In today’s day and age coping with stress is part of daily life. It is virtually impossible to live a life without some form of stress management activities, unless you live a monastic life, with very little connection to the outside world.
Can coping with stress be good for us? What causes stress?
Ideally, everyone should have some amount of “good” stress in their lives, but too little stress can result in boredom, lack of energy and vitality. As we begin to age, it is even more important to expose ourselves to a certain amount of stimuli to keep our brains healthy and reverse aging.
What is good stress?
Good stress can be be having an interesting project you are working on, a party that you are planning, going on a vacation or visiting a new place, learning a new instrument, managing your and your
families schedule. All of these things provide a certain level of stress in your life, but it also feeds a part of your well-being that is important to you health and coping with stress is not that challenging.
For example, learning a new instrument, or taking a public speaking class while can be a stressful event in the beginning. It also boosts your self confidence, teaches you a new skill, and exposes you to new people. All of which can be extremely gratifying. When you have an ideal amount of “good” stress in your life, generally your senses and your mind are engaged, you feel at ease and more alive.
What is bad stress?
The word “bad” is misleading because it generates such a visceral response from people. In reality there is no set universal “bad” stress. For example, I may find that speaking in front of an audience is stressful. But another individual public speaking may be a source of exhilaration. Stress is extremely subjective and coping with stress is different for everyone. To take a short quiz and learn more about coping with stress go to: http://www.adrenal-failure.com/coping-with-stress.html.
Uninterrupted, excessive stress eventually exhausts your adrenal glands. They become unable to produce adequate cortisol which can lead to chronic fatigue, heart attacks, depression and hormonal
imbalances.
Stress Management Tips:
#1 slow down to speed up
This one sounds a little off the wall. Take some time to reflect on what you do on a day to day basis. Do you find that you are having to take lots of time to sift through old e-mails looking for a contact because your e-mails are not organized? What about your desk? Is it cluttered with lots of piles that you typically lose things? Slowing down to speed up, is the concept of taking the time to create a system, clear out the clutter (that physically and energetically take up space). Take a day to organize your office, e-mails, notes, computer etc. once it is organized create a system so it doesn’t get cluttered again.
#2 uplug after a big project or event
There are times in life when you are going to busier than other times and coping with stress is more challenging. Such as getting married, having a child, moving, a big work project, house project etc. Make sure that you create down time after the project is complete. We have a tendency to finish a project, then rather than take down time move onto the next project without missing a beat. While this may be a social or culturally value, it doesn’t allow your body to recover from the high stress and once again over time can cause adrenal exhaustion.
#3 simply your day
Start your day with 10-15 minutes of planning and reflection. Rather than just jump into responding to e-mails and calls. Take 10 minutes to look at your schedule and write out your to do list. Determine what are the priorities and do those first. Don’t let yourself get distracted by the internet, idle chit chat, e-mails or incoming phone calls. Schedule a time each day (maybe in the mid morning and late afternoon) to return phone calls and e-mails. This will increase your efficiency and let people know these are the times
that you are available.
#4 schedule down time
Like anything in life, if it is not on your schedule you won’t do it. While it is easy to put self care last on your list if you want to balance your stress levels you need to schedule down time. Schedule your doctors appointments in advance, book a monthly massage (pre-pay for them so you have the self discipline to go),
figure out which weekly yoga class you will attend, schedule in time to read and write. Make sure that you have one day a week that is structure free. You are free to do whatever you choose that day. Too much structure too much of the time will overstimulate your brain.
#5 Get plenty of rest, eat good whole foods, and move!
These are some basics tenets to good health that over time have taken a back seat to over-scheduled days. The average adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep a night, try to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up a the same time. This will set your body clock. Eat small healthy meals and snacks throughout the day. Eating often will prevent your blood sugar level from dropping and keep you alert and energized. Take some time to move your body for 20 minutes a day. It could be gardening, going for a walk, throwing the ball with
your child or dog. Get moving!
As with anything in life, coping with stress and managing your stress level is an intentional process. It will take some time to reprogram years of habits and conditioning. Taking the time to manage your health and stress today will mean that you will live a vibrant and healthy life for years to come.
