Managing Stress: 5 Effective Strategies
Did you know that chronic stress can have negative affect on your health? It’s true! Stress can make it difficult to sleep, and weaken your immune system. It can also play a role in heart attacks, anxiety and depression to name a few. Plus, stress can influence irritability, lack of motivation, and difficulty concentrating, thereby negatively impacting your work and personal relationships.
If you’re feeling stressed, here are five strategies that may be helpful:
1. Eat a Nutritious Diet
It’s very common for individuals who feel stressed to turn to comfort foods, which are typically high in fat and sugar. However, it’s important to stick to a balanced diet, even in times of stress. Research shows that certain foods can impact stress levels—for example, lean proteins and herbal teas can help reduce stress, while refined carbohydrates and caffeine can make you feel more stressed.
2. Exercise
It can be challenging to summon up the motivation to work out when you feel tired. It's important to find a way to incorporate some type of physical activity into your daily routine. Exercising can stimulate the body to produce endorphins and reduce its levels of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.
3. Establish Boundaries
Do you often feel stressed because you’re being pulled in too many directions at once? Setting healthy boundaries may help. For example, at work, this may involve shutting down your computer at a certain time each day or speaking up when you have too much on your plate. At home, try delegating household chores to family members.
4. Make Time to Relax
When work, school, and family obligations become overwhelming, you may feel like you don’t have any time left over to focus on yourself, but it’s important to carve out time for self-care and relaxation. Think about what brings you peace—whether that’s going for a walk, getting a pedicure, or working on a jigsaw puzzle—and set aside time to do that on a regular basis.
5. Meditate
Research shows that focusing on the present moment and letting go of any intrusive thoughts and feelings can greatly reduce stress levels. One of the best things about meditation is that it can be done almost anywhere, so you can employ this technique whenever you start to feel stressed throughout the day.
Need Help Coping With Stress?
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