to go right? The alarm goes off late, the washing machine is on the blink, and a major project is due in just a few hours. Now imagine stringing these separate incidents together day after day, hour after hour, until it feels like every waking moment is overwhelming.For some people this reality is known as living with stress.
Sometimes it may be the big things and sometimes it may be the small ones, but each incident builds one on top of the other. This can lead to all sorts of emotional and physical health problems including anxiety, high blood pressure, pain in the body, irritability, digestive issues, and emotional distance that can end up damaging not only ourselves but even our closest relationships.
Stress is a sneaky little creature in that we may feel like we are managing things well but it is lurking in the background, waiting to takes its revenge on the body, mind and spirit.
For the next seven days, I will be sharing tools that can help to tame stress and put us in control of our lives again. Let’s start with a tool that can be easily implemented with just a little bit of additional awareness.
Exercise and eat regular meals. As simple as this seems most of us are very lazy in the maintenance of our bodies. We eat on the run and often under nourish our bodies while still expecting peak performance. I am not talking about dieting and extreme fitness exercise, instead I am addressing the need to fuel the body with healthy foods and work mild exercise into your daily routine.
Setting aside time to eat and really taste your food, cooking meals rather than picking up fast food, and even taking the time to sit down together as a family and enjoy a meal together.
Exercise can be the same. Perhaps developing a routing of taking a walk during your lunch hour at work or playing outdoors with your kids when you arrive home.
These simple adjustments are the start of your path to stress reduction. And even more fun, doing this with friends and family can create a feeling of support and community.
Come back tomorrow for day two of my stress reduction program.
