Action4Balance

How can you prevent stress?

Stress is a fact of life for most people. You may not be able to get rid of stress, but you can look for ways to lower it.

You might try some of these ideas: 

• Take good care of yourself. Get plenty of rest. Eat healthy. Don't smoke. Limit how much alcohol you drink. (Learn Extreme Self Care) 

• Work on letting go of things you cannot change. (Get more info about Power of Letting Go)

• Learn better ways to manage your time. You may get more done with less stress if you make a schedule. Think about which things are most important, and do those first. (Read Time management tips )

• Find better ways to cope. Look at how you have been dealing with stress. Be honest about what works and what does not. Think about other things that might work better.  

• Try out new ways of thinking. When you find yourself starting to worry, try to stop the thoughts. (Read Get Rid of Your Worries Once and For All )

• Learn assertiveness skills. Start to say  "no" (Read 3 Assertiveness Tips)

• Speak up. Not being able to talk about your needs and concerns creates stress and can make negative feelings worse. Assertive communication can help you express how you feel in a thoughtful, tactful way. (Read How to Eliminate Tolerations)

• Invest in your social circle. Ask for help. People who have a strong network of family and friends manage stress better. 

• Sometimes stress is just too much to handle alone. Talking to a friend or family member may help, but you may also want to see a professional.

How can you relieve stress?

You will feel better if you can find stress outlet, the ways to get stress out of your system.

There are many ways to relief stress but the best ways to relieve stress are different for each person.

Try some of these ideas to see which ones work for you:

• Exercise. Regular exercise is one of the best ways to manage stress. Walking is a great way to get started.  Try yoga or qigong for more holistic approach. 

• Keep a Journal. It can help to write about the things that are bothering you. 

• Let your feelings out, don’t bottle them. Talk, laugh, cry, and express anger when you need to with someone you trust. 

• Do something you enjoy. A hobby can help you relax. Volunteer work or work that helps others can be a great stress reliever. 

• Learn ways to relax your body. This can include breathing exercises, muscle relaxation exercises, massage, aromatherapy, yoga, or relaxing exercises like qigong. 

• Focus on the present, stay mindful. Try meditation, imagery exercises, or self-hypnosis. Listen to relaxing music.

• Try to look for the humor in life. Laughter really can be the best medicine. 

Managing stress is about being proactive.

Problem solving is one of the stress reduction techniques, which involves finding practical ways of changing a behavior, such that the stress/problem is actually reduced or perhaps overcomed completely.

Problem solving for stress reduction is not as complicated as it sounds. It is much easier indeed. The key to your success is to do following steps.

Click HERE to read the entry.

"When you change, the world around you changes." —Niurka

Though virtually everyone experiences stress, sometimes the way we react to stress and add to the amounts is with self sabotage! Most of the ways that we self sabotage are unconscious. The characteristics that come into play are those that Carl Jung referred to when he spoke of our 'shadow' - the enemy inside your head in the form negative self talk.

Take Action:

Start by paying attention to the styles of self sabotage you favour. Once you become aware of these otherwise unconscious thoughts, you have the opportunity to challenge them.

Blaming
This method of self sabotage is pretty self explanatory. You believe that your circumstances are not your fault. Whilst it's possible that there is some degree of truth in this, blaming leaves you feeling powerless. Blaming often goes hand in hand with a 'victim' mentality which is equally disempowering. Ultimately, you are the only person who has the ability to change your situation. When you begin to take responsibility, you feel better about yourself and more in control of your life.

Likely self talk: 'I can't help it'; 'It's their fault'; 'Things are just really hard for me'.

Procrastination
How many times do you repeatedly put off an unpleasant task? The most common are doing your tax, tidying your desk/wardrobe/garage, getting your finances in order, starting an exercise program or a healthy eating regime. Procrastination is a very popular method of self sabotage.

Likely self talk: 'I don't have the time'; 'I'm too tired'; 'The time isn't right'.

Over Committing/Overwhelm

Many people over commit themselves. They say yes to everything and then find themselves feeling completely overwhelmed (and quite often resentful). This method of self sabotage often helps you to avoid your 'real' goals (the ones that would bring you the most fulfilment if you were brave enough to pursue them) by distracting you with a range of incidental activities.

Likely self talk: 'They need me - I can't say no'; 'I'm the only one who will do the job well'; 'I just like to stay busy'.

