Stress.
We all have it.
The key isn’t to eliminate it.
The key is to learn how to manage it.
If you don’t have a system in place to manage your stress, exercise, nutrition, sleep and health – all these area will suffer because they’re all connected. We’ve seen the impact in the last 12 months more so than ever. Today, I want to give you all 5 things that I personally practice and encourage my clients to practice in order to manage stress.
#1 Get some good ol’ sunny D
One daily thing we can practice easily to impact our health and energy is get some movement in sunshine. Remember that movement isn’t exclusive to one form of exercise. It could be traditional exercise, a simple walk with the dog, bodyweight squats, hike, swim, etc. Sunshine is your body’s "battery charger" and it gives us our source of Vitamin D, which so many of us are deficient in (Vitamin D really helps with illnesses). I personally take every chance I get during my day to take walks for phone meetings, lunch breaks, time with dogs or whatever excuse I need. I'm also that guy with my shirt off every chance I get when the sun is out, I mean, hey it's great for my health and I get a tan!? Count me in #ifyoucanttoneittanit
#2 Disconnect from Screens
This is a HUGE one for me, and I hate to say but 99% of people spend way too much time on their phones, TV, social media, etc. The amount of hours a day spent on technology could be spent doing things to improve your health, relationships, work or whatever you want to work on. Media is designed to get you addicted to it this is how they make money, but the majority of all information being digested has no positive impact on your health.
#3 Like Your Mama Always Said, "Say Your Thank You's"
Keep a journal or practice gratitude. If you’re someone that is naturally very anxious, depressed or stressed you should be doing this daily! If you don’t want to start with journaling, start with writing down 3 things that you are grateful for every day. This allows you to slowly get your mind on positive things and out of the hole that is driving stress. Journaling requires a little bit more of time and commitment but is incredible for getting the clutter out of your brain and on to paper. This allows you to better organize everything going on in your head and begin to realize where, why, who, when and how these thoughts arise.
#4 Deep Breath In, Deep Breath Out
The quickest tool we have as humans to regulate our autonomic nervous system and reduce stress is to breathe and mediate. Taking over conscious control of our breathing and focusing on a loooong controlled exhale, automatically begins to dampen our sympathetic tone. Meditation is a great way to become more mindful of our thoughts and learn to look at our thoughts from a 3rd person point of view. Once we get back in the driver seat of our minds, we then take back control.
#5 Get Some Quality Z's
I can't stress this enough, if you’re getting bad quality sleep and/or not enough quantity of sleep, you’re making EVERYTHING harder to do! When we get 6-8 hours of high-quality sleep we allow our brains and body to properly recover, we allow the endocrine system to balance out its hormones and most importantly you feel amazing! Stop eating and drinking right before bed. Get off of technology before bed.Turn off the lights off or dim them down and don't do stressful activities before bed. Find a consistent sleep schedule to balance out your circadian rhythm.
These tools have personally helped my clients and myself - Hope this helps you too!
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