset, store memories and assimilate experiences. Your body also needs the sleep for the physical recovery processes and a lack of sleep can cause depression, moodiness, a lack of focus and even death.
There are many ways to ensure you sleep better, and those who have bad sleeping patterns might have to retrain their bodies to sleep. Be sure your room is dark, slightly cool, you go to bed and wake up at the same time, don’t eat before bed and take a nice warm bath. All those steps have been proven to positively impact sleep and falling asleep.
7. Practise Self-Compassion and Patience
We’re faced with uncertainty every day. Many things are beyond our control, but sometimes we blame ourselves for not being better or dealing effectively with a stressful situation. It is important to separate your identity from tricky situations and realise that you are not your mistakes or bad decisions. You have to find an objective view on situations and don’t be hard on yourself, especially if you are learning to deal with new situations or people.
Practising self-love and compassion means you’ll forgive yourself if you didn’t know better, and know that you always do the best you can. Be patient with yourself and as long as you remain curious and mindful about what you are doing and why you are doing it, you’ll be able to learn and become better at it.
8. Use Practical Tools and Supportive Resources
The internet is filled with information to help you manage stress and specific stressors. Read blogs, watch videos and subscribe to some of the podcasts that will help you with the things you struggle with. There are some excellent tools and books that can help you develop a positive mindset and learn how to create objective perspectives around your issues and challenges.
You will also hear that most of the personal development coaches will recommend journalling. It helps us to bring our thoughts onto paper so that we can think and reason with more clarity. It is your life, your health and your happiness, so find the tools and techniques that will help you live it with more joy and peace.
It is also important to speak to family or get support from someone if you are unsure of how to deal with your emotions. Talk to your GP if you feel you are stressing too much as they will be able to assess whether your health is under threat.
A personal development coach can also provide assistance. We have a list of professional and experienced coaches right here on Superprof. You can see their rates and book your first lesson. They are incredible at bringing clarity and direction to plans while guiding you in building healthy coping mechanisms for stress.
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