Here’s a few quick stress relief tips to decrease depression

Is there a relationship between stress and depression – you betcha there is.  Everybody’s stressed out these days. If you don’t do something about it can eventually lead to depression.  When you feel depressed, you just want to lie on the sofa while the television drones on in the background. You aren’t really watching anything that takes too much energy.

The last thing you want to do is get outside - but that’s exactly what you need to do.  The challenge of depression is working against what you feel inclined to do. Yet if you get moving, you’ll find surprising relief from the stress and depression that seems to choke you.

Exercise is an absolute necessity  to regaining a sense of self-control.  It helps you focus on something other then the situation that’s causing you to feel stressed and depressed. It also provides a better night’s sleep, which helps your immune system rally against your stress factors.

When your stressed to the point of depression don’t place too many demands on yourself. You’ll only  feel overwhelmed.  So you have to start with simple, specific steps, such as:

• Begin with basic self-care. Set your alarm clock and get out of bed without lying there thinking about it. Then go directly to take a shower and get dressed in clean clothes. No pajamas - real clothes.
• Set a place with real dishes at the table for your breakfast. Even if you only eat a bagel and drink juice, don’t do it standing up in the kitchen. Sit down and eat as if you were in a restaurant. And if you have good china, use it.
• Choose one activity outside the house to complete before lunch. That might be something as simple as walking around the block or going outside to water the flowers.
• Drive to a nearby mall or large discount store. Start at one end and walk up and down every aisle. When you get to the other side, start aisle-walking again until you’re back where you started. Then you can go back and look at anything that seemed interesting. Something is bound to catch your eye and get the focus off the situation.  The key is to get moving.
• Go to a park in the late afternoon. Find the swing set and swing. It’s amazing how this activity makes you feel like a child who is happy to be outdoors.
• If you’re going to watch television watch something funny.  For one of my clients  it was watching the old classic “I Love Lucy”.  She had  seem all the episodes many times so they don’t require concentration but will still get her  to smile

Exercise to relieve stress and depression doesn’t have to mean marathon training or aerobics. You don’t even have to go to the gym unless you’re ready to go. Even simple activities will make a big difference in your mood.

When you realize that nothing in life is permanent and that the storm you’re caught up in right now will eventually pass, you’ll take a big step towards reducing stress and depression. And combine this with tips and techniques above you’ll have an effective strategy to help the situation pass quickly.

I hope this made you think about how you handle stress and depression.  Let me know how you’re going to use this information in your life by leaving a comment.  See the link underneath this sentence.

small changes BIG REWARDS with Walking

Remember in the land of make believe (or when I was  kid) we walked everywhere!  The car (if your family had one) was only used for work or other important duties.  I would even walk almost a mile to catch the bus to go grocery shopping for my grandmother.  Oh how times have changed.  Now it’s just a few steps to the car. As cars became more available, walking became an “exercise” instead of a regular activity.

Today there are full of “walking programs” as if we suddenly forgot how to put one foot in front of another. Walking is recommended by doctors if you’re recovering from a heart attack, have high blood pressure or suffer from arthritis.

Walking is encouraged if you are feeling depressed, anxious or stressed. Health coaches and personal trainers set you up with a walking program as a beginning point for developing an exercise program.

Why walking? Well, you already know how to do it, it’s easy for almost everyone and it’s free. Walking for exercise is great at almost any age.

Why is walking the ideal exercise to get rid of stress:

• It’s free – there’s no additional money needed to get started. All you need is a sturdy pair of sport shoes, soft socks and comfortable, nonrestrictive clothing.
• You’re not limited to a gym – it’s available almost everywhere you go.  You can walk on the street, in the mall or around the floors of your office building.
• It provides a low impact exercise option that’s great for building aerobic capacity when high impact aerobics are too hard on the knees or joints.
• You can easily merge into your daily life as you find ways to walk more - such as parking farther from your destination or choosing to walk to nearby places.
• It easily becomes an activity to share with a friend. Instead of making a lunch date, agree to go on a walk and have a light snack when you return.
• It helps cut heart disease risk in half if you only walk for thirty minutes, six days a week, which is important if you’re suffering from extreme stress in your life.
• It staves off aging by keeping the body tone and trim - plus it gives oxygen to the cells that support healthy skin.

