Happy Friday you all! Any plans for the weekend? I for one have none and hope to just relax this weekend. We were out last weekend so the goal is to just chill and play with the kids, maybe even do some learning.
So how are you feeling? I know I have started to ask this in almost every post and I do feel its an important question to ask yourself every single day. For me, Fridays are always a lot busier with work then most of the other weekdays. It almost feels like people wait till Friday to just get it done and it in turns causes a lot of stress for me.
So there is so much written and talked about stress that I am not going to get into here. You can google stress and read up a lot about it. But I am going to write a little about how it affects us and how I deal with stress.
So on Verywell mind, it states that "stress can have negative effects on the body and brain. Research has found that stress can produce a wide range of negative effects on the brain ranging from contributing to mental illness to actually shrinking the volume of the brain. It also affects your memory and kills brain cell." It is important to note the research and science on how stress and affect your overall health.
We all experience different types of stress and it is a part of life. We can't run away from stress but we can be well informed about it and know how it can affect us. We need to learn what stress is and how it can impact us. We all have different ways to respond to stress and deal with it differently.
"Stress is a broad term that is used to describe a lot of different things," says Dr. Ressler. The stress you might experience before you take a test is likely very different from the stress of being involved in a car accident or from a prolonged illness. "Certainly, more stress is likely worse, and long-term stress is generally worse than short-term stress," says Dr. Ressler.
So the stress I am referring more to is chronic stress which affects us daily. It affects both mind and body and has both short term and long term affects. Short term can be insomnia, headaches, anxiety, moodiness and other issues and the long term affects are even worse where it really affects your brain.
So in short, we can't avoid stress but we need to learn about it and know how it affect you and deal with it. For me, when I am stress, I start loosing a lot of hair, feel low energy, can't sleep in the night and eat a lot of unhealthy foods.
As I have been writing about intentions and resolutions, we are probably feeling a lot of stress about it, in addition to all else we have going on. The "Stress-O-Meter" as I like to call it, is now in the red zone for me at least and probably for a lot of you all as well. So when I am in the high stress zone, I know that there are certain things I need to do, such as:
Walk away from everything and take a time out for myself- I usually can't focus well when I am stressed so that's the first thing I need to do.
Deep breaths or meditation- This usually helps my nerves calm down and bring the temperature down a little.
Figure out what is a priority and how I plan to deal with it- For me, work is usually the number one stressor, so if there are things on my plate, I know that I have just have to get it done. Getting it done, takes the stress away.
Sleeping- Getting a good nights rest always helps lowering my stress so I try to get 8 hours of sleep.
Exercise- This is a big one. It really helps to lower cortisol, which is considered the stress hormone. So getting 3-5 days of exercise is important. Now, there are days when it would be not possible so aim to at least get in a walk, yoga or any type of movement.
Talk to someone- Depending on what's causing the stress, talking to someone you trust can be so beneficial. Sharing what you are going through will help to release some of the tension.
Being gentle with myself- This is a big one too. When you are going through so much, its easy to get stressed but being gentle with yourself will go a long way to reduce the stress. Maybe take a bath, or listen to music.
Eat healthy- This one is harder for me. I know that when I am stressed, I easily reach for the chips. But I need to be careful and instead go for the apple. It helps to deal with the stress and does not add any additional stress.
Here is something I found on the internet that is so helpful to print and keep front and center when you are stress:
So I hope these tips are helpful for you to try or apply for the times you are feeling stressed. For accomplishing or sticking to your resolutions or goals, its easy to get stressed but don't let the stress deter you from your goals. You may be in the red zone but work through it. Recognize that you are stressed and implement some ways to help you work through it.
Don't let stress stop you. Do what you need to relax. Resolutions are not meant to cause extreme stress and if they are, then you need to revisit your goals and pare it down. Its not worth it if you are stressed all the time, so take a look at the causes and revise and reset as needed.
Wishing you peace and happiness from my heart to yours!
Peace,
Monita
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