.: Seven Things You Can Do To Reduce Your Stress
By:Chris Le Roy
Category:Home / Personal Development / Stress Management
Our world is awash with a wave tension that seems to infect every single one of us. Have you driven down the street lately, only to find someone abusing you because you are not doing 30 kilometers over the speed limit? Have you been cursed by a beggar because you have not given them a cigarette? Have you been robbed lately, simply because the person robbing you wanted your LCD projector? Have you parked your car in the local supermarket car park only to find that someone has pushed a trolley down the side of your car? Did the boss come in this morning and yell at you because he did not get enough sleep last night? Has a customer rung you and called you all the names under the sun simply because you did not respond to an email within 5 minutes of sending it?
Answer Yes to any of those?
Well my answer is yes to every single one of those questions and that was my day yesterday. Whether you like it or not the world is not a fair place and it many cases it is not a nice one either and it seems to be getting worse.
Why? Simply put, our lives are getting faster and we are not learning how to cope with it. Nobody teaches us how to deal with the stresses and strains of our daily life. We simply plunder through the issues on a day to day basis.
I have read probably hundreds of thousands of books on all manner of topics but the few that stand out and I consistently go back to are the teachings of the Dalai Lama. I will be honest, I am not a Buddhist, I am a Christian but many of his simple teachings are things even us Christians should learn. In one of his books and I have seen many journalists over the years ask the same question, he is asked "How do we solve the great atrocities and wars we have in our society today?" His answer to me is quite staggerring, he simply replies "I do not know."
One of the things he goes onto say, is that there is no simple answer to this question. Most of the major wars simply occur because of one consequence that lead to another and then to another until it compounds into a situation where no one is in control and there are no answers to the problems in front of us and no one really knows why it started in the first place. How can it happen?
Let us take an example …
Let us imagine you are driving down the road and somebody cuts in front of you and causes you to break suddenly. What is your reaction? Well there could be many… one response could be that you simply under your breath say, "What a fool" and continue driving.
Let us expand on the days events a little more …
Let us say you just lost your job and you were stressed about loosing your house, what would your response be now? You might speed up and get in front of them and then do the same to them as they did to you (An eye for an eye), you might then have a major accident because they ran into the back of your car. One of the people in the car might be killed. What happens if a family member of the deceased then decides retribution is in order for the death of the family member and kills one of your own. What will you do?
A little meladramatic I will admit but this is how wars begin. One thing leads to another and another until things get out of control but it can all be stopped by simply controlling how you feel. By removing the stress in your life or at the very least controlling it, you will be in a situation where you can control your reaction to a situation that maybe devastating.
So I want to outline seven things you can do to help reduce the stress in your life …
1. Exercise for 30 minutes Every Day
Exercising 30 minutes a day is one of the best things you can do to help relax. It helps you to keep fit and a fit person is obviously a happy one. It also helps to pump the blood around your body and whilst you are doing exercises chemicals are being released from your brain to help the way you feel.
2. Listen to Relaxation Music
Listening to the right type of music is really important when you are trying to reduce stress and find your inner peace. Some music when listened to, whilst stressed, can in fact heighten your stress levels. One type of music, which research has shown to help reduce stress is Baroque music. This music is written so that there is only 60 beats per minute and funny enough that is what our heart rate should be. The baroque music has been found to increase the alpha waves in your left and right sides of your brain which help improve your learning ability, creativity and calmness.
Many corporate trainers are now turning to baroque music during memory training sessions to help their students improve their comprehension and their memory.
3. Meditate for 20 minutes In The Morning and Evening
Meditation is a great way to help relieve your stress. When done correctly it should release you from your mind and allow it to focus on peace. Meditation when you first start our can be a little tricky and it honestly does take some time to learn. There are many great articles on how to meditate, but you can easily start off by simply sitting in the corner, closing your eyes and listening to music like the Baroque music.
Some meditation masters will also encourage you to listen to natural sounds during meditation and even recommend the use of incense during the meditation process to help break the stress in your body.
4. Limit Alcohol and Coffee Consumption
Alcohol and Coffee are both great sources of stress as they increase the heart rate and make us more susceptible to stressful situations. Limiting the amount of alcohol and coffee you drink each day will certainly be a good start to reducing your stress. However, note one thing, unless you are an alcoholic, removing alcohol from your life totally may not be the best advice and you really need to talk to your doctor. Research in the scientific community tends to lead towards the belief that one to two glasses of alcohol like a red or white wine is in fact a healthy choice but you should always check with your doctor. Plus, we can not destroy the Australian Wine Industry as I too like a good red.
Also watch out for Caffeine high soft drinks. Just like coffee, caffeine high drinks can make you more vulnerable to stress because it gives you that buzz in your body and accelerates your heart rate.
5. Dink a Minimum of Eight Glasses of Water A Day
Without water, we human beings are nothing and it is one of the most precious resources we have on our planet. To maintain your health, most medical practioners will recommend a minimum of eight glasses of water a day and I should note - PLAIN WATER. One research program I recently read said that drinking a cup of coffee did not count as a glass of water. In fact their recommendation was for every one cup of coffee, you should be drinking two glasses of water. You will be amazed that as you become more hydrated, the less stressed you become. A great show to watch is Survivor. This show is about people deserted on a remote location that have to survive for so many days to win a million dollars. You will notice in these shows that people who do not hydrate themselves correctly seem to become more stressed as they go. It is worth a watch next time it is on.
