More Stress Tips For Stress Free Living

1. Avoid negative people
2. Use time wisely
3. Simplify meal times
4. Always make copies of important papers
5. Anticipate your needs
6. Repair anything that doesn’t work properly
7. Ask for help with the jobs you dislike
8. Break large tasks into bite size portions
9. Look at problems as challenges
10. Look at challenges differently

How Yoga and Meditation Can Help You Balance Your Mind and Body

 Yoga and meditation are both great activities for bringing your mind and body into harmony with one another. They can keep you calm and centered and may even help shield you from disorders of the mind and body.

 Yoga and meditation can be practiced separately or together, although in order to fully get the benefits of a yoga practice, you’d technically be meditating while you’re centered on your yoga breathing.

Once you’ve begun yoga and meditation practices, you can continue to deepen them by practicing every day. Persistence pays off, especially in the beginning while you’re still forming this healthy habit.

 When you practice yoga and meditation consistently, you’ll feel the harmony forming between your mind and body. You’ll also look forward to your daily relaxation session that makes you feel so good! In the end, you’ll wonder how you could have ever waited so long to give them a try.

Stress Tips For Stress Free Living

1. Get up 15 minutes earlier
2. Prepare for the morning the night before
3. Avoid tight fitting clothes
4. Avoid relying on chemical aids
5. Set appointments ahead
6. Don’t rely on your memory … write it down
7. Practice preventive maintenance
8. Make duplicate keys
9. Say “no” more often
10. 10. Set priorities in your life

Controlling Breathing
 The first rapid relaxation routine involves   breathing in and out nine times in three  series of three breaths.

 In the first series of three breaths, inhale   deeply and, as you exhale slowly, say quietly  or think to yourself, “Calm body.” Repeat   three times.

 In the second series of three breaths, inhale   deeply and, as you exhale, say quietly or   think to yourself, “Calm mind.”

 In the final series of three breaths, inhale   deeply and, as you exhale, say (and do)   “Smile.”

Identify Stressors In Your life

The first step to bring stress under control is to identify it.  Regardless of how much stress you have in your life, being able to identify it will be a tremendous help. Once stress is identified then it’s time to identify effective coping skills.

Keep a Stress Diary

Committing to keeping a stress diary will help you gain clarity into when and how you react to stress.  This insight allows a better channel for your emotional and physical energy.

Record in your stress diary daily.  Even on the days you don’t feel stressed.  It will be good to be able to review those great feeling days and see what made them so great.  The stress diary gives you valuable insight helping you to manage your stress more effectively.

Date and time each entry. 

• What are you feeling right now?  What did you feel earlier in the day.  Pick words the accurately describe your emotions. 
• How did you handle the stressful situation? 
• Was there a better way to handle those stressful events? 

At the end of each week go back through your stress diary and analyze your stress pattern.  Are you experiencing more stress in the morning, or evening?  Does you work create more stress.  Whatever the answer by making a few adjustments you can proactively handle those day to day stressors.

Calming Your Mind and Lowering Your Stress Levels

More often than not, we tend to focus on too many things every day, leading to confusion, anxiety, and annoyance. This stress can be hard on the mind and body, but the good news is that you can lower your stress levels and calm your mind, helping yourself to feel better each day.

In fact, you can overcome these issues with a few simple techniques!

First, acknowledge that you must take time for yourself. Being all things to all people isn’t realistic, and neither is doing everything and solving all problems or concerns in one day. No one should expect that of you! If they do, you must recognize that it’s not healthy, and you must do what’s right and best for you. Your health and happiness could depend on it.

Ways to Calm Your Mind

Meditation and prayer are two of the biggest ways to calm a restless mind, but they aren’t the only things you can do. There are many other choices to help you feel better and live a stress-free life. You might also consider:

• Focusing on helping others
• Exercising
• Listening to music
• Using your mind for joyous pursuits that interest you
• Playing with children or pets

Everyone has different things they enjoy in life, and you should find yours and practice them when you start to feel stressed or your thoughts try to run away from you. Avoid letting your thoughts talk you out of your dreams. Your dreams are yours; embrace them!

Being busy is not the problem when it comes to your mind. Being busy with things that aggravate you and make you feel down is the problem. Instead of dwelling on things that upset you, deal with them, let them go, and move on to things that you enjoy. You can do this with your thoughts, just like you would with a physical task in the workplace or at home.

Lower Your Stress Levels Each Day

Stress begins in your mind as thoughts, but it can manifest itself physically. You may feel tense, anxious, uneasy, angry, or have aches and pains you can’t really find a cause for. If stress continues all the time and becomes chronic, your health could be compromised.

