04-14-20

Take Time Each Day to Destress

Uncertainty accompanied by a bit of boredom (depending on your situation) fills the air. We have been asked to isolate for what feels like forever. For some, this means working from home or doing a bit of homeschooling, for others it means being out of work temporarily or closing a business. And then there’s always somewhere in between. Needless to say, our lives have been disrupted and this disruption has a way of adding extra stress.

You’ve likely heard a lot about stress and the impact it has on your life, both good and bad. Stress is a normal part of the human’s fight or flight response, in fact, it’s what pushes us to make a decision. We need stress to give us a push when we face a difficult situation or are forced out of our comfort zone. However, when stress is ongoing, it can cause a variety of health problems.

We’ve all heard of the negative side effects of stress including high blood pressure, adverse effects on your gut health, headaches, weakened immune system and the list goes on. We all know and understand that chronic stress isn’t doing us any good. So, with that, let’s do a quick stress check-in.

Ask yourself these questions…

  1. Rate your stress level, 1-10 (1: often relaxed, stress is healthy. 10: Never relaxed, can feel body reacting poorly to high levels of stress.)
  2. At what point in the day do I feel the most stress?
  3. At what point of the day do I feel the most relaxed?
  4. Is there a certain person or group of people that induce stress?
  5. Is there a certain duty or action that induces stress?
  6. Is there any person, group, or activity that relaxes you?
  7. Do you take an opportunity in your day to relax?

Understanding your daily stress triggers will allow you to better prepare for and manage your stress while understanding your sources of relaxation and stress relief will help you take advantage of and focus on the things that are helping you destress each day.

Stress management comes in all shapes and sizes and doesn’t take a whole lot of time. Think of it like brushing your teeth. Twice a day you polish your pearly whites for at least three minutes. Well, what if you took three minutes twice each day to focus on you and shake off the stress? We are talking about a little stretching, maybe some yoga, meditating and so on. Depending on your current stress levels and stress management routine, it could have a tremendous positive impact on your wellbeing. Just make sure you take some time for you!

Live the #NewEarthLife
Stress, it’s a part of our daily lives and it has a way of building up fast without us noticing, especially with the added uncertainty we are facing today. Taking a few minutes each day to destress, it’s what we call living the #NewEarthLife! Your gut, your mind, and your body will thank you.