You already know it’s hard to be happy when you’re stressed. I’m sure you’ve experienced it yourself. Think back on high stress situations like missing a flight to an important meeting or to go on vacation, or when you were planning your vacation and things got overwhelming and started to fall apart. Hopefully you were able to recover and enjoy your time away and that the meeting turned out just fine. Chances are that you weren’t too happy while you were stressed out. Stress sucks the happiness and joy right out of us.
It only makes sense then that one way to increase our happiness and our quality of life is to distress. Not only is it good for our soul, it’s also good for our overall health and wellbeing to reduce the stress in our lives. Here are some simple no-stress things you can do to distress.
Get Enough Sleep
An easy way to reduce stress is to make sure you get a good seven to eight hours of sleep at night. When we don’t sleep well or don’t sleep enough, it causes our bodies to be in a constant state of stress, trying to make up for the lack of sleep. Sleep helps us relax and gives our mind time to process everything that’s been happening. Stop burning the midnight oil and get some sleep. You’ll get more done when you’re fresh and rested and you’ll be less stressed out.
Move Around and Get Some Exercise
Without a doubt, the best stress reliever is exercise. Start moving around and burn that stress right out of your system. If you can get outside to workout, even better. The fresh air and sunshine will do wonders–really! No gym fee, either. Go for a run, or even just a short walk whenever you’re feeling stressed. For best results, work out regularly.
Take Some “Me” Time
There are times in our lives when we have to focus a lot of attention on others. Maybe you are raising a toddler, or maybe you’re working hard to get a new company off the ground. At busy times like these that take a lot of our attention and time, it’s easy to forget about ourselves, or put our own personal needs last. Try to spend at least a little bit of “me” time every day. It doesn’t have to be much. Even ten minutes spent relaxing and doing something completely for yourself can be a great way to decompress and distress.
Practice Meditation
Okay, one last technique that can keep stress at bay. Try meditating. Again, you don’t have to spend a lot of time on this. Sitting quietly while going through a short guided meditation once a day can do wonders. Once you get in the habit of practicing meditation daily, and get better at it, you can draw on the techniques you’ve learned whenever you encounter a particularly stressful situation. You can spend a minute or two in meditation, even at the most stressful time and allow your mind to relax. Trust me, this will come in very handy when life throws you a curve ball, or when you’re feeling completely overwhelmed.
About Karen