Get out your walking shoes. If you want to keep track of your walking, buy a pedometer to measure your steps. Beginners: warm up at an easy pace. Walk 15 – 30 minutes at a comfortable pace.  
 
Walking is literally a life saver.  It can prevent or improve heart problems.  It’s a natural defense against stress, anxiety and depression.

Is Your Life All That You Want It To Be?

You’ve seen those ads for the army be all you can be join the army now. Have you decided what you really want in life?

Most people don’t discover what they want in life sometime until it’s almost too late.  Some never discover their life’s mission and joy. – and that’s a shame.

If your anything like me you’ve probably spent years watching television or doing things that didn’t move your toward any goal if you even had a goal. Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying “Many people die at twenty five and aren’t buried until they are seventy five.” A sad truism.

Is your life all that you want it to be

If you’re struggling to answer this question be assured that’s not unusual.  But to your advantage unlike most people you’re actually looking for an answer.  This places you light years ahead.  When asked about goals most people have spent more time planning a party then they have their life goals.  Mostly because they think that life just happens and never realize their power to control what happens.  People without definite goals are letting time pass them by. Are you one of these people?

If you are undecided about what you want out of life, don’t worry.  There are ways of discovering your purpose in life.

Often times, people are ruled by logic.  People live by what they think they should be or even worse by what others think of them or would like them to be.  To discover what you want in life, try looking deep into your heart.  If you sit quietly and listen to your heart desires you can hear the whispers of your authentic self,  the real you.

You will totally enjoy doing things that are passionate about.  Setbacks, difficulties, and obstacles will make it more challenging, but will not deter you from pursuing your goals.  Remember this: the universe supports people who are pursuing their passion and those who are pursuing their destiny.

There’s only one  thing to remember: Every person, to live truly and greatly, must define how she wants to live and what her brightest life will look like.  Listen to your instincts and follow your heart’s desire.

As I’ve grown older the  only regrets I have are those when I  have done what others or society thinks I should have done and not followed my hearts desires.

If  you’ve found this article helpful. Let me know by leaving a comment.  See the comment link underneath this sentence.

Get Up - Get Moving - Get Relief

When your stress exercise is the last thing on your mind.  As a matter of fact, most of the time you feel like sitting in a corner and indulging in a pity party. If stress makes you feel like you’re all tied up in knots, in a way, you are. Your muscles get tense and your head throbs. You want to make the stress go away, but you feel like moving will only make it worse.

That’s not true! Exercise is an excellent, natural way to relieve the harmful effects of stress.  The worst way to deal with stress is to rely on food, drugs or alcohol. Stress eating is not only fattening but can grow into an eating disorder - particularly when stress is compounded by a depressed mood.

Alcohol is a depressant, so any effect it has on stress is temporary, leaving behind more stresses and problems. Drugs - whether prescription or non-prescription - deliver the same problem as alcohol. Substance abuse isn’t the cure for anything.

Stress eating tends to be an overload of things like chocolate, cookies,  ice cream or pizza as well as comfort foods like macaroni and cheese. Once you start, it’s like the spoon has a mind of its own and just won’t quit. It’s better to close the refrigerator door and open the front door.

Take a walk or run if you enjoy that. If neither appeals to you, do some other soothing motion-based activity like sweeping the patio, washing the car or cleaning the windows. Choose an activity that requires motion, but very little concentration.

You want to free your mind, not clutter it. Better still, maybe your mind will wander into something positive. If you start thinking about work, stop and refocus on your activity.  Create a mantra or something you repeat to yourself over and over again to prevent that stress storm from entering your mind

Pilates is more advanced than Yoga and it’s a more vigorous activity that takes a high level of concentration to complete each move. If you’re focused on your Pilates movements, you don’t have time to think about stressful things.

Dust off your bicycle and find a safe place to ride. Look for quiet streets or parks with bike paths. Pedaling around is good exercise and lets you appreciate your surroundings as you travel.

Dance to your own music. Put on some music with a peppy beat and dance around your living room. Or put on something classical and let your inner ballerina come out.  If those aren’t for you, turn to a rocker beat and have fun banging your head like you did when you were a teenager.

