Simple, Proven ways to take strain and stress out of your life…..
Firstly, be kinder to yourself……
When we are under stress its important to recognize and deal with it. Here are some suggestions for you to deal with stress. As you begin to understand more about how stress affects you as an individual, you will come up with your own ideas on how to use these easy techniques best for yourselves ..
Get Active. When you are under pressure perhaps angry, agitated, nervous or upset, let some of the pressure out by getting some simple exercise or physical activity. Walk more, run (if poss.) play a team sport, get on the Wii, walk around the shops or get out in the garden, dance around your bedroom, these are just some of the activities you can do, I am sure you have many, many ideas of your own. Physical exercise will definitely release that pent up energy you can get when you’re stressed, so next time you feel under pressure – Move!. (Even if its just to the end of the garden to scream your head off!!)
Talk about it. ‘A trouble aired, is a trouble shared’. It helps to talk to someone about your worries and concerns. Another adage is ‘Two heads are better than one’ Maybe a friend, family member, teacher, healer or therapist, can help you see your problem in a different light and from a new perspective. You may feel that you would prefer to seek professional help of some kind, knowing when and who to ask for help may help you to avoid more serious problems later. Accept the situation and act on it.
Know your limits. There is a saying ‘Have the courage to change what you can and the accept what you cannot’. If a problem is beyond your control and cant be changed, at the moment,then accept it as it is, don’t fight the situation as you just give power and focus to the problem. Learn to accept it for what it is, for now, until you are able to change it. A helpful thing that you could say at the end of your thoughts or sentences is ‘for now’. By saying that you make your situation temporary and then easier to manage. For example.. ‘I dont have enough money, For Now’ .. is much less powerful and finite, than ‘I have no money’. Also saying ‘yet’ at the end is helpful, like ‘I have no money’ is much more restrictive and stuck, than ‘I have no money, yet’ which has movement and suggests that there will be enough money in the future.
You are a winner. The sheer fact that you were born means that you are a winner already, just by existing means that you made it through a path of extreme adversity and showed complete focus and determination, to get born. You are special!
Make time for yourself. Look after yourself and treat yourself as kindly as you would others. Get enough rest, if you cannot get 7 hours at night then take cat naps, power sleeps during the day. Lack of sleep is stressful to the mind and body and can make you irritable and tense. If stress is repeatedly keeping you from sleeping, take up meditation, practise yoga, listen to a relaxation mp3, book a session with a hypnotherapist or other complementary Practitioner.There are many ways to get help to relax and be stress free, please make sure you get the help you need.
Make time for fun. 
Pre book your diary, schedule in time for work and play. Play can be just as important to your well-being as work, you need a break from your daily routine, just to relax and have fun. Perhaps its just by having a bath away from all the daily madness for half an hour on a thursday eve, if it is then schedule it in. Plan your ‘me time’. By planning your time, you create things to look forward to and add value to your self worth and wellbeing.
Take action. A really good way to avoid getting bored, sad, perhaps feeling isolated and lonely is to go where the action is. Sitting alone can make you feel frustrated, stuck and disempowered. A better way possibly than feeling sorry for yourself is to get involved. Go to the library, local community centre, local online community sites/forums and offer your services to your local neighborhood or volunteer organisations, it can be as simple as pouring the teas at the local tea dance, to more skilled services that you can offer. Its proven that people that help others have a higher sense of well being than those who dont, so go out and help yourself by helping other people. By getting out and about and involved in the world around you, by interacting with people around you and helping others you’ll find that people will be more attracted to you and you’re on your way to making new friends and enjoying new activities. So take action now and go and see who you can join.
Get a Ticklist. Things can appear overwhelming when you are trying to take care of everything all at once,and as a result, you may not accomplish anything at all by perhaps procrastinating or creating some kind of diversary action. Instead, make a list of what tasks you have to do and do them one at a time, checking them off as they’re completed. Give priority to the most important ones and do those first. Maybe you would like to have a traffic light system so Green (must do’s) Amber (good to achieve) Red (bonus if achieved today) or maybe you will have the ABC method, where you have 3 xA’s, 3 x B’s, 3 x C’s- A’s are a MUST DO, B’s Great if achieved today and C’s -Bonus! The rule is that you focus only on the 3 must do’s and when they are achieved and ticked off, you then move down the list. It’s has been proven that by writing down your goals/tasks and then ticking them off when they’re achieved, (recognising your achievements regularly), actually improves your success rate.
Do you want to be right or happier all the time? Does it irritate you when others don’t do things your way? Are you angered by others behaviours and actions regularly? its a proven fact by all the worlds great leaders that collaboration or cooperation is better than confrontation or competition. Creating a win-win situation is ALWAYS a better solution to any challenge or situation. If being right is more important than being happy to you then I strongly suggest that you think about your values and what it is you actually want in life? Do you want to be right, even though that may mean you are left feeling resentful and have a strained relationship or would it be more beneficial to you to perhaps have an openness and see whatever the situation is from the others point of view to gain another perspective. Ask yourself what outcome do I want and then what outcome do they want? and then achieve it.
Wash away that stress. Natures stress reliever is a good ol’ cry and its an excellent and somewhat under used way to relieve anxiety and stress. Another great side effect to crying may be headache prevention and the avoidance of other dis-eases.
Build your chill zone. It’s not always possible for you to take off to a sunny beach or a health spa, but do you know a secret?…If you imagine that you are on a sunny beach or at a health spa, really imagine it in your mind-your body reacts in the same way, cool, eh! So take some time when you need to take a deep breathe and just imagine your chill zone, picture it, imagine the smells and the noises there, imagine feeling the sun on your face an the hearing the gentle lapping of the waves as they rest upon the shore and as you walk along the beach, you can feel the sand moving under your feet and with every step you feel calmer and more relaxed. Alternatively, You could always change your external scene by reading a good book, watching a comedy or listening to chill out music in a tranquil setting. There are always things that you can do, you just have to do them….
Step away from the medicine cabinet. Taking the odd headache pill is quite usual for alot of people, however, using medication to dull your senses or eradicate what you feel, does not alter the way that you create those feelings for yourself in the first place and at some point you’ll feel that way again. In fact, regular use of drugs, alcohol and smoking can be habit forming and in themselves cause stress than they get rid of. Medication should be taken only on the advice of your doctor and you have internal resources available to you every moment of every day that you can use that are just as effective and much healthier long term!
Find someone like an NLP Practitioner or a Hypnotherapist to show you how.
So be good to yourself, lighten up and learn to chill-it’ll change your life forever the moment you do
To your Success!
Loran