Lack of Self Belief

This is quite possibly the most popular method of all. Like all others, it is also a self fulfilling prophecy. The less you believe in yourself, the less likely you are to take on new challenges and the more likely you are to believe you are unworthy of great things.
Likely self talk: 'I'm not good enough'; 'No one will want me'; 'I'm too tall; too short; too heavy; too unattractive; not interesting or not smart enough'.

Unclear Goals/Lack of Direction

This is a difficult area to tackle as it generally presents as an overall sense of confusion. Not being clear about what you want in life is often connected to not wanting to make the wrong choices.

Likely self talk: 'I don't know what I want'; 'Nothing interests me'; 'What if I get it wrong?'.

With all of the above methods of self sabotage, the first step is to notice your dominant style. Most of us use more than one so begin by just becoming aware of your self talk.

With all of the above methods of self sabotage, the first step is to notice your dominant style. Most of us use more than one so begin by just becoming aware of your self talk.

When you feel ready to challenge your thinking, find a way to reframe your original thought, for example 'I'm not good enough' could become 'I'm as good as I need to be to give this a go'.

Recommened Resource:

www.sedona.com

There are many ways to reduce stress, tension and relax. I would like to give you the seven stress relievers I believe are not only most effective but are also easy to learn and practice (remember practice=action is the Master :).

1. Breathing Exercises

Deep breathing is an easy stress reliever that has numerous benefits for the body, including oxygenating the blood, which ‘wakes up’ the brain, relaxing muscles and quieting the mind. Breathing exercise are especially helpful because they can be done  anywhere, and they work quickly so you can de-stress in an instant.

2. Meditation

Meditation builds on deep breathing, and takes it a step further. When you meditate, your brain enters an area of functioning that’s similar to sleep, but carries some added benefits you can’t achieve as well in any other state, including the release of certain hormones that promote health.

3. Visualization

You can use visualization for relaxation and visualization goal setting. You can imagine yourself achieving goals like becoming healthier and more relaxed, doing well at tasks, and handling conflict in better ways and obtain optimum performance.

5. Exercise

Many people exercise to control weight and get in better physical condition to become more healthy or physically attractive, but exercise and stress management are also closely linked. Exercise provides a distraction from stressful situations, as well as an outlet for frustrations, and gives you a lift via endorphins as well. Learn more about benefits of exercise, and help you get more active in your daily life.

6. Music

Music therapy has shown numerous health benefits for people with conditions ranging from mild (like stress) to severe (like cancer). When dealing with stress, the right music can actually lower your blood pressure, relax your body and calm your mind. Check out for great music.

7. Yoga

Yoga is one of the oldest self-improvement practices around, dating back over 5 thousand years! It combines the practices of several other stress management techniques such as breathing, meditation, visualization and movement, giving you a lot of benefit for the amount of time and energy required.

Learn more about how use Yoga for Stress Relief.

Breathing is a necessity of life and we tend to take it for granted.

When a person is under stress the body becomes tense and our breathing shallow.

As a result:

1. We breathe in less oxygen and breathe out less toxic waste product carbon dioxide.
2. Our muscles ache and we feel pain especially in the neck and shoulder area.

Improper breathing contributes to anxiety, panic attacks, depression, muscle tension, tension headaches, and fatigue.

However we can do it the other way round as well - when we relax our bodies we can effectively reduce stress.

Deep breathing is a very simple but an essential stress reducer – energy builder for women.

Deep breathing for just one minute tones your entire body, increases body oxygen and relieves fatigue. It also reduces hot flashes in menopause women.

It works well in conjunction with other relaxation techniques such as progressive muscular relaxation, visualization and meditation for stress relief.

Take Action:

• Inhale through the nose slowly and deeply to count of five (Make sure that the stomach and abdomen expand but the chest does not raise up)
• Exhale through the mouth, slowly and completely, making a quite, relaxing, whooshing sound like a wind as you blow gently out. Relax your mouth, tongue and jaw; also to the count of five.
• To help quiet the mind, concentrate fully on breathing and counting through each cycle.
• Repeat five to ten times and make a habit of doing the exercise several times a day, even when not feeling stressed.

While a deep breathing exercise can be learned in some minutes and you will experience immediate stress relief, the profound effects of this exercise may be fully appreciated only after month of persistent practice.

TIP: Start practicing the deep breathing for stress reduction when NOT stressed. When in stressful situation you will be able to do it automatically in order to obtain the stress relief. When under pressure and stress you could find useful to use herbal remedies for stress relief to obtain feeling of balance and wellbeing.