No one is looking, so be yourself. You’ll get exercise and probably end up laughing, which is also a physically and emotionally healthy way to beat stress!

So get up- get moving- get relief.  Do it today because you only have now, the past is the past and tomorrow only leads to tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you found this information useful.  Print it out it helps to read it a few times.  But leave a comment I’d appreciate it.  See the leave a comment link below this sentence.

How Stress Relief Can Reduce Accidents

Work overload deadlines, pressures all play a role in work related accidents.  Stress is a leading cause of accidents in the workplace. And stress is a major cause in home accidents as well! When you’re feeling stress, you don’t think clearly and you’re likely to forget simple things.

The brain can only take so much and this stress load is over-riding everything else.  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found that:

• 25% of workers view their jobs as the greatest source of stress
• 26% have already experienced job burnout
• 40% of workers label their job duties as very stressful
• 75% of workers think that job stress is much worse than it was for workers in the previous generation

Some people thrive on the adrenaline rush they get form diving into challenges they face at work.  But if you’re not stimulated and feel like you’re drowning instead then work stress may be the problem. See if you recognize the signs of stress.

• You’re often irritable
• You have trouble concentrating
• You’re tired
• You get less done
• Getting out of bed on a workday morning is a major effort

Are you feeling more stress on your job or in your business?  If you do, you’re not alone.  When you feel stressed, you can protect yourself and others by:

• Slow down and double check everything you do (this keeps you from having to do things over)
• Read and re-read any safety directions, even if you already think you know it. Under stress, your brain is distracted
• Ask for help if you feel the task is too much for you
• Ask a colleague to double check the process
• Don’t agree to learn a new task or operate new equipment when you feel stressed or extremely tired. You won’t retain the information well.
• Take breaks away from the task and relax. Your mind needs to step down from alert status and rest before resuming the task. For every 2 hours of intense work take a few minutes to relax.

Workplace stress isn’t something you tough out to prove your worth. Working under stress places you and your co-workers at risk for accidents. Even if you don’t drive a forklift, you can cause just as much damage by not thinking it out as you reach for a heavy box and drop it on someone’s head pull or wrench your back due to lack of attention to a task

Decreasing stress improves your productively and improves your attitude and your life.

Train Your Mind and Body to Release Stress

Have you ever felt your heart racing and pounding so hard you thought you were going to have a heart attack.  What a frightening feeling!

Fortunately, it’s wasn’t your heart, but a warning sign of stress overload. Your doctor tells you to try relaxation to reduce your stress. Relax? You don’t have time to relax, you don’t know how to relax!  But you don’t have time for a heart attack either - so you begrudgingly agree to give relaxation training a shot.

Just the thought of learning a relaxation technique seems like more work and more work causes more stress.  So you ask yourself a question, is  relaxation isn’t a do-it-yourself project. After all, you were the one who got yourself into this stress mess, so do you really think you know how to change it?   The good news is that once you learn relaxation techniques, you can practice them anywhere on your own. It’s a truly portable therapy.  Have relaxation will travel.

Wellness and Stress Management Professionals can teach you visualization, stress resistant, and other techniques that help you manage your stress.

Hypnosis – Hypnotists can teach you relaxation techniques using self-hypnosis. Contrary to false beliefs, you won’t suddenly quack like a duck or howl at the moon.. In a few sessions you can learn all you need to know to do this on your own.

Yoga – Take a series of classes to learn the basic Yoga movements. This ancient technique involves the mind and body so completely that you relax, stretch and develop flexibility all at the same time.

Art or Photography – You don’t have to be a trained photographer or artist to enjoy them.  Forget perfectionism and just put some paint on a canvas or take a few pictures. Go outdoors to a tranquil park, garden or solarium to practice your craft.  You aren’t trying to become proficient - just enjoy what you create. The time spent studying your subjects and looking at the results is what counts. Be creative, particularly if this is completely different than your usual work, can be highly relaxing.

Do something that is carefree and just plain fun.  Once your stress level is down, keep up the relaxation training or you’ll be back in the same overload situation again.  It may sound silly, but relaxing is something some people have to learn because it doesn’t come easy to them.  So many have forgotten how to relax and have fun.

Now is the time to remember.

