For 30 days, GPS for the Soul and meQuilibrium are providing you tips on how to live a healthier, happier and stress-free life. See the previous stress tips here.
It can be easy to get distracted by rotating schedules, weekly to-do lists and hectic times. However, if we don't prioritize a little chill time, soon we'll be so frazzled we won't be able to accomplish the tasks we needed to do in the first place. Make sure to add stress relief to your list. Check out this week's five tips below, which are simple and easy to fit into your daily routine.
Stress Tips: Week 3
(01 of05)
The compulsion to control every element of your life may contribute to some of your successes, but chances are it contributes to a whole lot more stress, too. No matter how organized or prepared you are, life is an improvisation and you never know quite what will happen. Trying to control it all can do two things: set you up for greater disappointment, and keep you from letting other people help. A preoccupation with control can also take you out of the moment -- a moment you don't get back.Today, challenge the idea that you have to and must control every aspect of your life or your day. Let some things slide; let someone help. When you let go of how things "should" be, you soften the edges of stress and open yourself up to possibility.Read more on how to curb your inner control freak. (credit:HuffPost/Getty Images)
(02 of05)
What you focus on, flourishes -- and while your brain is naturally attuned to the negative (a key survival instinct), it pays to retrain your attention on the stuff that's going well. By doing so, you'll cultivate a sense of gratitude. The effects of a gratitude practice have been shown to have a powerful impact on health and well-being. One study showed that a daily gratitude intervention with young adults resulted in higher reported levels of the positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy.Gratitude is like a muscle: In order to make it stronger, you have to flex it regularly. Start by writing down three things that are working well in your life and why each one makes you feel grateful. Then do it again tomorrow, only pick three new ones. They can be anything at all -- something exciting that happened, or unexpected, or hilariously funny. Need another reason to write it down? Another study showed that participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals.Read more about how to flex your gratitude muscle. (credit:HuffPost/Getty Images)
(03 of05)
Knee-jerk reactions do not calm anyone down. One of the hallmarks of resilience is your ability to regulate your emotions, to keep your feelings from derailing your mood, your mindset or your entire day. The idea isn't to bury your emotions, but to postpone the reaction so that you can get to the root of what's causing it.And that's because the problem isn't in the emotion itself, but the thought that caused it. Thoughts like "She doesn't respect me" or "I never get my fair share" can spur a reaction that has nothing to do with the situation at hand. Try this: The minute you feel yourself starting to spin out of control emotionally, hit pause. Ask yourself, "What thought is causing this feeling -- and is it true?" Chances are, it isn't. Promise yourself that you will take measures later to figure out what's really happening before you jump to conclusions -- and wreck your day in the process.Read more about managing your anger.
(04 of05)
Mounting research suggests that prolonged sitting does you no good on any front -- physical or psychological. And if standing up is a good idea, getting outside is an even better one. While stress erodes your energy, moving around -- particularly in the fresh air and ideally near some trees -- can restore it. It can also build your resilience to stress in the process. The calming, energizing effect of nature can only work its magic if you get out in it once in a while.So rather than worry about whether or not you'll make it to the gym tonight, make it a point instead to get outside at least twice during your workday. You'll be surprised at what a dose of the great outdoors can do even in small increments.Read more about how to make walking work for you. (credit:HuffPost/Getty Images)
(05 of05)
The last thing you feel like doing when you're tired and stressed is vigorous exercise -- and yet, the very act of moving has a way of replenishing your energy in ways you can't imagine until you do it. As Adam Perlman, M.D., integrative medicine expert and co-author of 14 Days to Cooler, Calmer and Happier, explains, "Research has shown that regular exercise is the most important thing you can do to optimize your quality of life today and maintain it in the future."To get yourself in the mood to move, make reducing stress the focus of your fitness. This small shift in perception will help lead you toward exercises that you find energizing and away from ones that feel like a drag. (Read: Don't run if you detest it, and don't slog through a yoga class if you find it joyless.) Pick something that feels good to you. If you don't know what that is yet, explore! (credit:HuffPost/Getty Images)
--Posted by Lindsay Holmes