"The most powerful weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought and discard another." - William James
Stress is not a choice. He doesn't care who we are or what we are. When it appears, it takes over our lives. In many cases, it causes various inconveniences such as headache, insomnia, muscle tension or body aches.
According to the data American Institute of Stress, is activated in a body that is under stress “the body's sympathetic nervous system, due to the sudden release of hormones. The sympathetic nervous system stimulates the adrenal glands and triggers the release of catecholamines, which include adrenaline and norepinephrine. This causes the heart rate to increase, blood pressure and breathing.”
When we are in a stressful situation, our body activates the fight or flight response. Why is this important? Although it is ours fight or flight extremely useful when we are in situations where our survival is at stake, not all situations are like this. The body does not know how to distinguish one from the other. We burn out because our body is constantly fighting or fleeing from threats, even those that don't actually cause us harm.
Read five ideas for fight against stress in your life. They will help you manage stress more easily.
1. Jot down your thoughts
When you are burdened with your thoughts, it is difficult for you to think, you cannot stay collected and focused. Your mind is completely filled with thoughts that are constantly competing for your attention. You don't know what to do. You are confused. An exercise by which you can get your thoughts under control is called Brain Dump.
Make yourself comfortable. Take a pen and paper. Write down any thoughts that come up. Think of your paper as a blank canvas on which to draw every thought, no matter how small or insignificant. Don't think about how what you've written looks like, the idea is to give your thoughts an outlet. Because once they're written down on paper, they're no longer floating around in your head and no longer seeking your attention.
Once you write them down, leave them as they are. Don't fix them. Do not change them. Allow them to simply exist as they are - they are not right or wrong. Use this exercise every day or whenever you feel like you have too many thoughts trying to create your day.
2. Do sports
There is nothing more therapeutic than physically moving a body that feels the weight of stress. Wear your day in your body! If you've had a rough day, this energy will feel like tension or excitement. According to the American Association for anxiety and depression, scientists have found that regular sports activities reduce the general level of tension, raise and stabilize mood, improve sleep and self-confidence. They also found that 10 to 15 minutes of aerobic exercise can have an extremely good effect on your body.
Find an exercise regime that works for you and do it a few days a week. Run, dance, go to yoga, anything that will get your heart rate up, you're well on your way to warding off stress.
3. Get help from a therapist
Sometimes it seems that writing down thoughts and feelings is not enough. Humans are complex human beings who want to understand and process our emotions on a deeper level. In the presence of an expert, you can open up, trust him with what weighs you down, what haunts you in stressful situations. A therapist makes you feel like you can confide in someone about your worries, that you have someone who actually listens to you, that you can get rid of your burdens. Sometimes it also helps if you have someone (partner, friend) you trust.
4. Break your daily routine
Breaking the day means introducing something completely new into your routine. For example, if your work or school day has the same sequence of events every day, even a short interruption can have a beneficial effect on your productivity and creativity. Add a stretch break into your schedule, a walk before lunch, anything to change up your routine. This will bring you new energy and relieve your stressful day.
5. Release energy
This will improve the energy flow of your body. This can be massage, Reiki, acupuncture, anything that will help you move the energy that is blocked in your body. Relax.
Stress affects the physical, mental and emotional state of each of us. To what extent depends only on you.