What Type of Stress Do You Suffer From? - Eustress vs Stress

When you feel overwhelmed and up against the wall, do you notice the old familiar headache or backache that you get in response to a stressful situation?  Before you let it upset you, take time to think about what type of stress you’re feeling.

There are two types of stress that psychologists call Eustress and Stress. These are as different as two sides of the same coin. One is actually useful while the other is harmful to your body.
Eustress is healthy for you. It keeps you excited about life. It is basically a desirable form of stress which is healthful and gives a feeling of contentment.

Some of the examples of Eustress are:

1. Thrill experienced while watching a horror movie
2. Excitement of winning a race
3. Accomplishing a challenge
4. Joy experienced on a roller-coaster ride
5. Happiness felt on the birth of a baby
6. Excitement while getting wedded
7. A man’s shaking hand as he produces an engagement ring
8. Buying a new car and many more

Stress, on the other hand, is anxiety, fear, frustration and an overcoming sense of dread.

Job burnout is the result of working too long in a stressful environment. Continual exposure to stressful situations and people whose demands become stressful to you results in negative stress.

There’s nothing useful about stress. It’s the warm-up act for a heart attack, stroke and emotional breakdown.  If you say you “work better under stress,” you haven’t asked your immune system how it feels.

Stress is also referred to as distress,  anxiety, severe strain or mental suffering resulting from exhaustion or an accident.

Some of the events that lead to distress are:

1. Death of near-ones
2. Too much workload
3. Discontent in relationships
4. Financial tension
5. Unfulfilled desires

Living under stressful conditions for long periods of time is damaging to your immune system. Ever noticed how you’re more inclined to catch the office cold when you’re overworked than when you aren’t?

That’s a perfect example of how your immune system can’t deal with your stress load and have enough left over to fight a bug.  Stop and analyze your stress in a mood journal by writing down specific answers to these questions:

1. What causes you to feel stress?
2. Where are you when you feel the most stress?
3. Who is with you?
4. What are you doing?
5. Has anything changed recently in this situation?

By seeing your stress patterns, you can look at ways to change either your involvement with stress or your response to it. Is what you’re feeling really harmful stress?

If it’s actually eustress, then you can change what you say from, “I’m so stressed out over the party” to, “I’m so excited about this party!” It’s amazing how your body responds differently to each type of stress.  Sometimes your reaction is a choice.

Choose carefully and wisely.

Many Ways To Manage Stress

If you don’t manage stress, it will find a way to manage you. Stress can be very invasive in your life. You might be blaming the boss, the car mechanic or your spouse for your stress. You can’t control what other people do or say, but you can manage the smaller irritations in your world  and choose to reduce your stress.

Here are a three common stress triggers that can easily be tamed:

Clutter – The more “stuff” you have, the more time and attention it requires to maintain. One way to reduce that demand is to eliminate some of the “stuff” that you don’t really need.  Start by going room by room.  Pledge to give away or throw away at least two unneeded items from every room. And don’t just do this once, do it once a month.

Buy Less – You brought that clutter into the house, so don’t bring in more. Before you buy a new wok or 26-piece baking set, think about how often you would actually use those items. Do you have any other kitchen equipment that can double for the same purposes?

Do you have a Clothes Horse that  Needs Taming?  – Buying clothes is a kind of closet clutter addiction that can get out of control. Clothing isn’t just something on a hanger. You have to wash, mend, press or take it to the dry cleaners.  Remember if you have an over-stuffed closet, it’s actually harder to get dressed in the morning. Too many choices become stressful - as does not being able to find the other shoe, so you waste time.

These are just a few ways to manage stress by dealing with the things in your home. You can  and should apply the same strategy to the “stuff” in your office.

So what are you going to do with your “stuff”?

Take It Easy and Enjoy Life

Can you remember your childhood days? During those times, nothing yet seemed complicated – all we had to think about were crayons, cookies, or Santa Claus. We didn’t care about the things we didn’t know because we were just too oblivious of the things that might bother us.

But as we grow older, we get anxious with the things that surround us – life and death, loving and parting, success and failure, to name a few. We find that almost everyday, we are obliged to be concerned about people or events.

Nevertheless, always keep this in mind: Don’t take things as if they are responsible for the way you feel. Events or situations do not trouble you. How you look at them does.

