7 ways to stop feeling so stressed

What is stress? Stress is a reaction to mental and/or emotional pressure. Something that is a normal part of life and can actually serve a purpose on many occasions, however when stress is prolonged over time it can have a detrimental impact on health mentally, emotionally and physically. 

I am going to share some powerful rituals and strategies to help you overcome and manage your own stress.

Now, as this is my area of expertise, I could talk for hours on the this subject so, for your sake, I will keep it brief, yet I am going to share some smashing skills - so make sure you stay with me till the end.

We all feel stress in our lives, more recently stress has become more a part of day to day living, because of the lack of control that we are experiencing in our lives, due to the current situation.

The fact that we are having no ‘down time’ or ‘separation time’.

Let me explain this before I go any further.

Normally we are leaving our homes to travel to work, we go to the office or place of work, we may occasionally go out for dinner with our friends or partner. So there is separation. There is separation from work life to home life, from family life to office life. There is separation from mamma-duties to work commitments.

Right NOW, everything blends into one.

Everything blends into moving from the home office, to the bathroom, to the kitchen and back. That right there is no good for any bodies stress level. Add that to job insecurities, money worries and family matters and yikes… I am not surprised that stress levels with so many of my network/followers are reaching peak levels.

The best thing to do to create more stress free living is to create daily rituals which set you up mentally, physically and emotionally.  

You will need to set your alarm a little earlier than normal, if you live with people. 

LEARN TO BREATH

Bizarre I know that I am asking you to breathe when you’ve clearly had lots of experience at this however conscious breathing takes things to a whole new level when releasing stress and worries from your body and mind.

Breathe right into the bottom of your stomach, keeping your shoulder relaxed. I have several breathing videos on my you tube channel, feel free to go and watch there.  Practice breathing and counting.

The quickest way to drop into relax mode is to practice square breathing, an ancient Yogic techniques where you breathe in for 4 counts, hold in for 4 counts, release for 4 counts and hold out for 4 counts.

Time yourself and give yourself 5 or 10 mins of consciously breathing time before you start your day. Game changer number 1!

MEDITIATION

There are loads of different ways of meditating.

You can simply sit and listen to your breath, you can watch you thoughts and become the observer of them or you can listen to a guided meditation.  

This is great for beginners.

Feel free to join my free meditation sessions on line on Wednesday evenings.

EXERCISE

Our bodies are designed to move.

Our bodies are designed to use the energy that we eat.

Energy creates all kinds of happy hormones and has been proven to massively impact your wellbeing on every level.

I could write a book on this alone, so to keep it simple; do something that gets your blood pumping and your hormones releasing. Exercise in nature gives you extra points here!

WHAT YOU CONSUME

Foods pumped with chemicals, sugar, alcohol, too much caffeine, wheat and red meat all put stress on your body.

Work on eating more mindfully so that your body has the best chance that it can to process all the other stuff that we are dealing with in our fast paced lives.

Also make sure that you’re drinking good quality water- not tap.  You need to keep hydrated or your body will get stressed and then so will your mind. 1.5 liters a day minimum. 

(Also...TURN OFF THE NEWS!)

Anything that makes you feel sad, shocked or kills your vibes- turn it off.

It is not there to make you feel good about yourself, so leave it out.

SLEEP 

Without adequate, good quality sleep your body will struggle to work at its best.

I think we all understand what it feels like to feel tired and grumpy, so it's super important when working on stress management that get the right amount of sleep for you.

Now, some of us thrive on slightly less sleep than others and that’s ok, so I would recommend that you get familiar with what the right amount of sleep for you looks like and make sure you get that.  

I know you’ve heard it before but do step away from your phone/screens at least 1 hour before bed.

CONNECTION

Another subject I talk a lot about.

We need connection in our lives and for the past year the lack of human connection has been massively detrimental to our stress levels.

Its become so easy for us to hide away so now it is time to make the effort to connect with our loved ones.

Make the effort to call your friends and family and really check in to how things are for them.

Plan walks and activities with your loved ones so that you have something to look forward to and you can connect with nature too. 

CONTRIBUTION

How can you serve others?

When you are helping others it taps into the human need of contribution. When we focus on others even for a short time, it takes the focus off ourselves and our own issues. 

 What can you do to help someone else today or this week?

Random acts of kindness have been proven to not just impact the receiver but the person who is doing to giving too.  

These simple things will take your body and your mind out of a place of stress and into a place of calm. 

Commit to doing these things on a regular basis so that you can really harness the powers that you already have.  

Let me know how you go on.

Adele x