Stress Free Living Tips

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  1. Unclutter your life
  2. Smile
  3. Be prepared for rain
  4. Tickle a baby
  5. Pet a friendly dog/cat
  6. Don’t know all the answers
  7. Look for a silver lining
  8. Say something nice to someone
  9. Teach a kid to fly a kite
  10. Walk in the rain

How Meditating Can Ease Anxiety

beautiful middle eastern teenage girl in yoga poseThe fast-paced, hectic world we live with an unhealthy amount of stress. Stress develops into, or manifests itself as, worries and fears, leading to feelings of anxiety. Have you fallen into this frustrating path?

You can ease anxiety by understanding your worries and fears.  A natural way to ease anxiety is the use of meditation.

Meditation is a basic technique that can get you in better touch with yourself. It relieves stress, relaxes your body, and calms your mind.

Starting Out With Meditation

There are different ways you can approach a meditative practice. Start by picking a time everyday when you can calmly be alone without distractions. Begin your meditation by taking deep breaths and focusing only on each breath as it goes in and out.

On a particularly stressful day, you might have more difficulty focusing on your breath. The thoughts of whatever is stressing you may keep getting in the way. When this happens, acknowledge the thought and then go back to concentrating on your breath. Eventually, you’ll feel your mind grow calm.

As you calm your mind, begin purposefully taking notice of your thoughts. All you do is notice your thoughts, and then return your attention to your breath again. If any thoughts make you uncomfortable or tense, relax your muscles and then focus on your breath again.

Try not to stress yourself out further by getting frustrated with the meditation process. As you continue to practice, it will get easier.

So what’s  your best stress free living tip?

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Stress Free Living – 5 Tips to End Procrastination

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Tip # 1    Everything starts and ends with the self

If someone said to you that you were a procrastinator, what would  immediate reaction be. Denial, confirmation or a deer in the headlight look.  .

Some people like to blame their lack of action on others. But the truth is, you are procrastinate because you yourself choose to procrastinate.  The sooner you accept that, the better you’ll be able to overcome procrastination.

Tip # 2    Latin phrase Mea Culpa- It’s My Fault So Take Responsibility

You’ve accepted the fact that (a) you’re a procrastinator, and (b) you have a sincere desire to change.  Now tell yourself that if you fail to achieve a particular goal or a given task, it’s because you procrastinated. Mea culpa.  Admitting guilt or responsibility is a giant step.  Note, however, that there is a huge difference between admitting guilt and being too hard on yourself.  Admitting guilt is taking ownership of your actions.  Being too hard on yourself is unjustified self-blame.
Tip # 3    Ask: In what ways do I procrastinate?

Ask yourself, “In what ways do I procrastinate?”  Sit down with pen and paper.  Writing them will help you focus and identify them more clearly.  Here are some ways where you may procrastinate:

  • paying bills
  • not discussing the complaints you’ve received about a member of your team for fear of hurting his/her feelings
  • repeatedly postponing a medical or dental appointment because you’ve got better things to do
  • not returning the call of your son’s teacher because you know what the problem is and you’re fed up
    not discussing your resentment about your husband spending too much time at work or with his buddies
  • not getting that hair cut, that dress dry-cleaned, that donation mailed
  • not visiting a sick relative in the hospital
  • not telling your significant other you no longer love her/him
  • not calling your doctor about that persistent numbness in your right arm or not fixing a colonoscopy exam date
  • not having the car’s squeaking brakes checked
  • not going to confession because you never know what the priest’s schedule is
    not sending that overdue thank you note or making that overdue call to your mother-in-law

Tip # 4    Better in black and white than dreaming in technicolor

That’s just our way of saying that when you read things on paper, you’re able to act logically; this is much more effective than just thinking out how to avoid procrastination.

Putting down things in black and white is even better than brainstorming with another person.  Here’s the reason:  if you write down what needs to be done, you’re the only one who knows what’s urgent and important.

You focus on this task from the implementation to completion.  Once it’s completed, you take it off your list.  There’s that sense of accomplishment, no matter how small the accomplishment is.

You go on to the next task, until you actually get used to the idea of doing, rather than procrastinating.

Brainstorming with a friend, on the other hand, can be viewed as a positive, but can be a form of procrastination.  You’ll say to yourself, “what she said makes sense”, so you mull over it, leaving the task undone.

Tip # 5    It’s mantra time once again

Once in awhile you’ll deviate from your intentions.  You’re a human being with limitations, or else life, without warning, takes a detour, and we get derailed.

Let’s take a lesson from our brothers and sisters in the east who live by mantras that they recite to themselves every day.

Here’s one you can recite in the morning as you wake up:  “I will not procrastinate today.  It is unproductive.  I have tasks to do, and I will write them down so I can decide which of them need to be done by 12 noon.  My goal is to finish at least 2 big tasks and 2 small ones”.

Begin using these five tips beginning today and end your procrastination habit.

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7 Tips To Relieve Stress

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It seems like you hear it all the time from nearly every one you know – “I’m SO stressed out!”  There’s plenty of pressures to be had today causing stress and anxiety. Most people are unprepared to deal with stressors that trigger feelings that can make us sick.  Literally, sick.

Stress is far more dangerous than we thought. You’ve probably heard that it can raise your blood pressure, increasing the likelihood of a stroke in the distant future, but recently a health insurance brochure claimed that 90 percent of visits to a primary care physician were stress-related disorders.

Health Psychology magazine reports that chronic stress can interfere with the normal function of the body’s immune system. And studies have proven that stressed individuals have an increased vulnerability to catching an illness and are more susceptible to allergic, autoimmune, or cardiovascular diseases.

Doctors agree that during chronic stress, the functions of the body that are nonessential to survival, such as the digestive and immune systems, shut down. This is why people get sick.

Stress often prompts people to respond in unhealthy ways such as smoking, drinking alcohol, eating poorly, or becoming physically inactive. This damages the body in addition to the wear and tear of the stress itself.
Although there is no definitive answer to any of the stressor you may experience listed are a seven coping mechanisms that may support your ability to manage stress.

7 Tips

  1. Know how to relax and log to of tension
  2. Eat right and exercise often
  3. Get enough sleep
  4. Become more organized
  5. Know the difference between what truly important and what is not and don’t worry about the unimportant things
  6. Know what’s important and live according to your own values
  7. Have a good sense of humor

Stress is a part of daily life.  It’s how we react to it that makes all the difference in maintaining our health and well-being.  Pressures occur throughout life and those pressures cause stress.  You need to realize that you will never completely get rid of stress in your life, but you can learn coping techniques to turn that stress into a healthier situation.

If you found this information let me know.  Leave a comment in the section below this sentence.

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

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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.

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Many Ways To Manage Stress

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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”?

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