If you miss those carefree days, you just have to look back at how you used to view things then, and you will know what to do now. Here’s a guide to make sure you won’t lose your way:

Cherish the simple things: Trust in the power of a smile or laughter, a kiss or a hug. Believe in kindness, honesty, dreams, and imagination. Living positively is the first step to becoming happy.

Loosen up. Laugh at your mistakes. You might remember the time when you were delivering a speech and your mind went completely blank right in the middle of delivering it. It’s embarrassing. But most likely, your audience will forget about it in a day or two. We all mess up occasionally. The good thing is that people tend to forget such situations.

Surround yourself with what you love. Get a pet.  Don’t put off. Go on that trip. Take your Master’s. You’ll never know the extent of your life. Do something, while you can.

Don’t push yourself too hard trying to please everyone. You just can’t. And it never seems to be worth it anyway. When you want to make somebody’s day, start with your loved ones.

Keep fit. Be that attractive person you always picture yourself to be. Cherish your health. It’s the best way of showing you are putting your best face forward.

Do not assume. Don’t fret about forgetting your speech before you actually do it. Don’t worry about not getting the job you want because you might mess up at the interview. It’s good to expect the worst; but don’t end up expecting only the worst.

Alter your way of thinking. When you’re being ridiculed, criticized about your family background, or condemned for past mistakes, put on deaf ears. Don’t believe everything you hear. You know yourself better than everybody else does. Never wallow in self-pity.

Remember: Don’t get upset over things just because it’s how most people would react when faced with the same situation. When you find yourself being negative – angry, down, jealous, etc. – you also unknowingly drain your energy and enthusiasm. You just have to try keeping these negative feelings in the low, because giving in to these emotions would sometimes make you unreasonable, and you might end up making bad decisions.

Happiness is always in your grasp. You can attain it, as long as you know how.

Why is it so important to improve yourself?

Sometimes, when all our doubts, fears and insecurities wrap ourselves up, we always come up with the idea of “I wish I was somebody else.”  More often than not, we think and believe that someone or rather, most people are better than us.- when in reality, the fact is, most people are more scared than us.

We look at a young business entrepreneur and say “Wooh… what else could he ask for?” He stares at himself at the mirror and murmur to himself, “I hate my big eyes… I wonder why my friends won’t talk to me… I hope mom and dad would still work things out.”

Isn’t it funny? We look at other people, envy them for looking so outrageously perfect and wish we could trade places with them, while they look at us and thinks of the same thing. We are insecure of other people who themselves are insecure of us. We suffer from low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence and lose hope in self improvement because we are enveloped in quiet desperation.

Sometimes, you notice that you have an irritating habit like biting off your finger nails, having a foul mouth, and you – of all people, is the last to know.

One key to self improvement is to LISTEN and TALK to a trusted friend. Find someone who you find comfort in opening up with even the most gentle topics you want to discuss. Ask questions like “do you think I am ill-mannered?”,  “Do I always sound so argumentative?”,  “Do I talk too loud?”,  “Does my breath smell?”,  “Do I ever bore you when were together?”.  In this way, the other person will obviously know that you are interested in the process of self improvement. Lend her your ears for comments and criticisms and don’t give her answers like “Don’t exaggerate! That’s just the way I am!”  Open up your mind and heart as well. And in return, you may want to help your friend with constructive criticism that will also help her improve her self.

One of Whitney Houston’s songs says “Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.” True enough. In order to love others, you must love yourself too. Remember, you cannot give what you do not have.

Self improvement makes us better people, we then inspire other people, and then the rest of the world will follow.  Stop thinking of yourselves as second-rate beings. Forget the repetitive thought of “If only I was richer… if only I was thinner” and so on.  Accepting your true self is the first step to self improvement. We need to stop comparing ourselves to others only to find out at the end that we’ve got  10 more reasons to envy them.

We all have our insecurities. Nobody is perfect. We always wish we had better things, better features, better body parts, etc. But life need not to be perfect for people to be happy about themselves.  Self improvement and loving yourself is not a matter of shouting to the whole world that you’re perfect and you’re the best. It’s the virtue of acceptance and contentment. When we begin to improve ourselves, we then begin to feel contented and happy.

So What are you going to do to improve yourself?

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