Maintain Your Positivity Through These Stress Management Tips

Sometimes you have deadlines due, people to call back, errands to run. All at the same time. Life can be a complete stress ball sometimes – that’s the reality. But how you react to that reality is something that you have the power to control.

As I mentioned before, I haven’t been feeling great, and the list of tasks to accomplish is piling up. My brain and body are just a bit slower and I’m not able to accomplish as much as I normally would. And that is OK. Instead of focusing on that list, I am focusing on what is actually going to give me peace of mind. Mind clarity is vital, otherwise stress-induced illness could be in the future and you know we want to avoid that! If you are worried and stressed out, your body knows. Before you stress out about your to-do list, check out some of these tips below that will help manage some of your stress and get you re-centered:

Breathe. Sounds simple enough, right? When was the last time you really stopped to be conscious of your breath? Unless you practice yoga or meditation, it has likely been a while. Try this simple exercise of breathing – breathe deeply, from your belly, for 5 seconds, and exhale slowly for 5 seconds. Do this for one minute (everyone has a minute!) and see how you feel after. Calm?

Focus on the now. As I’m lying here in bed, I know I’m not going to get immediately better but I’m focused on the now and accepting where I am at. No I can’t go do the workouts that I wanted to and that’s ok. I’m focused on what’s most important to me right now – which is rest and catching up on some of my favorite shows 🙂 Find comfort in knowing that what you can do now is most important – not what you need to do tomorrow.

Smile. Try smiling and laughing – even if you are by yourself! It will feel strange at first but you’ll start laughing at yourself and that forced smile will become genuine. No one is ever in a bad mood or stressed when they’ve got that scowl turned upside down into a smile 🙂

Get moving. Just dance! Same with smiling, even if you are by yourself, move around in your room for a minute, blast some music, and go for it! Get your Beyonce on. It will feel awkward at first but it looks like Beyonce has a lot of fun dancing, so why not just try it!

Journal. Stress usually means there are a million and one things on your mind. Try writing it all out. Turn the mental to do list into a visual one where you can see it all on paper. Prioritize the list – what’s urgent, what’s not and go from there. The mere fact that it is on paper, means you won’t forget it and it will help you release the thoughts from your brain.

If you have any stress management tips, please share below! I’d love to compile a larger list – there are so many techniques and this is just barely scratching the surface!