Simple Steps to Decrease Stress
Simple Steps to Decrease Stress
Stress is not always a bad thing. Acute stress reactions can save your life. Your brain and body’s biochemistry wants to support you to keep you alive. However, when stress becomes chronic and unrelenting, it can start to cause problems for your health and well-being.
We all have some stress, or stressors. They come in different forms: job or work stress, family stress, financial stress, health stress etc. No one is immune to this but know you are not alone. And if you are struggling with this issue, do not feel like it is your fault. It’s not.
Like always, I try to keep my tips “simple” as possible, to help you take action steps to improve your health.
My #1 tips to improve your chronic stress.
1. Make YOUR sleep a priority. Go to sleep before 11pm, if you can. More research is showing our circadian clock rhythms of our body-brain-organs depend on following a schedule. Dr. Satchin Panda’s work on the circadian rhythm is where I get my info. https://www.salk.edu/scientist/satchidananda-panda/ *
2. Find 5-10 minutes once a day for some deep breathing and/or few minutes of quiet mindfulness or meditation of some type. Again, more research is showing how just 10 minutes (or less!) decrease your stress response with your brain-adrenal-cortisol system. This helps lower blood sugars, blood pressure, and improves mood. If you are stressed in the mornings, do your deep breathing or meditation before bed and with waking. If you have a FitBit watch or smart watch, they usually have a quick program you can click on to be your accountability partner. I also like the following apps: Calm, iBreathe, Headspace, The Mindfulness App and Ziva Meditation for examples. The key is to find one you enjoy and look forward to using. Personally, I use Calm and Ziva myself. The breathing exercises can be just three or four deep breaths in a row. Inhale through your nose to the count of 5, hold for count of 5, and exhale from mouth to the count of 10, repeat a few times. Do this mindfully and slowly. Turn off your phone if needed. :) Now, do you notice if you feel more relaxed? https://zivameditation.com/ *
3. Find a hobby you love. Outdoor hobbies, like exercise (try on-line free Yoga or Tai Chi) or brief walking or nature hikes is great for reducing chronic stress. But avoid too much cardio exercise (not more than 5 times per week please), otherwise daily high intensity cardio exercise raises your cortisol levels too high (potentially). Indoor hobbies like engaging in any type of arts or crafts, and music are fantastic and can help the long Midwest winters go by faster. Okay, confession time: I started to love to watch Netflix last year, so fun but I have to limit it. Ha ha! Other ideas are gardening or yard work (that would be my husband’s hobby) and working with animals (my daughter’s hobby with her horse) are all wonderful activities to reduce stressful hormones in our bodies. https://www.glo.com/ ; https://apps.apple.com/us/app/7-minute-chi-meditate-move/id1048130885 *
4. Cultivate your resilience to stress by connecting to others; friendship and companionship is so vital to today’s world! I cannot wait to start doing Reiki volunteering at my local hospital. Since COVID stopped volunteering options in a lot of places, it will be nice to get back into our “normal” routines someday soon! https://volunteer.helplinecenter.org/search
I hope these are some simple helpful strategies to improve your chronic stress. Don’t feel like you “have to do them all,” you don’t. Pick one that speaks the most to you and give it a try.
Please reach out to me if you have questions, in the Contact section, or schedule your initial 15-minute free call today!
Kindly,
Dr. Carrie
(*I do not get paid or compensated in any way for linking or promoting any of the above companies or apps.)