4 Habits That Help Manage Stress And Anxiety
Being stressed is a natural occurrence in humans, and people from many walks of life probably have felt this trouble. You may feel stressed when you’re currently experiencing sudden changes or problems in life. But under a certain amount of pressure, a short-term feeling of this may impose positive impacts as it could help you perform better.
The feeling of stress is usually accompanied by the release of cortisol in the body. Cortisol is a known hormone to increase blood pressure and heart rate. However, stress experienced at an abnormally long period might pose some problems. It may affect your eating and sleeping habits, including blood sugar levels, metabolism, and immunization. Or worse, you may even develop an anxiety disorder.
Reasons You Feel Stressed And Anxious
The causes of stress are different among people as what might be causing you this tension might not be the same to another person and vice versa. And it’s safe to say almost every event can cause someone to be stressed. The same goes for anxiety since to some people, thinking about one trigger is daunting enough.
It’s enough to say identifying why you feel stressed isn’t an easy task. You could be feeling stressed over a situation, but your friend who’s going through the same thing may be handling it better. There are many possible reasons why you’re triggered to feel that way.
Additionally, other contributing factors might affect how easy or hard it is for you to deal with stress. Such factors could be existing mental health problems or frustrations building up throughout time. Thus, it’s best to seek help from professionals in case you don’t know what to do anymore. You can easily find one when you search ‘anxiety counseling near me’ online. It’ll give you results where you can find one nearest you when you need immediate help.
Experience may also indicate how you could be dealing with stress right now. Perhaps, you went through something, causing you to be avoidant. As a result, you grew a habit of running away from possible triggers. This is especially true for people who procrastinate.
At any rate, significant life situations are resulting in stress, including:
- Professional issues
- Retirement
- Financial problems
- Family disputes
- Illnesses
- Passing away of a family member
- Moving away from home
- Arguments in romantic relationships
- Post-traumatic events
However, there are other possible causes of stress not usually known. Some of these are:
- Pregnancy loss
- Slow traffic
- Fear of accident and crime
- Pregnancy
- Noisy or crowded environment
- Uncertainties about anything
These are the usual stressors you might encounter at any walk in life, and most of these things are pressurizing and aggravating. So it’s understandable anyone going through the said situations would feel stressed or anxious.
Lifestyle Changes To Help Deal With Stress And Anxiety
Just because stress is a natural phenomenon doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do to manage it better. There are small lifestyle actions you can take to help you handle it in a much healthier way. Doing so decreases your chances of feeling overwhelmed and reduces the risk of physical health problems.
Here are some of the habits you can do:
1. Practice Meditation
Meditating is a way to relax whenever you feel tense or anxious. You can regain calmness and peace amidst a difficult situation when you practice meditation regularly. Although meditation originated to deepen self-awareness and understanding, it’s also used for its relaxing and soothing benefits. That’s because meditation is a type of mental exercise and therapy at the same time.
When you meditate, your brain strengthens its neural connections, which are usually responsible for managing thoughts and feelings. Long-term practices of meditation may help decrease anxiety, improve attention and focus, and increase retention.
Meditation works by focusing on one thing very well: you start to notice every distracting thought and feeling. You might think it sounds counterintuitive, but it’s what makes meditation powerful. By meditating, you’re training your brain to focus on one thing at a time, your breathing patterns, so you can easily let go of any stressful or anxiety-inducing thoughts.
The great thing about meditation is easy to do since it won’t require you to have other equipment except for your body and your breath. Plus, you can practice meditation anywhere. It doesn’t matter if you’re at home, on a bus on the way to work, or waiting for your doctor’s appointment. All you have to do is focus on your breath and let go of any distracting thoughts.
Indeed, you don’t need special tools to meditate, and there’s no right or wrong way to do it. There are suggested ways to apply, but you still have the option to practice it however you want. You can attend meditation centers where an instructor will teach you or you can do it on your own. There are also numerous phone applications available to offer free guided meditation practices. All you have to do is download the app on your phone.
Another great thing is you can practice meditation in a way suiting your current lifestyle or routine. If you find you want to meditate early in the morning or late in the evening, you can decide for yourself. You’ll also get to dictate how long your meditation session could be. You could do it for five minutes or five hours. There are no rules.
Seeing how easy it is to meditate, it’s time to learn how to get started. There are a few ways you can go about it.
Here are some things you can do to practice meditation:
- Affirmations
Affirmations or mantras are powerful techniques in meditation. These are positive statements you try to inculcate in your mind. What it does is bring your mind to focus on something positive while challenging negative thoughts.
- Body Scan
A body scan is a technique you can do to notice any possible tension in your body. This is about becoming aware of every sensation you feel. Put your attention on every part of your body and start from the top of your head down to your toes. If you feel any tension on one part, try to relax while you exhale.
- Breathing Deeply
When your session is about to start, it’s good to take a few deep breaths to condition your body. After about three to five deep breaths, you can go back to your normal breathing pattern. Once you do, try to concentrate on your breath alone.
There are a few ways you can do this. You can try to focus on the rise and fall of your chest or if you want, you can listen to the sound of your breath. And when you notice your mind starts to wander, refrain from catering your thoughts. Just bring your attention back to your breathing.
Ultimately, meditation is about changing negative thought patterns and reintroducing a more rational one.
