Stress, they say, is a killer. And they mean it literally. Even if you might not ever see “stress” listed by name, many studies link it to leading causes of death like cancer, heart disease, accidents prompted by behavioral impairment, and suicide.
But what is stress? Before we teach you to combat it, it’s important to know your enemy here. Stress is a natural human response to challenges or threats in our lives, actual or perceived. Is being chased by an African lion through the desert going to stress you out? No question. But so will a homework assignment that you need to turn in next week. Or a humanitarian crisis happening across the globe that you have no power over. Or a hypothetical interaction at a party you might not even actually attend, with a person you just don’t want to see at the moment.
In our hyper-connected age, it’s easier than ever to find reasons to be stressed about the intangible. An errant IG “like.” A perceived sub-tweet. A text left on “read.”
These intangibles make stress a very difficult foe to face head-on. But that doesn’t mean that we are helpless and finding ways to fight stress can not just make you a healthier person, it can also help you be a calm and composed person for the people you care about. Below you’ll find six simple, yet effective, ways you can move towards a stress-free existence.
1. GET A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP
Sleep is a critical factor in our ability to process information and our overall brain health. It should come at no surprise that if you don’t get a quality sleep, you are going to be less effective when to comes to problem solving and the processing of emotions. And as you can imagine, it can cause a lot of stress when you aren’t able to act or react properly at work, at home, or out with your friends.
Even worse, a vicious cycle can develop when you miss out on quality pillow time. Being stressed during the day because you are easily irritable can lead to higher cortisol levels, which in turn make it difficult to sleep.
See the pattern here?
The best way to reclaim your rest is to practice good sleep hygiene. Remember everyone has different needs when it comes to a quality sleep so it’s important to find ways to study your own whether that’s with a Whoop, Oura ring, or an app on your phone. Eliminating blue light devices from your nighttime routine at least half an hour before bed can have tremendous benefits. Look into temperature-regulating bedding options like Eight Sleep, sound devices like Hatch, or vibration technology like Apollo Neuro as ways to improve your REM sleep.
2. CREATE A SUSTAINING AND SUSTAINIBLE (!) MORNING ROUTINE
Stress can be aggravated or even induced by feeling out of control. Studies show that you can benefit greatly by creating a morning routine that makes you feel strong and in control. This means completing small tasks that are easily accomplished and implementing sufficient self-care into the schedule. Remember that you are setting the course for your day, and you likely want that to be a course toward confidence.
Find two or more activities that you can complete without fail every morning. Perhaps that is making a healthy breakfast for your family or taking the dog out for a walk. They don’t have to be chores either, you can choose to make sipping a cup of coffee or reading the newspaper part of your morning routine for success.
The secret is that these need to be “sustaining” as in “they give you energy” and “sustainable” as in “not so intensive that you stop doing them.”
3. GET OUT IN NATURE
There is scientific research that suggests that just looking at a photo of trees or the sea can help our overall mood. So imagine the positives that can come from actually being out in nature! You may have heard the term “forest bathing” which is the healing practice of meditating while exploring the wilderness, but you don’t need to go on a week-long retreat to see the benefits.
Getting outside for even 20 to 30 minutes can reduce stress. In fact, that is when you will experience the greatest drop in cortisol levels. Every additional minute after that is just bonus. That is the perfect amount of time for a lunch break in a nearby park or a jog around the local track. The more trees and water you can encounter on your route the better.
Try trading in your treadmill time at the gym for a morning or evening run. Or see if your afternoon business meeting can be held at a park instead of on a Zoom call. Even better, see if you can do either activity while the sun is out, as having natural Vitamin D in your system can lower stress potential.
4. PRACTICE INTENTIONAL BREATHING
Do you ever feel the need to take quick, sharp breaths when you are feeling anxiety or stress? This is a natural reaction that occurs when you feel a threat, and indulging in that kind of rapid breathing can only make matters worse. One way to prevent the kind of spiral that might start with these shallow breaths is to launch a practice of intentional breathing.
Why? Because this type of breathing can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn signals to your body that everything is okay.
The best way to go about starting an intentional breathing practice is to treat it like a “workout.” The majority of people out there don’t realize their full lung capacity and haven’t coached their bodies to take breathe properly into the diaphragm. Like a workout, you can start anytime by taking 15 minutes to sit upright at your desk or nearby on the ground and observe your breathing. You might be surprised at how much progress you can see just by trying to breathe slower, more effectively, and steadier.
There are many ways to advance this practice though and a number of great instructors out there. For additional coaching, try browsing tutorials online to find a coach that you connect with.
5. GET EXERCISE
Speaking of workouts, traditional exercise is also a great way to fight off stress. Not only is it great for your physical health and longevity, but it takes your focus away from nonproductive thoughts. Studies show that regular exercise has been proven to build emotional resilience in healthy adults.
Remember that your feelings of stress can be aggravated by perceiving a physical threat, even when there isn’t one. So it stands to reason that on a base level, the stronger and more capable you are physically as an individual, the less threatened you are going to feel. On the other side, the more stagnant you are throughout the day, the more susceptible you are to feeling vulnerable.
That means you can do a lot of good just by getting out from behind your desk at regular intervals or maybe looking into a standing desk. For a workout, you can pick your potion, whether that’s lifting weights, going on a job, or playing a game of basketball. Getting half an hour of regular exercise a day is a great way to ensure you are stress-resistant.
6. PRACTICE JOURNALING
No matter where your stress is coming from, whether it be from work, school, or personal, journaling is a great way to process those concerns. So often we hold too tightly onto our worries and our anxieties, so it makes sense that purging them onto paper (or computer) could have a positive effect. Studies show that people who wrote for at least 15 minutes, three days a week, saw a consistent improvement in their stress levels.
Once again, for those who haven’t journaled before, it can feel daunting at first. But just like the other practices mentioned, it will get easier with each session. This writing should be used as a way to let go of any traumas, small or large, as well as an opportunity to identify any mistakes we might have made in haste. Sometimes our stress can come from repeating errors in judgment over and over again. Being honest with yourself in these moments is a great way to break the cycle.
There is also the benefit of sustained focus that occurs when you are journaling, which is unlike most computer work that we do these days. Put on some classical music and pull out some paper, you won’t regret it.
Source: https://uproxx.com/life/guide-to-fighting-stress/
