Five Ways to Take Time and De Stress Effectively

Life happens and though we dream of pretty things, a booming business, sleeping in and living a happy beautiful life, it is exactly the opposite which is why you need time to de-stress effectively.

When you find yourself caught in between life and work, with no time to breathe and you feel like the world is closing down on you, do you grab a cup of coffee? Go shop and blow a couple of three digits on your credit card, or call on your girl friends for that much needed rant over lunch? We’ve all been there and while those de stressing strategies work, I am talking about the MAJOR things that happen causing you to drown in life and its changes. As I write this at this moment, I will admit, I’m am inching my way out of one of those whirl pools in life. I recently found myself overwhelmed, drowning in self- pity over a series of events that happened in a span of one month. My grand mother, whom I consider my person passed away, my husband and I had family issues to deal with and as a result my health took a turn for the worse due to stress. To make things worse, I injured my back and couldn’t do my favorite exercises. Now that I am slowly finding myself once again, I wanted to write about the things I’ve read and tried that have helped me.

1. Be true to yourself.

I am the type of person to bottle things up and I am constantly the one giving in and adjusting to someone else in order to please them. I avoided confrontation and kept things to myself to my detriment. One weekend, I saw the light. I no longer want to be that person! I saw the need to teach myself to speak about my feelings and truly love myself. Today I do not see anything wrong with loving myself to the point of refusing to do what others want me to do if I don’t want to do it. Did that confuse you? Let me say it in simple terms.. Be true to yourself, listen to what your body needs, what your soul wants and give yourself a favor by just doing it!

2. Give your body all the love it needs.

When things don’t go our way, our bodies work extra to combat the stress and adapt to the situation. Dr. Mark Hyman, a functional medicine doctor explains,
“Your adrenals are important because they help you respond to stress. If you have chronic stress, your adrenals get beat up, , and your energy plummets and it becomes difficult to manage your life. You could feel tired and wired, all at the same time. You might get palpitations or feel anxious or have trouble sleeping. You might crave salt. You may get dizzy when you stand up. You might have low blood pressure. You might even have sugar cravings, because your body can’t regulate your blood sugar properly. All these are clues that you could have adrenal problems”.

This is when you need to pay the most attention to it by nourishing it with a good diet comprised of whole, anti-inflammatory food. I even go a step further by supporting my immune system with turmeric and adrenal cocktails. Engage in gentle exercise or do your favorite sport if you are fit enough to do so. Use essential oils to help your cortisol levels. My favorites are lavender, frankincense and other stress blends. Indulge in a bath with Epsom salts and scented oil or a massage with aromatherapy and magnesium oil to soothe your body.

3. Listen to audio books or videos to motivate you and restore your spiritual well-being.

Sometimes self-talk is not enough and we need to hear other people and their stories to motivate us. When I constantly try to push bad thoughts away, or when I feel total despair, I turn to my ipad and listen to Bible lessons or motivational speakers. Oftentimes, I just need to hear the word of God to remind me of the true things that matter in life. I need to remember to be thankful and work with what I have at the moment instead of focusing on the negative.

4. Drop everything and do something you truly love.

Sometimes the easiest way to get out of a rut is to drop what you are doing and do what will make you happy. If you find yourself lost and unable to get out the status quo, then you need to get yourself out of that situation. Go for a run, go to the mall and engage in wise shopping therapy, hit the spa or go spend sometime with positive people.

5. Acknowledge your feelings and talk about it.

Suppressing negative emotions has been linked to numerous health illnesses. The common advice that go along the lines of “Shake it off and move on” is not beneficial to oneself when it comes to serious matters.

According to Iris Mauss, associate professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and author of a study¹⁰ on the health effects of repressing versus accepting dark emotions:¹¹

“We found that people who habitually accept their negative emotions experience fewer negative emotions, which adds up to better psychological health. Maybe if you have an accepting attitude toward negative emotions, you’re not giving them as much attention. And perhaps, if you’re constantly judging your emotions, the negativity can pile up.”
Acknowledge your feelings but instead of staying there and dwelling on the negativity say to yourself “I am feeling _________, I need to let these feelings out and process them with ____________________ (your best friend, life coach or psychologist) then I can move on and let it go.”