Stress 101: How to Reduce It and Why You Should

Hi everyone! This week’s topic is all about stress, which is something I think is not talked about enough. I know that in my experience, stress is something I would

continually choose to ignore. And by choosing to ignore it, it impacted many aspects of my life. If I were stressed out about school, it would not allow me to focus

when I was doing other things.

My mind was constantly thinking about this and that and I just felt so overwhelmed by my thoughts. It became very hard to concentrate and live in the moment

because I was always so worried about something. It became unbearable and was interfering with so many parts of my life that I decided enough was enough.

And this is what I am here to share with you all. Along the way, I have learned tips and tricks to reducing unnecessary stress, but also managing it. I think it is

important to note that each and everyone’s lives will have stressful moments; there is no way to rid your life of stress all together. But you have the ability to reduce

as much of it as possible and learn healthy ways to deal with the rest.

What is Stress?

So, I want to start out first by explaining what exactly stress is and how it operates in our bodies. I feel like many people are not able to connect how stress impacts

our bodies. It is looked at as sort of this thing that just comes out of nowhere and knocks you off your path a bit. But people do not make the connection to how

harmful it can truly be to your body.

The main player when it comes to your stress response system is cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that is released when you expose yourself to a stressful or fearful

situation. It is what puts your body in a fight or flight response, which is a good thing in dangerous situations.

It was meant to serve as a system but in place to help you get out of harmful situations. In this case, cortisol functions to give you a short burst of energy and make

you more aware of your surroundings. And this is a positive thing, in short doses. In larger and more prolonged doses, cortisol can be very dangerous and lead to

many health problems.

Higher than normal levels of cortisol can lead to blood sugar and blood pressure issues. It can also be the reason that your ability to focus is impaired or why you are not losing those last 5 pounds even though you are eating healthy and working out. And it can also explain why you keep getting the cold or flu every month.

Stress is something that holds a lot of power over your bodily functions, but so many people tend to disregard it, like I used to. But it is something that needs to be

cared about and managed, which I have learned.

My Experience with Stress

Stress has played such a huge role in my life, but for a majority of the time I was not even aware of it. As I had mentioned

before, I chose to ignore my stress because I felt as if it was the thing getting in the way of the work I had to do. But in

reality, ignoring it was the things distracting me from getting things done.

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And I went on believing this for majority of my life, until I was able to learn more about stress. Once I realized what I had

been doing, I was able to form connections to how it has impacted other parts of my life. During this time, I was in the

process of cleaning up my lifestyle, as I like to put it.

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I was eating a more balanced and nutrient dense diet, consistently working out, and focusing on my schoolwork. And in

the beginning of this journey, I was trying to lose the weight I had gained, but towards the end I found it especially difficult.

It felt as if my body was refusing to let go of these last couple of pounds.

I also had become more aware of the constant need to have a “go-go-go” mentality. If I were not physically doing something, I would surely be thinking about 10

other things. Even when I was doing something, my mind would still be racing with thoughts. I was constantly stressing about the assignments I had due, future

exams, and even everyday things.

And this resulted in my anxiety going through the roof because I felt so on edge all the time. I cannot remember a time when I felt peaceful or at ease with myself. I

was never able to be with the moment because I was so stressed about the future, whether it be the next month or the next day. I could not think straight, and I was

finally able to realize what had been going on.

And from here I decided to make some major life and mindset changes that have completely changed my life. I found healthy and simple systems that help me to

reduce unnecessary stress, while also managing the rest of it.

My Tips and Tricks for Reducing Stress

I do want to preface this part by saying the first three tips work best for me when they are done in the morning. These three have been a huge part of my morning

routine for 6 months and have allowed me to start my days peacefully, which has led into the rest of my day.

In this part, I am going to be going as in depth as I possibly can and sharing the specific details so that you can get the full story on how I have incorporated them into

my daily routine, as well as why it is so important to me.

Morning Movement

I cannot stress how important this is to the start of your day. I make it a priority to get in some form of movement,

whether it be stretching, yoga, or actually working out. When incorporating this into my lifestyle, I made sure to

continue listening to my body every day. If I woke up and did not feel up to my usual workouts, I would still get in

my movement by taking my dog on a walk or spending 10-15 mins stretching out if I am feeling sore. Whatever

works for you is what is going to stick.

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I want to emphasize that it is not about the type of movement you do; its about getting in some form of movement

every day. There should be no pressure to get in a hard workout if you are not feeling up to it. Morning movement

should be something that makes you feel good because trust me, that feeling will carry into the rest of your day as

well.

Breathing Exercises

This was something I had discovered not too long ago, but for the past 2 months I have seen such great improvements. There are so many different types of

breathing exercises out there, but in the end they all serve one purpose. And that purpose is to calm you down and allow yourself to be present.

The whole “being present” thing has really been an issue for me pretty much my whole life. I am always thinking in the future so its really hard for me to focus solely

on the one thing I am presently doing. This is where breathing exercises have helped me a lot.

I used to try to practice my breathing every morning, but what has helped me a lot more is using it throughout my days as needed. So, say if I notice that my mind is

going 100 mph in different directions while I am trying to finish one of my school assignments, I will stop and take 1-2 mins and practice my breathing exercise.

What has worked best for me is to just inhale and exhale very deep breaths and placing my sole focus on those breaths. I focus on creating the deepest breaths

possible while also paying attention to how my state of mind and body changes. And once the 1-2 minutes are over, I feel refreshed and my mind is always much

clearer, which makes it a lot easier for me to finish what I need to.

Another way I have utilized breathing exercises is whenever I feel myself starting to get stressed or anxious about anything. I simply stop and take as much time as

needed in order to calm myself down and clear my mind. This can take anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes, but the more I have practiced it the less time it takes. And it

makes sense because your mind is like a muscle and the more you practice something, the easier it will get. In this case, its with calming yourself down.

Although this only takes a couple of minutes, it has helped me to release so much stress or anxiety from my mind and allow me to have much more peaceful days.

Rules to Live By…

Only focus on the tasks that need to be done today

Do not bother worrying about what needs to get done tomorrow or next week or next month because it will only cause you stress.

Let go of the things you cannot control

This is always easier said then done, but there is no point in stressing out over something you have no ability to change. Instead focus on the things you actually have

the power to fix

Most of the time, we get stressed because we are bored

Get to working and you will find that you are too busy to stress over the little things because you have more important things going on.

Count your blessings, not your problems

It is so easy to get caught up in all of the negative things in your life, but reframe your mindset to focus on the positives. Once you realize all of the good things in

your life, it will make it much harder for you to stress out over the little things that went wrong.

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