Reducing Chronic Stress for Optimal Health
To say it is a challenge to not feel stressed in today’s world is a bit of an understatement. From world politics taking the stage like a real-life game of RISK to national and community issues. From a world health pandemic to a continuously growing epidemic of chronic disease. With over scheduled lives, inflation and rising costs, and societal and social media pressures, it is not uncommon to find yourself feeling a little overwhelmed at times. However, while it is normal to experience occasional stress, chronic or excessive stress can take a toll on your health, not just mentally but physically as well.
Chronic stress has been correlated with poor cardiovascular health, cognitive health, mental well-being, inadequate immune function, exacerbated gastrointestinal issues, musculoskeletal problems and even weight management. Fortunately, there are several strategies for reducing stress and cultivating a sense of calm in our daily lives. In this post, we will look at five steps you can take to help you manage stress more effectively and therefore improve your overall health!
Engage in regular physical activity. Ideally, you should be active daily. Take a walk, go on a bike ride, swim, climb some stairs, work in a garden or yard or some other physical activity that you enjoy. Physical activity will not only help you to reduce your levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline but can also release endorphins, the “feel good” hormones.
Build and maintain good sleeping habits to achieve good quality sleep nightly. Aim for a consistent bedtime and rise time and strive to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Do not eat or drink for 2 hours before bedtime and avoid screens 1-2 hours before bedtime.
Implement a stress relieving technique into your daily routine such as meditation, prayer, breathing exercises, yoga, stretching, journaling, or spending 20 minutes or more of time each day in nature.
Surround yourself with supportive and positive relationships. Choose to spend your time with people who are not only supportive of you but people that you enjoy being around. Set boundaries and limit your time with those who leave you feeling bad about yourself or who drain your energy.
Focus daily on gratitude and positive thinking. Set aside some time each day to either journal about things you are thankful for, make a list, or just think about it. Just a short bit of time spent focusing on what you have to be grateful for will go a long way to reducing stress and improving your whole outlook.
Stress reduction is essential for promoting overall health and wellness in any environment. Unfortunately, along with diet and sleep and most of the things that are good for us, it often gets trivialized or overlooked completely, however, if you are wanting optimal health not just for your mind but for your body, it must be given adequate attention. By incorporating the 5 strategies listed above into your daily routine, you can reduce stress and enhance your health one step at a time. For more information on how to optimize your health daily, making one step at a time, follow me on Instagram and subscribe for free at the bottom of any of my website pages (thehealthandwellnessnp.com) to receive weekly blog posts and exciting upcoming information. Together, let’s transform your health!