You can let stress go and feel good every day.

 Try these strategies to lower your stress:

1.  Focus on what matters to you. What’s important in your life? Be proactive about your goals and priorities. When you’re working toward something that you want, it makes you feel good about yourself and your future.

 

2. Find both physical and mental ways to release your stress. Releasing your stress every day keeps it from building up inside you. Make the conscious choice to start each day fresh, without the stress from the day before.What relaxes you? Music? Hobbies? Spending time with your family? Enjoy a healthy dose of relaxation every day.Get as much exercise as possible. Exercise refreshes your body with a surge of oxygen and releases endorphins, the “feel good” hormone. Even if there’s no time for an exercise session, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park far away from the building so you can walk, and play with your kids or pets.
3. Practice these strategies consistently. Work on releasing your stress every day, even on days when you don’t feel as much stress, so it won’t be a struggle when you really need it. When you’re feeling good, it’s natural to forget about letting stress go, but it’s important to avoid getting complacent.Keep practicing and improving, even when you feel great!

 Whichever techniques you choose to calm your mind and lower your levels of stress, ensure it’s the right fit for you and your lifestyle. Only you know what you really need and what makes you feel safe and at peace.

If you practice this peacefulness each day, it won’t be long before you start to feel calmer, even in situations where you would have previously been over the edge. Your thoughts will be clearer, instead of jumbled and racing. Physically, you’ll feel stronger, too, because your body will be free from the affliction of stress and anxiety.

Spending time on YOU is critical!

Do you push yourself to be all that you can be? In your drive for excellence, you may take on so many projects that life often seems chaotic. In the midst of doing it all, do you remember to take time for yourself?

Spending time on YOU is critical! It enables you to feel rested, calm, stress-free, and fulfilled. When you’ve had proper rest, you can accomplish more and maintain the stamina to continue.

On the other hand, if you neglect to make time for yourself, you’re more likely to become depressed, stressed, or unhappy.

Perhaps you feel that there’s just not enough time for you. Somewhere in the mix, you lost any time you ever had for yourself. However, the good news is that, with some creativity and perseverance, you can recapture some of that critical you-time!

Consider using these strategies to reap some rejuvenating time for yourself:

1. Pencil yourself in. Make time for yourself by adding it as a priority in your schedule. As you fill out your planner, include it along with your other important tasks and stick to the appointment!

2. Give yourself 15 minutes when you get home. Insist on at least 15 minutes of recoup and rejuvenation time when you get home from work. If you have to lock yourself away from stressors or even family members, than that’s what you must do! This time allows you to properly transition from your work life to your home life.

• Explain this new technique to your family so that they understand its importance. This way, no one feels like you’re just avoiding them!

• A simple strategy is to soak in the bath for 15 minutes. The water will relax you, and you’ll feel refreshed after a long day.

3. Take advantage of your lunch break. Your lunch break is there for you to do what you please. After you eat, make good use of your time by going for a walk, exercising, listening to inspiring music, or even get in a bit of shopping if that’s what relaxes you.

4. Enjoy a break while the kids nap. Here’s a good tip for stay at home moms. Give yourself some much needed “you” time whenever your children sleep. You might be tempted to get as much work done as you can while they’re asleep, but you’ll find you actually get more done if you give yourself a chance to rest and rejuvenate yourself.

• Explore new ways of accomplishing things like household tasks while your kids are up. For example, turn chores into learning games that you can all participate in.

5. Go to sleep earlier. Going to sleep earlier at night will enable you to get up in time to enjoy some morning “me” time. Just think how pleasant it would be to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning without having to look at your watch.

6. Take a vacation day. Take a vacation day to just relax and do whatever you like. You don’t have to take a trip to take a vacation! Time spent on your favorite hobbies will also rejuvenate you. When you return to work, your renewed energy may surprise you!

At first glance, these strategies may look difficult to implement into your busy routine. A good way to get started with them is to incorporate just one at a time. That way, you only have to adjust to one small change. As you become accustomed to that one strategy, you can add another, and then another, until one day you’ll find that making time for yourself is easy.

Once you learn to make time for you, you’ll have more energy and time to enjoy the good things life has to offer.

Stress Free Living With a Simple Truth About Mistakes

Surviving the Holiday Crunch With Stress Free Living

Don’t be surprised or feel guilty if your holiday is stressful — and don’t entertain the fantasy that everyone else’s season is picture-perfect. Some moments will be memorable, some will not, and some you’ll want to forget, but remember: We’re all in this together!

