Five Stress Busters!

Five ways to help keep your stress levels where you want them to be.

We all need a certain level of stress to operate on but you will know when the balance is shifting for you. It’s a wise woman who recognises that and takes approriate action. Here are a few tips you might consider trying, or reinstating into your life if the festivities have meant routines have slipped a little.

1. Smile!

Smiling does you nothing but good and it makes other people feel good too.It costs nothing and when you smile your body actually releases feel good hormones and reduces the level of cortisol, the ‘stress hormone’.It helps you to feel calmer, more in control and can lower your blood pressure. Go on, smile!

2. Exercise

As well as its undoubted benefits for your general health, exercise is highly effective in reducing stress. It improves blood-flow to the brain, helping you think more clearly, that’s one good reason for taking a walk outside each lunchtime!. Exercise is also another great way to release endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers and feel-good hormones. There is also some evidence that fit people are better able to handle the long-term effects of stress.

3. Get enough rest and sleep

This doesn’t necessarily mean do nothing, which can be as stressful as a very busy life. A rest from work can mean paying more attention to your leisure time and getting the most out of it.This helps counterbalance work or everyday stress. And we all need sleep for energy, good concentration and general health. Chronic sleep-deprivation can affect your performance at work, which can be a key factor in raising stress levels.

4. Think positive!

Changing your thoughts is not as difficult as you think. Try to adopt an outlook on life that stops you seeing external events as determining your happiness. You can take responsibility for how you think. How you choose to view things is sometimes the only bit of control in an otherwise chaotic world. So make a choice to be positive. Identify the negative thoughts that creep unbidden into your mind and replace them with something much more life enhancing. It takes practice but it’s worth it!

5. Seek the help of significant people in your life

When you need to reduce the pressure in your life, you can’t always do it on your own. Think about your support network of friends and family and colleagues – people you can call on to help take the strain – whether it’s practical help or a sympathetic ear when you feel down.

Tips for Surviving Christmas!

• Rule number one, there are no rules! What ‘rules’ or traditions have you invented over the years and are they still relevant to your Christmases today? It may be that you are giving yourself unnecessary stress and work, so just take a moment to think if you have to do it the way you have always done.
• Lower your expectations immediately. No one is perfect and your Christmas gathering won’t be either. Almost every magazine on sale during December will have a feature telling you how to have the perfect Christmas. Read them for interest but regard them as works of fiction! Your celebrations are unique and should be what works for you.
• If you have a house full of relatives expect the worst and plan for it. If Uncle Bernard always gets drunk it’s no use fantasising that he’ll turn teetotal  just while he’s at your house. He won’t. Likewise with family members who usually don’t get on well together. They still won’t so plan for it and expect it. Everyone cramped in one hot room for hours on end is a sure fire way to provoke a few arguments so make sure you have an activity like a walk for those who need to get out for a while. Read the rest of this entry