It is important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has
– Hippocrates
Rightly said by ancient Greek physician Hippocrates who was also known as the father of western medicine. He believed in the interrelatedness of various factors that cause illness. Although we live in the modern world, where we are already aware of the constant scientific research around the connection of mind and body, we live an unconscious life.
We often overlook symptoms of any type of stress as mere tiredness. In reality, stress is a psychological condition. There is a direct connection between stress and emotions. Amygdala is a part of the brain which plays a role in your emotional memory. Stress sharpens this function.
Some stress levels are good for humans to maintain an optimum level of alertness. Still, when these stressors exceed the amount of adaptation, it turns into chronic stress. It is prominently seen in today’s fast-changing competitive world as we are constantly pressured to juggle various responsibilities, which can be overwhelming. The earlier we acknowledge and find the root cause of stress, the better we will be able to cope with it efficiently. A few of the symptoms of chronic stress include:
We all react to stress differently. Hence it is crucial to find our own unique way to deal with daily stressors that perfectly fit your environment, hobbies and conditioning.
Below are 10 practical universal tips for managing stress holistically from my own experience, as I firmly believe we are a combination of mind, body and spirit. And to treat any illness, we need to take care of all these aspects for a complete and wholesome recovery.
1 .Exercise:
This is one of the non-negotiable factors of human existence. We, as species, were meant to be active and constantly moving. We all know its benefits, yet we wait for illness to creep in to get active in our lives.
Regular exercise not only releases endorphins called as happy hormones. It also reduces the stress-induced production of cortisol. It changes the hormone responses and improves the way the body handles stress. So never underestimate the importance of physical activity. Do anything get moving, do some stretches or simply dance or jump, but be in constant movement throughout the day.
2. Deep breathing:
Breathing is a life force. Yet we take this most basic activity, which keeps us alive, for granted in our daily lives, thinking it’s free and comes naturally to all human beings. If we breathe consciously regularly, the way we were supposed to breathe, the chances of frequently getting stressed will reduce. Whenever we are in any fear or anxiety-provoking situation, others often remind us to deep breathe. Because when you deep breathe, it improves the flow of oxygen and blood, which produces endorphins in various organs, including our brain. This process gives us mental clarity and fills us back with a sense of calmness and control. It helps release tension and elevates your mood instantly. So breathe in life like you have purchased this life-saving element to keep you alive.
3. Time management:
We all have similar hours in the day. Despite it, you will often notice few people are constantly running short of time, and few can finish all responsibilities on time, regardless of the work pressure. Here, we are often curious to know how other people peacefully manage such a hectic life, and we are stuck in the same loop. We blame it on destiny. What if I tell you the absolute truth lies in how effectively you manage time. Instead of blaming it on your destiny, you can be in charge of what enfolds in your future. Suppose you take charge of it smartly by planning, organizing, working on procrastination, focusing, and getting domestic help earlier. In that case, many things can be brought back in line ,which will leave you with enough time.
4. Practise emotional intelligence:
The absence of emotional intelligence is one of the most significant drawbacks of today’s generations. We were never taught in school how to handle our emotions and respond to various situations. This whirlwind of unprocessed emotions takes a considerable toll on our emotional health, causing stress and adding fuel to day-to-day stress. Start practising a few techniques for your emotional intelligence. This will tremendously help you figure out how to negatively or positively take stress in the first place.
5. Intentional living:
We all know stress is one of the unavoidable parts of our life. No matter how much we deal with it, we will keep having a few incidents in life that can induce stress. Here comes the role of intentional living by taking these circumstances into your own hand and intentionally finding ways to live a life of your dreams or aligned with your core values, which absolutely means a lot to you. This way, you will naturally stop spending unnecessary time on useless things like social media, online games, addiction, or gossip with friends. It could keep a tab on all bad habits and take care of your time management.
6. Find your soul food:
My soul food is my creativity and body massages or any self-pampering session. Anything related to the art and craft world takes me into an unstoppable trance of meditative feeling. If I have a hectic week, I make sure my weekends are spent creatively. This activity right away washes all the suppressed feelings of stress or any kind of grief I have been holding in my mind. It cleanses my entire being and puts me back on a refreshing start. It acts like my rewind button.
7. Sleep well:
Sleep is the recharger of the human body and most essential for basic survival. Your sleep determines your quality of the day. Without taking you into any scientific jargon, I will give you my real-life example. Sleep is the most paramount factor for people with mental health issues like me. The day I don’t sleep, I am low on mood, my anxiety rises, my mind is foggy, and I even feel irritated, out of control and of course, it triggers stress. I do not start my day without a night of proper sleep. I am next to a zombie when I don’t get my sleep.
8. Mess-induced stress:
Clutter or mess doesn’t necessarily apply only to your mind. It applies to your physical environment too. I had my biggest lesson recently when I knew I had all unnecessary things around me, constantly reminding me that a lot of things are left unfinished and undone. This was like an added fuel to the fire of stress that I was feeling within. Now that I have left that place shifting to a new place, I got an opportunity to dump all the unnecessary things I carried with me. Believe me, this felt like half of my stress was already sorted, and I was more focused and felt so light. So always make it a habit to keep your surroundings clean or well organized. After all, we are visual creatures.
9. Watch your gut health:
A gut has millions of neurons, producing 80% of our melatonin and serotonin. These are brain chemicals that improve our mood. The gut also makes chemicals that talk to the brain and are associated with our thoughts, feelings and moods. Hence it makes sense to take care of your gut to have good mental and emotional well-being.
10. Gratitude:
The root cause of stress is often associated with our inability to handle new changes or the lack of certain things at a given point in time. In today’s competitive world, we are constantly being challenged to be our best each day. This leaves us in a state of self-criticism and performance anxiety. When you start comparing yourself to others’ well-being, we forget the essential gifts our life, in general, provides to all human beings like nature, family, family air to breathe, and our day to day safety. Practising gratitude rebalances our energy back to a state of abundance. Even if we go through a rough day, we are reminded of the small blessings still there with us. And carefully preserved by the universe for our sanity.
As I said earlier, we all react to stress differently. There is no hard or fast rule to following these steps religiously. Pick what resonates with you and find what makes you stress-free inside out like I found mine.
Shift your focus from stress to stress-free activities and see the difference it makes to your existing stressful life.
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