The holidays are supposed to be a wonderful time for you and your family, though sometimes the stresses leading up the holidays make it seem like quite the opposite. Remember that even in poor economic times there are ways to enjoy yourself and survive the holiday crunch.

Spending Money

Chances are you’ll be spending at least some money during the holiday season. With careful planning, you can make a small budget go quite a long way.

Consider the following holiday money saving tips:

Save Throughout the Year. Most people let the holidays creep up on them. All of a sudden they realize it’s two weeks before Thanksgiving and they need to begin preparing. You can’t pull money out of nowhere and you should resist the urge to put all of your purchases on credit. If you’ve done this in the past, you know first hand that you’ll still be paying off last year’s gifts for years to come!

• Automatically withdraw a small amount of money from each paycheck that goes toward your Christmas savings. Those small amounts add up to something big at the end of the year.

Shop Early. When you shop early you can avoid the stress of the crowds and the urgency of having to make decisions quickly. Start by making a list of gift ideas for everyone. This way, as you see the items throughout the year, you can pick them up. You may even find that they’re cheaper during off-peak times than during the holiday rush.

 Handmade Gifts. If money is extra tight this year, consider giving your loved ones handmade gifts. Handmade gifts are given straight from the heart. They’ll provide memories that last a lifetime and are important reminders that the holiday season is not just about spending money.

Shop for Deals. While it can end up taking a great deal of extra time, make sure you do your homework when it comes to shopping for deals. Prices can vary greatly from vendor to vendor. Luckily, the internet can be your best friend when it comes to shopping for deals. It allows you to comparison shop quickly and easily from the comfort of your own home.

 While you’re shopping online, always remember to stay safe. If you haven’t heard of the website you’re purchasing from, make sure that you’re shopping on a secure server and do additional research into the company to seek out reviews and opinions.

Planning Your Budget

Whether or not you’ve saved throughout the year, it’s always a good idea to put yourself on a strict budget. Give yourself a total dollar amount and then decide how much you’ll spend on each person. If you need money for entertaining, decorating, food, or other things, budget for that as well.

Remember to check in with yourself from time to time to make sure that you remain on budget. While it may be extra work, it’ll save you the stress of dealing with big credit card bills in the new year.

Dealing With Stress

If the stress of the holidays has gotten you down, you’re certainly not alone. It’s not fun to have to deal with the financial aspect, but it’ll help to keep the reward in mind.

If you’ve spent your money well, and your family gets through the holidays in a peaceful manner, then you’ve done your job. You’ll be adding to the memories that will last a lifetime. Remember that you can’t place a price tag on memories. When you keep that positive goal in mind, it’ll be worth the stresses you have to endure.

How to Make Your To-Do List More Effective

You already know that to-do lists help you get focused and organized throughout the day. When you have your to-do list in hand, you’re freeing your mind from all the disorganized thoughts and, instead, getting them down on paper.

 However, this technique can go awry if your to-do list isn’t organized as well as it should be. You might lose your motivation and drive and, at the end of the day, you may notice that most of the things from your list are not crossed off.

 Follow these tips to create an effective to-do list:

1.  Clarify Priorities. It may help you to develop some sort of ranking system for your to-do list. Certainly every item on the list can’t be equally important. You can even use a number system and rank them from 1 to 5. Items ranked 1 might have a lower priority, while the 5s are tasks you should attend to first.

• You should also clarify your priorities in the sense that you need to leave yourself detailed instructions. Figure out the: who, what, where, when and why of items that may be complicated. This way, when it comes time to tackle the task, you won’t skip over them simply because they seem too complex to complete.

 2.  Pare Down the List. You need to complete tasks or part of tasks one step at a time. If you have 15 minutes to spare, find something on the list that you can complete in that time period. It’s common to tell yourself that 15 minutes is not enough time to do something, but all those 15-minute chunks add up to something huge. At the end of the day you’ll be surprised how much you’ve accomplished in small increments.

3.   Include Flex Time. If your to-do list is too rigid, it simply won’t be effective. You absolutely need to include some flexibility and breathing room in your day. Try not to jam pack your day with unreasonable goals, otherwise, you’ll be at risk of disappointment.

4.  Add in Something Fun. Your to-do list is no doubt full of things you may not be looking forward. That’s why integrating fun activities and tasks should also be a priority! When you add in a fun item it doesn’t feel like work. It may even feel like a break. When you return to the less desirable items, you’ll be more motivated to actually get them done.