6. Schedule Breaks During Your Day
Work is one of the most stressful environments you can be in, except for the stay at home moms (My hat goes off to them). One of the biggest mistakes people make in their working career is to fail to schedule breaks into your day. There is absolutely no business on the planet that requires you to work 24 hours a day non-stop. If fact, if you do not schedule yourself at least one 1 hour break every day, research shows that you are more likely to end up having health issues over a prolonged period of time.
Remember, life is extremely ridiculously short. Do not waste it all on work, get out and enjoy your day regardless of where you are and make sure you schedule a number of breaks during the day, even if it is just to go outside for 5 minutes for a cup of coffee. That sort of break will at least help you to get some fresh air, clear your mind and get you ready for the coming on-slaught.
7. Limit Email Replies to just 60 minutes A Day
The email phenomenon that we know today, is born from our own desires to be in control. The email juggernaut today has gotten so out of control that some people simply spend all day trying to respond to emails which is utterly crazy. My recommendation to all my students is to develop an office policy which says that you are only required to respond to emails for 60 minutes a day. I know this seems amazing, but in the thousands on thousands of people I work with every year, nobody has a job yet where more than 60 minutes of emailing is required per day.
Oh and by the way, if you sit next to a person in an office, simply pop your head around the corner and ask them a question, DO NOT SEND AN EMAIL.
Stress is a real killer in our society and I have seen many friends of mine suffer major health complications because they allowed the stress of their lives to overwhelm them and in some cases it has shortened their lives. Whilst there are many things we can all do to reduce stress, if you implement these 7 items it will go along way to ensuring you live a long and happy life.
Just to finish off, let me quickly outline the seven things you can do to reduce stress -
1. Exercise for 30 minutes Every Day
2. Listen to Relaxation Music
3. Meditate for 20 minutes In The Morning and Evening
4. Limit Alcohol and Coffee Consumption
5. Dink a Minimum of Eight Glasses of Water A Day
6. Schedule Breaks During Your Day
7. Limit Email Replies to just 60 minutes A Day
Article keywords: stress management, stress, relaxation techniques, baroque music
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
The author Chris Le Roy has written a number of stress relief articles- Relaxation Techniques for Stress Management. Chris also has a CDROM of Baroque Music that was recorded by a Baroque Guitarist to help you with your meditation - Meditation Music.
.: New Stress Management Articles
1). 8 Tips To A Stress Free Life
Stress is a major problem in the Western world, rapidly becoming an epidemic. Everyone handles stress differently. Some people thrive on it and seem to shake off the negative effects of stress. Other people suffer ...
2). Top 7 Ways To Happiness
Research has proved that, "happiness is like a cholesterol level- genetically influenced but also influenced by the things we do." Study shows that financial status, external circumstances and life events account for no more than 15 percent of our happiness quotient, thus the true way to happiness lies within us.
3). How You Can Find Peace Of Mind
Peace of mind is an inner sanctuary, a little bit of calm in an ever busy and loud world, with escalating crime, fear and day-to-day stressors.
4). Simple, Effective Techniques To Managing Stress
Stress is one of the greatest causes of health problems today. This article outlines several ways to deal with stress in a healthy, effective manner.
5). Why Is There Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Light at the end of the tunnel, a famous saying denotes that auspicious happenings are waiting for you. Life is usually a struggle, in which people are trying to overcome the bad happenings. Obviously, good things will succeed bad things. But, a strong remembrance is enough for that since impact of bad things will be certainly devastating.
6). You Will Get Sick If You Get Involved With Problems Of Others
Let me give you a very effective recipe for getting sick as soon as possible: just go and try to fix problems of others. The rule is: keep out of problems that do not belong to you!
7). Stress And What It Means To You
Stress is something that is in every ones day to day life but people handle it in different ways. Do you suffer from stress overload and do you know how to handle it?
.: Top Stress Management Articles
1). Commitment Phobia
Commitment phobia is the fear and avoidance of having to commit to anything, relationships in particular.
Usually the sufferer will be overly critical of the other partner in the relationship. They will set out to annoy or hurt the other person, thus sabotaging the relationship even if its thought to be going well.
Sometimes the commitment phobic will reject others from the word go, thus not allowing a potential relationship to develop and keeping themselves at a safe distance.
2). The Causes Of Stress
This article looks into the causes of stress and gives free tips to help you control and reduce your worries.
I have, as I am sure many people do, stressed for most of my life for many different reasons.
Even though I still worry about many things, I have now learned how to handle many of these situations and will write about how I go about doing this, in this article.
3). Stop Stress Now: Ten Proven Techniques
There's no such thing as a stress-free life. We face challenges every day, and our bodies are designed to react automatically, equipping us to achieve more than we thought possible. But we were also designed to deal with stressful events quickly and then recuperate during a period of rest before facing the next threat. Many of the things that cause us stress today are not easily handled by fighting or fleeing.
4). Managing Stress - How to Effectively Deal with Pressure
How to prevent stress from overtaking our lives.
5). Combat Stress - 7 Practical Methods
A stress-free lifestyle could very well do wonders in eliminating depression.
Here are 7 practical methods to combat stress:
1. Express Amusement And Be Happy.
Laugh hard and loud. If you don’t have a sense of humor, find someone else who has. Laughter releases endorphins (happy chemicals) from the body, and it helps boost your immune system.
2.
6). Coping With Stress in The Workplace
Stress at most jobs is unavoidable. It could be caused by a boss who is very demanding, or a coworker who doesn’t pull his or her weight. Or maybe you have a typically stressful position, such as medicine or law. While some stress on the job can drive you to succeed and be healthy, too much can be very bad. It can cause many health problems and be detrimental.
7). Anger and Guilt: The Perfect Marriage
Anger and Guilt: The Perfect Marriage