Some tips to help you have a better day when you’re feeling stressed. But you don’t have to lie on a big stone…

Feeling Stressed Tip One – Smile

Oh no, I hear you inwardly sigh. Not someone else telling women to cheer up… Perish the thought! However, smiling is quite a powerful tool in your well-being cupboard. So here we go.

Even a fake smile can work wonders! Here’s just a few things that a smile can do for you:

• It releases endorphins, good for pain management among other things
• Smiling can lower your blood pressure
• It makes people smile back
• Smiling can increase your confidence

Definitely worth a go, even if you’re on your own. I just tried it! Cue image of mad old woman in her study with two bonkers kittens grinning to herself…

Feeling Stressed Tip Two – Move

When I have days like today, writing days, if I’m not careful I barely move at all. Apart from leaping up to stop my mad kittens toppling the big plant over.

Which is as we all know, a very bad thing. I certainly know it as I creak like an old ship when I finally stand up. The power of exercise has been brought home to me even more forcibly over the last months. My husband, previously a hugely active firefighter, has been very ill and recently got a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. (You can read about that here and see a horrendous pic of me. Everyone else looks OK so I selflessly used it…)

The one thing everyone is agreed about re Parkinson’s is exercise. Exercise has such a powerful impact on the brain, as well as the rest of the body. Such are my powers that I can spot when Alastair hasn’t been doing his exercises. His speech changes and his movements become more jerky.

Thankfully most of us don’t react that extremely. But we can see a positive change when we build exercise into our daily routines. And it definitely affects mood (I know you know all this stuff but it bears repeating). Try and move as much as possible, preferably outside. While smiling…

Stress Tip Three – Sleep

Well, this should be easy, but often it isn’t, is it? Feeling stressed can affect our sleep patterns and not sleeping makes us even more stressed. Nightmare! Current advice is try to stick to the same routine. Get to bed at same time most nights and wake at roughly the same time. Block out the light.

My oldest granddaughter always sleeps with me when she visits. We have a super big bed which she loves. Her granddad gets relegated to the bunks (to be fair, they are painted in fire engine red.)

She wears a sleep mask. It’s a great sleep mask with a unicorn horn. Sadly, I couldn’t find one in adult size (there’s a marketing opportunity). But I do have one (boringly minus any hornage) and started using it. To my surprise it has helped me sleep better. That and taping up my mouth. No, I haven’t gone mad, it’s a thing. Check out James Nestor’s book Breathe, The New Science of A Lost Art. Google ‘mouth taping’, there’s masses of info. Don’t buy expensive mouth tapes, though, simple, cheap surgical tape will do. And it removes any stray chin hairs as well!

Sleep Tip Four – Positivity

It’s really hard not to go to bed with all the horrors of the world swirling around in our heads. It definitely does not contribute to a stress free life. I’m not advocating that we stop bearing witness to world events. That’s important. That said, it is good to try to incorporate some positivity into your daily routine. Some people love keeping a gratitude diary last thing at night. I don’t personally, but I do have a lovely little world I retreat to when I need a mental break. Maybe you can practice turning something negative into a positive just once a day.

Stress Tip Number Five – Help!

I confess, I am the world’s worst at asking for help, and, crucially, letting people help me. But I’ve learned a thing or two over the years. It really does help to confide in someone. To share the load. Often just saying something out loud is helpful. Give it a whirl and see what happens.

You’ll also enjoy this post Being Stressed at Work is Good for You?

Coaching for Charity – Newsflash!

I am offering coaching sessions, one off, for an hour, at £50 a session. On any topic. Every single penny is going to charity. Two special charities in particular. The money doesn’t come to me but direct to the charities.

I mentioned above that my husband has Parkinsons’s Disease. If you a regular newsletter reader you’ll know that we’ve had a tricky few years. (I am rarely understated but I am here… It’s been hell.) A constant source of support has been The Firefighters Charity. I just can’t tell you how wonderful they are and if I tried I’d probably start blubbing everywhere. None of us want that…

Equally, over the last few months I have come to know the work of the wonder that is Parkinson’s UK. Amongst other things they invest in support for patients and research into this cruel disease. There is currently no cure. But I am optimistic that there will be! They just need a little help from their friends…

If you have ever thought coaching might be helpful now’s your time to try it out. I am offering a one hour virtual session at £50. To take advantage of this just let me know you’re interested via email, jane@changingpeople.co.uk. No obligation. If you choose to go ahead, you’ll get a link to the two JustGiving Pages :The Firefighters Charity and Parkinson’s UK. Ideally I’d love you to share the fee equally between the two but I appreciate that might be a pain. Once you’ve paid, you let me know and we book in our session to suit you!

Top Photo by Conikal on Unsplash. All my pics come via Unsplash, a professional service I pay for

RenewYou, My Tried and Tested Career Booster!

RenewYou has helped thousands of women make positive and lasting change in their lives. I deliver it one-to-one as part of a bespoke coaching package for women looking to move into leadership, to progress their career, or who wish to be the absolute best version of themselves.

Posted on July 15th, 2025 by Jane