5.  Don’t List Too Much. It’s vital not to overwhelm yourself. While some days might be action packed in order to reach certain deadlines, you need to avoid this level of stress on a regular basis. If there’s too much on your plate, or you have to work too fast, you can’t possibly enjoy yourself and you’ll only end up frustrated and overwhelmed.

 6.  Keep It Organized. Your list needs to be organized in a way that makes you feel comfortable. There are many options nowadays, especially with digital devices. However, the old-fashioned pen and paper method may be what works best for you. You can also opt for using the internet or even your cell phone or mobile device to keep your list organized.

Stress Free Living With Nature’s Stress Therapists Are Right Outside Your Window

In the average home, the windows are hard to open because they’re rarely opened. With air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter, windows almost seem like a useless accessory now. 

That’s sad, because there are excellent therapists just outside your window waiting to help alleviate the stress that’s overcome you.  For less than ten dollars, you can get a bird feeder to place outside your home or office window.

Spend a few bucks a week on birdseed and you’ll be rewarded with a variety of birds stopping by for breakfast each morning. If you add more seed in the afternoon, you’ll draw the early dinner crowd.

After awhile, you’ll be able to identify the birds by their unique songs. Even though these little birds work hard every day just to find food, water and safe shelter, they never fail to sing as if they didn’t have a care in the world. As you listen to their songs, you begin to feel remarkably less stressed.

If you plant the right kind of flowers outside your window or bring in container plants, you’ll become a favorite attraction for butterflies. They don’t make any noise so you have be alert to see them. Pay attention to their delicately colorful wings fluttering around outside your window. If you remember biology class, those butterflies live only a few days but they make the most of every moment. As you watch them, think what you would do if you only had a few days left in your life? What prevents you from doing those things now?

 Nature’s play therapists are the squirrels. They hop from branch to branch in the tree with reckless abandon. If they fall, they shake and get back up again. It seems that squirrels just want to have fun, but they have a serious side too. Squirrels put away food first, but still find time to play. There’s a lesson for you. Get the work done but schedule time for your enjoyment also. Have you ever seen a depressed squirrel? Maybe it because they have actually mastered the work-life balance that we all talk about.

 So pull back those curtains, get some window cleaner and rearrange your chair to take advantage of nature’s therapists outside your window.

Live Stress Free With The Power of Failure

Now this might sound a little strange to you but what exactly do you think about when you hear the word failure? You probably are thinking that you’re not good enough and or maybe that you should give up. One definition is the lack of success

While failure can involve those thoughts and emotions,  failure can also make us stronger or wiser.

A simple definition of failure is: An act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success.

When I think of this definition of failure, I’m reminded of Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. While there are many conflicting stories of how many times Edison “failed” at inventing the electric light bulb, most agree it was in the thousands before he found the right combination of materials.

One of Edison’s most famous quotes is, “I have not failed.  I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. I am not discouraged because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

If you adopt this same attitude, you’ll overcome your feelings of failure and be able to see your dreams and desires come to fruition.

Robert Schuller stated these famous words, “Failure doesn’t mean you’re a failure; it just means you haven’t succeeded yet.”

Henry Ford said, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”

When you consider those words from these wise and successful people, you’ll truly begin to understand the power of failure.

The truth is, you only fail when you give up! When you keep trying until you’ve found the answer or the solution, you’re successful.

You’d never say Thomas Edison, Robert Schuller or Henry Ford were failures would you? Sure, they were unsuccessful many, many times, but they didn’t give up until they found the answer, the right procedure or the right materials to solve their dilemma.

In case those quotes weren’t enough to make you believe failure has a positive power and strength, here are some more you might relate to:

“Failure is an event, never a person.” – William D. Brown

The next time you try your hand at something and don’t achieve the desired result immediately, remember failure is an event;  it’s not you.

Bill Cosby also said it well when he said, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

If you’re trying to please everyone, you can’t possibly succeed!

“Never confuse a single defeat with final defeat.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

“You can’t have any successes until you can accept failures.” – George Cukor

Just because you’ve failed once, twice or 10,000 times at something, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure. You only fail when you stop trying.

Still not convinced? How about this:

“You always pass failure on your way to success.” – Mickey Rooney

What do these words mean to you? No matter what you’re trying to succeed at, whether it’s a sport, project, career, invention, or at school, there will be times when you don’t succeed. But you mustn’t let that stop you from reaching your goals, dreams, and desires.

The common thread among all these famous people and their wise words is the same. You can’t have success without failure. Never give up and never stop trying. There is power in failure, you just have to give yourself a chance.

Keep trying, keep failing and soon you’ll find true success!

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