Dealing With Stress! Don't Forget Your Freinds!

Training gives us an outlet for suppressed energies created by stress and thus tones the spirit just as exercise conditions the body.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

A few weeks ago, my blog focused on the causes of stress, this week following feedback, I’m going to focus on how ways to manage stress.

Take a minute (often!)

When life gets busy, and the tasks pile up, there can be a snowball effect and, if we don’t take some time every day to interrupt the “snowball” from rolling, it gets bigger, faster, and harder to stop, leading to burning out or, to keep with the snowball analogy, crashing into a wall.  This is prevented by regularly and intentionally pausing and taking time for yourself with a micro-break (even just a minute).

The truth is that just taking a minute away from your daily tasks, won’t often give you the relief you crave.  You want to utilize that minute or two the best way you can by implementing purposeful mindfulness practices, or breathing exercises.  When you use these practices with intention and give yourself just a few moments to reset in the middle of your day can help you to feel more grounded, calm, and energized.

Build awareness

The first step to solving any problem is knowing that there is one.  Take a moment to acknowledge how much you do day-in and day-out.  Now consider how much that requires of your body, mind, and heart. Deepening our awareness of how stress impacts our wellbeing can motivate us to interrupt the stress cycle and prioritize rejuvenation.  When things pile up and you start to feel overwhelmed, ask yourself, “is this something I need to handle right now or can it wait?”

Many people find it helpful to sort their tasks into two categories.  Priority A and Priority B.  Put anything that isn’t time sensitive into the B category, and focus on the tasks that need your attention soonest.

Recognise when you’re in fight-or-flight

The brain moving into fight-or-flight mode is something that once protected us from predators.  Back when humans were dwelling in nature along with potential predators and threads, the brain firing up in this way likely saved us from harm.  Nowadays, most people don’t live among threatening animal predators day in and day out, but the brain hasn’t entirely caught up with the times.  When stress and anxiety hit, the brain doesn’t know the difference between a stressful task and a bear coming to attack you.  So, when you feel overwhelmed or under pressure, it’s easy to go into overdrive and find yourself in fight-or-flight mode.

When you’re in this state, you may feel agitated, anxious, and overwhelmed.  To regulate your central nervous system, and reduce feelings of acute stress, studies show that mindfulness practices and breathing exercises can help.  Deep breathing has been shown to help calm the central nervous system and bring you back to a state of feeling relaxed.  There is a brilliant video demonstrating the 2:1 breathing technique, something I use to help with stress but also to help we get back off to sleep, here.

Set boundaries

Time is a limited and precious resource, so we feel best when we spend it wisely.  If there are elements of your daily life that are causing acute stress, or negatively affecting your overall wellbeing, it may be time to re-think some of them.  It’s not always possible to totally eliminate daily stressors, but you can choose how many of them you’ll take on in one day.  That’s where setting boundaries comes in.

The trick is not taking on everything that needs to get done at your place of work, or in your home.  Implement practices of asking for help when needed, and delegating responsibilities when appropriate.  Remember creating a boundary that supports you can start with something as simple as reminding yourself of your value and asking for what you need.

Make time for stress-relief

It might feel silly to schedule time for stress-relief, but building it into your day is important.

Working in relaxation techniques and stress-relief into your daily routine can help you to feel more focused, relaxed, and productive during the stressful parts of your day.  This means making time to move your body, breathe, and practice mindfulness.  If you don’t have an hour to spend in the gym, or in a yoga class, try taking a walk on your lunch break, or carving out five to ten minutes to breathe during a break in your day.

Building short relaxation breaks into your day is cumulative and will steer you away from falling into patterns of chronic stress.

Take time to nourish your body

One of the best ways to manage your stress levels is to care for your body.  This means fuelling it with healthy meals and plenty of water.  When we’re stressed it can be tempting to ignore our body’s needs in favor of getting the task done, but the body needs fuel to function.  Take those breaks for lunch and snacks, and don’t forget to stay hydrated.

Try to be mindful when you’re consuming your water and meals.  The tricky thing about stress is that it impacts the body’s ability to effectively do its job.  For example, you might choose to eat a healthy lunch, but if you’re eating it while stressed (perhaps feeling like you don’t have time to eat and that you should be working), the body is less able to digest and absorb all of the nutrients you consumed.

When it comes time to eat, take a moment and really savour your food.  Consider the aromas, the flavours, and textures.  By practicing mindfulness when you’re eating, you’ll set the body up for better digestion, and you’ll be able to better recognize when you’re full.

Wind down properly

How you end your day is just as important as how you spend the rest of it.  It can be tempting to get into bed and start mindlessly scrolling through your phone, but you may want to re-think it.  Even if your phone is in night mode and you’re not getting walloped with blue light, the overstimulation that comes from screens can make you feel more alert and more awake.

Scrolling can often stress or overstimulate the mind, so if you can avoid it, try something that relaxes the body better like stretching, breathing, and meditating.

When you wind down mindfully, you’ll sleep better and more deeply.  Sleeping well has been shown to help us manage daily stress and also our emotions, so the better you sleep, the better your tomorrow will be.

Just a few techniques I’ve tried and a few I’ve discovered in researching this post.  If you’re feeling stressed, have a go, it may just improve your life!

Just one picture this week and it’s not fashion related.  One of the ways I find incredibly useful in combatting stress is to surround myself with positive, happy, (on the whole!), caring and Loving people who have a zest for the life less ordinary!  Second Life is no different to Real Life in that respect, in fact, find the real virtual friends and they become more real than perhaps some of your physical friends.

Below is a picture of myself with two of the best friends a person could ever wish for, Mel and Erin!  Yes, we’re virtually fishing in virtual water for virtual fish with virtual fishing rods… a little geeky… almost certainly but, to be honest, I embrace my geeky side and I celebrate it!  It’s not about the virtual fish though, it’s about three friends, laughing and joking, sharing happy times and making happy memories, memories I’ll treasure forever.  It’s about sharing the good and the bad, being there for one another and sharing the Love!

I dedicate this to all my Virtual, (pffft), friends but especially to you Mel and Erin, I Love you both very much and I thank you for sharing your life with little old me!