Four tips for reducing stress in your life.

Everyone has the ability to increase resilience to stress. It requires hard work and dedication, but over time, you can equip yourself to handle whatever life throws your way without adverse effects to your health. Training your brain to manage stress won't just affect the quality of your life, but perhaps even the length of it.

Amy Morin

Whether it's fleeting, sudden stress, you just missed your train or elevated, long-term stress, you really, really need to kill your boss, it’s important to find healthy techniques that allow your mind and body to unwind and chill. I have a demanding, regularly high-pressure job that wasn't just taking a toll on me, it was impacting the physical and mental fitness of my colleagues as well.

I had a moment of clarity and realised that I needed to take a step back from my work and focus on what was really important – me, myself and I!!

Let’s face it, avoiding stress is virtually impossible – this is a natural part of life and overcoming challenges is what allows us to grow and become even stronger versions of ourselves. What is possible is shifting the way you view your stress and learning to better understand and partner with it in healthy ways. If stress isn’t acknowledged and properly managed, it can lead to weight fluctuation, digestive problems, brain fog and even depression.

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog you will know I’m a fan of yoga, I’m not a full on daily downward facing dog but I do find it helpful in terms of focusing my mind on the positives and dealing with stress however, if you don’t feel like contorting yourself into poses that would happily sit in the Kamasutra, there are alternatives.

1. Reduce stress by putting yourself first.

You are the boss and owner your brain and body, so try to invest in your peace of mind with relaxation activities a little bit each day. Meditation is one of the best techniques, but it can be challenging at first. If you want to become successful at meditation, you must first be able to do two things: relax and focus. These are two abilities that our stimulating modern culture of computers, Facebook, overworking and multitasking have made very difficult.

Start with gentle breathing techniques, find small ways to be good to yourself and have more fun, I love a good body attack class at the gym, the fun part is for everyone else as they laugh at just how uncoordinated I am!! You could try walks, time spent in nature – even in big cities like London there are vast areas of green spaces, writing or blogging, artistic activities and playing or listening to calm music. If you can practice one of these things every day for just ten minutes for the next three weeks, you should see a lot of really positive results.

2. Don’t forget to breathe.

Breathing is breathing right? Actually, proper breathing will help you release physical tension, calm the nervous system, bring new energy into the brain and hit the reset button when you run into challenges and feel overwhelmed. The breath is the best method to shift away from whatever thoughts may be causing you to feel stressed or anxious, and back into the present moment, where you can take effective action from a more peaceful state of mind.

Try this quick one-minute exercise: close your eyes and count ten long, slow breaths in and out. Breathe deeply all the way into your belly. When I first started doing this I found it helpful to repeat to myself “inhale one, exhale one, inhale two, exhale two…” and so on, to keep a natural rhythm and pace. Stay fully absorbed in counting, practicing letting go of thoughts and distractions as you breathe out – honestly, give this a go, it really works!

3. Take it one task at a time.

Once you have grasped meditation and self-care practices, become mindful of your work and streamline your workflow. For ages I thought mindfulness was a load of pretentious psychobabble however, when you look into it, mindfulness is simply the art of living more fully in the present moment, experiencing life as it is happening. When you work from this state of mindful intention, you reduce distractions and improve productive focus.

To bring mindfulness into your daily workflow, try time-blocking your activities and focusing on one task exclusively until it’s complete before moving on. Instead of multitasking, focus first on the areas that add the most value, working through your to-do list one item at a time. When working on tasks you don’t particularly like, rather than treat them as a chore, allow yourself to get creative and discover new experiences within a familiar routine by noticing every aspect of your actions as if for the first time. Become aware of every step and fully immerse yourself in the progress until that task is complete.

4. Give yourself a break and celebrate.

Remember to be proud of all that you accomplish in a day or during the week. No matter how big or small it might seem, take pride in what you do and who you are. Take the top three things you’re grateful for or the accomplishments you want to celebrate and write them down on a piece of paper or a Post-It. Then stick it on your bathroom mirror, the keyboard of your laptop, your locker door or somewhere else you would see it often as a consistent reminder of what you’ve achieved and what you’re working so hard for. It's a great motivator to stay on track with goals/passions and stuff that brings you joy. Switch them up daily or at least weekly, but never forget the older ones either.

Honestly, work these four tips into your daily life and you will start to find yourself managing stressful situations with more ease and increase your mental clarity. Stick with them, they won’t become second nature over night but as you continue to practice them, the easier they will become and the more natural they will feel. Go on, have a go, I dare you!

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