How to Manage Stress

Stress management has become one of the most important skills to have in your life. Below we will talk about a few methods to fight stress.

Handling stress is a very important skill these days. What with having to balance work, family, friends, romantic relationships etc it can all seem like a bit too much. It is not at all unusual to feel like you are stressed these days. On top of that, the entire world is currently in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, the likes of which none of has ever seen or experienced.

All of this is enough to put even the most relaxed of us in very stressful situations. It has really become a skill that has to be developed in the current world otherwise we will just simply not be able to perform at our optimum levels. Below we will discuss methods you can use to cut back on stress and lead a much more fulfilling and productive life.

Caffeine, nicotine and alcohol must be avoided

This is a very important part that many of us overlook. We must be conscious of our intake of caffeine, nicotine and alcohol. While it may feel like they are providing a sort of instantaneous and temporary relief from stress, the consumption of these substances actually add to our overall stress levels.

We should aim to cut down significantly on the consumption of nicotine and all drinks containing caffeine and alcohol if we cannot cut it off completely. Always remember that doing something is a lot better than doing nothing. Caffeine and nicotine, by their very nature, are stimulants and they can only really add to stress and never actually reduce it.

We should try to consume other types of drinks rather than the ones that have caffeine or alcohol in them. We can try different types of teas or even some fruit juices. These will help us keep our bodies well hydrated while they will also make us better equipped to handle stress.

Another type of drink that we should completely try to avoid at all costs are drinks that have a large amount of refined sugar in them. In fact, it is not just sugary drinks that we ought to avoid. We should also be careful of manufactured foods as they also have very large amounts of refined sugar in them and refined sugar has absolutely no health benefits to them at all.

Exercise More

Just getting our bodies moving with any type of exercise can be a great method to release some stress. When we are feeling stressed or when we face any stressful situation, there is a build of stress hormones in the body namely the hormones adrenaline and cortisol.

These hormones are the “fight or flight” hormones that evolution has bestowed upon us. These are the hormones that stimulate our brains into going into the mode where we are trying to protect ourselves from immediate bodily harm. It is important to note here that the type of lives we lead in this day and age, there is hardly any situation where this fight or flight response will be valuable. Exercise and physical activity in general is an excellent way to rid the body of these stress hormones.

It is a good idea to for a short but brisk walk in fresh air whenever we are loaded with too much stress. We should make it a point that we are getting enough physical activity in our day to day lives as this will definitely help us better our health and also make us more equipped to deal with the stressors of modern day life.

Get Enough Sleep

This is another very commonly overlooked part of the equation when it comes to dealing with stress. The value of a good night’s sleep cannot be overstated, it is simply invaluable when it comes to not only dealing with stress but our health in general overall.

Sleep deprivation is a major cause of stress in many among us. The worst part about this is that stress is responsible for interfering with our sleep and keeping us awake with our overactive thought processes that is a result of dealing with too much stress.

If you are having trouble with sleep, medication should not be the first solution that you go for. The aim should be to increase relaxation before someone goes to sleep. We ought to make sure that our bedrooms are as comfortable and relaxing as possible. This will greatly help with sleep issues. The bedroom should ideally be designed in such a fashion that there are no reminders of stress in the room. We should also make sure that we are not consuming any alcohol or caffeine before we go to bed. Another pro tip is to not do any task that may be too taxing on the brain for at least a couple of hours before bed time.

Try Light Therapy

Light therapy is a therapy method that has recently been gaining a lot of traction in the healthcare and fitness circles. While it is mainly used to treat certain skin conditions, it is also used in the mental health department as well. It has been proven to be very effective in treating seasonal affective disorder in patients and studies suggest it can be useful in dealing with other types of depression as well.

Another use of LED light therapy that is often overlooked is its powers in reducing anxiety and stress. A lot of recent studies have shown that this therapy model is extremely effective in lowering the anxiety and stress levels of the patients.

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