We are living in a reality where nothing can be done fast enough……we want more, while at the same time we have less and less time. We all know that there is nothing healthy about such a lifestyle! So the question is, how do we slow down this rhythm? What can we do now, to make sure that our health doesn’t pay the price later on for our currently stressful lifestyle? As I have already said many times, we are all different and just like with anything else, each one of us needs to figure out what works best for me! Maybe you are just starting with finding what’s the best formula for you, or maybe you are already in the process of finding out what works best for you…….either way, I am sharing today some ideas that you can implement in your everyday life:

• positive thinking first thing in the morning – a lot of times we are already stressed out when we wake up…..which of course leads us to feeling tense and on edge! That’s why it is extremely important to start your day on a positive note. One good way to do this, is right when you wake up, to think of three things that you are grateful for – for example, you can be grateful for being healthy, for a good night sleep, etc. It can be anything really, the important part is that you get out of bed in a positive mindset
• meditation – I know that meditation is not everyone’s thing…….it wasn’t mine either, but I have learn to truly enjoy it because I see all the benefits it brings me when I start my day with a meditation. The idea here is that you calm your mind, and you centre yourself in the beginning of your day. And the best part is that it doesn’t have to be long – you can take five or ten minutes when you get up. In addition, it is a great technique to use throughout the day – whenever you feel stressed out, just take five minutes time to meditate and to breath
• overall positive morning routine – I personally believe that in order to control your stress levels, and the stress we let in from the outside, it is extremely important how you start your day. To find out why check out last week’s blog
• journaling – I personally used to think that journaling is such a waste of time, but with time I have come to realize that it is actually a very powerful tool. A tool that can help us “digest” our day, or set the tone for our day depending on when you do it. The beauty of journaling is that you can do it any time of the day, and it helps you relax the mind, to work emotionally through some issues you might be experiencing at the moment, or that day. Journaling can also help you gain a better understanding of what stresses you out, and why, which in turn will help you manage your stress levels better
• breathing – a lot of times when we are stressed out, we don’t breath properly. So keep reminding yourself throughout the day to breath – you can write a little note to yourself, or having it programmed as a reminder in your mobile, but do focus on breathing properly
• sports – one of my favourite ways to de-stress is going for a nice, long run. Nothing else calms me down as going for a run:) Of course running is not everyone’s thing, so it can be any type of sport that you find relaxing, and that takes your mind off the stress
• music – whether listening to some good music (in my case it will a good old rock:), or learning to play an instrument, this could be a powerful tool to help you relax and de-stress by refocusing the mind on a different activity
• mobile phone – I love my mobile and being connected all times with friends and family around the globe, but let’s be honest, mobiles can get stressful. This idea of needing to be available all the time, or checking e-mails in the middle of the night is absolutely destructive. Being constantly available adds even more stress to our already very stressful reality. Why? Because by being available at all times, we can never properly enjoy our meals, we can never enjoy a conversation with our loved ones, and what’s even worse is that we can’t even listen to our self! Some things that you can do to reduce mobile usage all the time are:
  • don’t turn your mobile on first thing in the morning – instead go through your morning routine, and once you are ready and on your way out of the door then turn it on
  • make sure that at meals time you put your mobile away
  • make sure that you turn off your mobile before you go to bed
  • you might even want to try and turn off your mobile for a whole day……like Sunday for example
• spending time in nature – nature can have extremely calming effect on us, so make the effort to go out for a walk and be in nature more often
• photography – I love photography, and I find it extremely calming to be out in the nature and take photos……not just photos, but try to take good photos. By concentrating on looking for interesting aspects to photograph and focusing all your attention on taking the best photo possible, your mind relaxes and let go of all the stress and negativity that has build up
• having an evening routine – just like it is important to start your day on a positive note, it is also extremely important to end your day on a positive note. By doing so, it will help you relax the mind before you go to bed, and you will get a good night sleep. Here you can do anything, but one thing I will strongly suggest is to think of three things that you are grateful for that happen during the day. This will help your mind focus on the positive and good, rather than on the negative aspects of your day

As you can see this is a long list of things that you could implement in your daily routine in order to manage stress in a positive way. In fact, I am sure that the list is much longer! The bottom line is that there are enough ways that can help us manage stress better, but at the end of the day it is up to us to figure out what works best for me and to take action in implementing it. I challenge you to try different things out, and find out what is the best formula for you.

Stay healthy,

Anna