2. Have A Healthy Diet
It’s also important to understand whatever goes in your body can affect your mind. You might not feel the results right now, but eventually, a poor diet will take a toll on your mental health. Despite the brain’s weight, it takes most of the energy you get from the food you eat and consume roughly around 20% of your total body energy. So it’s safe to say an imbalanced diet can significantly affect your mind and brain health.
You can look at your brain like a luxury car. As you know, luxury cars function better if you use good quality fuel, and the opposite will happen if you use bad quality ones. The same principle applies to your brain. Food is the fuel your mind uses to handle all your daily tasks, including stress and anxiety, so unhealthy food is bad for your brain.
With good nutrition, you can strengthen your immunity, regulate your mood, and protect yourself from oxidative stress.
Hare some of the essential nutrients for stress reduction:
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids
This is the type of fat nutrient found in fish and some nuts. Omega-3 is an excellent nutrient in decreasing stress surges and mild depression. Apart from this, it’s also said to help reduce the risks of heart diseases. You can get omega-3 by eating fatty salmon, tuna, and some nuts, including flaxseeds, pistachios, walnuts, and almonds.
- Complex Carbohydrates
Perhaps, you’ve been made to believe all carbohydrates are bad for you. Some carbs might be worse than others, especially refined carbs, which come from added sugars, but fiber-rich carbs are beneficial for your body. These include food like whole wheat, grains, and some fruits and vegetables.
The reason complex carbs are suitable for handling stress is it releases a neurotransmitter called serotonin, a known hormone used for stabilizing anxiety.
- Vitamin C
Vitamin C is essential when it comes to reducing cortisol, a stress hormone. It also helps in rejuvenating your immune system beaten up because of high cortisol levels. Vitamin C is easy to find; you can get it from eating citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruits, pomelos, and the like.
3. Exercise Regularly
Apart from a healthy diet, your overall well-being will thank you if you also incorporate exercise in your daily routine. Exercise is a known producer of endorphins, which is a happy hormone. Endorphins are believed to help relieve pain and stress. It’s responsible for giving you a feeling of euphoria after you finish exercising.
On top of this, other positive chemicals are also produced in your brain while engaging in physical activity. Such chemicals include dopamine, epinephrine, and serotonin, all of which contribute to a happier and stress-free mind.
Experts believe a sedentary lifestyle often leads to higher chances of getting anxiety and depression. For this reason, it’s been recommended to engage in physical activities for at least 20 minutes per day. Doing so can improve your sleep quality, which is often affected by stress and anxiety. It also helps you to feel good about yourself.
Also, Read: From Coping Mechanisms to Preliminary Steps: How To Manage Stress And Anxiety Symptoms
Working out is also a fantastic way to get your mind off of things. Exercising typically involves repetitive movements, which allows your mind to focus on the physical activity instead of your thoughts. For a while, you get to break your chain of negative thinking. This means even for a few bits of time, you can regain calmness and clarity.
4. Do Stuff Bringing Joy
Even the little things can escalate to a grander positive effect when you continuously engage in tasks lifting your mood. Meaning to say, it creates an upward spiral taking you from a mere good mood to an improved resilience against stress.
Doing activities making you happy provides a better perception of the possibilities around you. When you have a better perspective, you’re more likely to feel and stay motivated. This, in turn, allows you to remain in a positive mood. It’s like a cycle: doing something small but joy-inducing gives you the right inspiration to keep going while overcoming stress.
However, some of the things you do might just be causing more problems in the long run.
The following are practices you might enjoy now but may increase your anxiety levels:
- Too Much Social Media
A common misconception is scrolling through your favorite social media platform to relax. However, the effect is the opposite for some people. Although social media has its benefits, too much consumption can negatively impact your mental health.
Because social media tend to isolate you, you’re more likely to get a feeling of anxiety from looking at your friend’s feed. Do yourself a favor and try opting for a more positive habit instead.
- Drinking Too Much Alcohol
Treating yourself to a glass of wine every once in a while isn’t bad, but the problem starts to arise when you start drinking too much. Alcohol may worsen your anxiety, and drinking more than the recommended amount can alter the brain chemicals responsible for managing stress. This, in turn, creates a lower resistance to stressful situations.
You might be thinking you’ll keep the same old practices you love, but it’s essential to know not all habits are good for you.
Conclusion
If you want to keep your anxiety at bay, you may want to try the techniques mentioned in this article. Simple lifestyle changes or habits can have a massive impact on your mental and physical health. But if you’re starting to experience prolonged symptoms of stress and anxiety with unforeseeable reasons, then you might want to visit a specialist. There’s absolutely no shame in seeking help.
Chronic stress and anxiety can exacerbate serious physical and mental issues such as personality disorders and high blood pressure. Brain enhancers such as natural and synthetic nootropics can help you a lot when it comes to gaining back your memory and concentration. Before taking any type of brain-boosting supplements, you’ll need to know a little more about each ingredient by reading about them on trusted suppliers’ platforms like Chemicalplanet, Nocube, and Mind Lab Pro. However, when it comes to chronic mental uneasiness it’s always best to consult with a medical professional first.
Consulting a professional doesn’t suggest you’re weak and feeble. Instead, it implies you’re courageous enough to take action against any issues you might have with your well-being.
So this was it for today, I hope you have enjoyed reading Habits That Help Manage Stress And Anxiety Helpful. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Have a Good Day!
