Ways to Relieve Stress
By: Alexandra DeWoskin
Let’s face it – we women are busy people. Is it any wonder why so many of us in Chicago seek out ways to relieve stress? We face challenges with work, relationships, family, finances and health. If we don’t manage our daily stress in healthy ways, physical and emotional symptoms can start to manifest. If you are dealing with a lot of pressures in your life right now, you probably know what I am talking about.
What you may not be aware of is this – there are actually two “kinds” of stress. One is considered “short term” and the other chronic. This may sound a bit like comparing apples to apples but in truth, there are some big differences! Let’s take a look at both of these stress related terms in order to gain better insight. Are you with me?
Let’s jump right in!
Short-Term Stress
Symptoms of short-term stress can run the gamut, including headaches, moodiness, anxiety, increased heart rate and sleep disturbances. Other symptoms include increased blood pressure, digestive problems, fatigue, depression, lowered sexual desire and irritability.
Some people even report problems like muscle tension, fuzzy thinking and poor eating habits. Sounds fun, huh?
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is a twenty-five cent term that is used to describe a condition where a person has endured high levels of stress over a prolonged period of time. Chronic stress, particularly in women, can affect your immune system and nervous system.
It can also increase your risk for health conditions such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism, allergies and cardiovascular disease. On top of it all, this kind of sustained stress increases cellular aging. Yep – that means it causes wrinkles!
Coping with Stress
While activities like watching TV, eating, or shopping may feel like a relief in the short-run, we need healthier coping mechanisms to manage stress in the long run. Let’s be honest – becoming more sedentary and gaining weight only serves to add to our stress.
15 Ways to Relieve Stress for Women
Like I share with my clients – it is important to develop ways to pace ourselves and take structured time-outs. It may seem difficult, but when you give yourself permission to step away, you can use that time to gain a new perspective and reduce that overwhelmed feeling, even if only for a few minutes.
Your goal should be to develop healthy coping mechanisms for stress that really speak to you individually so that it doesn’t feel like a burden – adding yet another “thing” to do in your already stretched schedule.
Here are 15 ways to reduce stress for women that you might want to think about. Pick a few that feel doable and attractive to you and incorporate them into your life. Over the course of time, try to add more of these stress busters into your routine. While they are not intended to “magic wand” away all that you are feeling, these activities and approaches can have a major impact!
FYI – if you are a guy, many of these tips can be used but be sure to check out our special page on stress busters for men!
1. Recognize your power to choose
At its core, we are talking about something called cognitive restructuring here. By understanding and accepting you have a lot of power over you choices – you become empowered – which can lead to less stress and greater happiness!
2. Change your emotional response
Keep you cool. Managing stress doesn’t mean eliminating stressors from your life. It means developing positive strategies for dealing with stress to avoid negative consequences. Even though you can’t control some of the stressors in your life, you can control your response to them.
Bonus Tips: Feeling stressed is normal. And so are setbacks in dealing with stress. If you lapse into your old ways, don’t beat yourself up and shame yourself, focus on what you can do to gain control of the situation.
3. Say good things about yourself/Optimism
Instead of reinforcing negative self-talk and judgment, why not try affirming and recognizing your accomplishments and strengths. Not only does this reduce stress, but it also helps build self-esteem which is built by accomplishing things and recognizing those accomplishments.
4. Make the goals you set for yourself realistic
This speaks to the bullet point above. If we create goals that are realistic, they are much easier to achieve. Don’t set yourself up for failure by picking something so out of reach that you become discouraged and depressed. Why not take a few moments now to engage in some quick breathing exercises to help clear your mind and then move about the business of identifying some starter goals?
5. Encourage the relaxation response
Try activities that use repetitive motion or sounds while also pushing aside everyday thoughts that might pop up. This helps quiet your mind. Good stress-relieving repetitive activities include: journaling, reading, listening to music, knitting, running, prayer, playing a musical instrument, and meditation (attention on one thing, such as your breathing or an image you visualize or a real you look at).
Bonus Tip: Meditation, yoga, and mindful prayer help you to relax and focus. Mindfulness can help people see new perspectives, develop self-compassion and forgiveness, and release emotions that may have been causing the body physical stress.
6. Eat Healthy
Eat more veggies, fruits, whole grains, good protein sources, and high quality fats. Drink enough water and avoid sugar, caffeine and fatty foods as much as possible. Food is fuel and good fuel promotes emotional resilience and calm. The stress hormone cortisol is released when your blood sugar is low, so keep your body fueled well to lessen this stress and depression. And avoid eating when you’re not hungry.
7. Sleep Healthy
Stress might also cause sleep loss, difficulty falling or staying asleep. Support healthy sleep with “sleep hygiene” – the act cleaning up your bedtime routine. Here we are talking about winding down at night, making a to do list for the next day and leaving it in another room.
Bonus Tips: Other healthy “before sleep” activities/actions include: avoiding caffeine or food before bed, keeping electronics out of the bedroom, creating a peaceful environment (bedroom) for sleep, and leaving enough time for the brain to calm itself from activity prior to settling in for a good night’s rest.
8. Exercise
Research shows the benefits of exercise on your mind as well as your body. Even a 20-minute walk, run, swim or dance session in the midst of a stressful time can give an immediate effect that can last for several hours. Physical activity and exercise can also be wonderful and natural ways to cope with anxiety.
9. Find a passion
Stress can narrow your vision, so it helps to move get outside your head and the details of your current situation. Start small – a one-night class in an artistic interest or two hours of volunteer effort. Studies suggest that many women find stress relief through a new passion, hobby or cause. What’s yours?
10. Embrace spirituality
Exploring your spirituality can lead to a clearer life purpose and better stress management skills. Remember, being religious and being spiritual mean different things to different people. The wider point here is to think about components of psycho-spirituality.
11. Protect your time
Some people find it hard to say no to any requests made on their time. But saying yes to everything comes at the price of more stress and less peace of mind. Learn how to take time for yourself without feeling guilty. Be sure to check out our worksheet on the power of no!
12. Restore work-life balance
In today’s frantic world, this is no simple task. Too much focus on work when your personal life feels out of balance can be a major indication that you are piling up on stress. One great way to restore balance is to take a few moments each day to engage in some form of meditation. You can do this almost anywhere. If you have time, be sure to check out our Zen meditation room. One of my favorites is ocean waves!
13. Maintain a strong social network
A strong trusted social support network made up of friends, family and peers is something you can develop when you’re not under stress, providing the comfort of knowing that your friends are there if you need them. A coffee break with a friend at work, a quick chat with a neighbor, a phone call or email to a loved one, even a visit to church are all ways to reduce stress while fostering lasting relationships with the people close to you.
Bonus Tips: When you share your concerns or feelings with another trusted person, it does help relieve stress, feel understood and validated. Try to engage your circle of support face to face. While social media can be great for quick check-ins, it can also add more stress.
14. Smile and laugh
Our brains are interconnected with our emotions and facial expressions. We often hold a lot of the stress in our faces. So laughs or smiles can help relieve some of that tension. There’s plenty of research out there to suggest that smile therapy has its benefits!
15. Therapy/Coaching
If things are just seem too challenging to manage on your own, seek out the advice and/or guidance of a professional who understands the unique issues that face many women. You may be holding a great deal of emotional stress that is exacerbating some of symptoms. Working through these issues with talk therapy can create more room for staying happy while dealing with what life throws at you!
Summing Things Up
One of the great things I admire about the many women I assist is their great sense of resilience. Many of these women are hugely successful and have learned through trial and error how to handle life pressures in ways that work – and work well!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this post and I hope you found the material useful. Please be sure to Like 2nd Story on Facebook, Circle us on Google Plus and Share on Twitter!
