A large part of fitness and wellness is a full maintenance of one’s self. Often times, people worry only about maintaining their physical fitness, but forget to take care of their mental health. One of the most common sources of trauma to the body is the manifestation of stress. There are a few easy ways to manage and reduce your stress, to maintain a healthy life both physically and mentally.
Reduction of Stress
Self Massage. It would be wonderful if we could all just get run to get a massage when we were feeling stressed; but that’s just not possible. What is possible is learning to self massage. Take some time to learn the technique of “self-myofascial” massage, where you put pressure on the tissue that covers your muscles. It helps to release tension knots that are related to stress.
Become aware of your breathing. Taking control of your breathing is one of the quickest ways to begin reducing your stress levels. When you notice that you are feeling stressed, take a moment to stop thinking about the cause of your stress. Instead, focus on your breath itself. Follow your inhales and your exhales and only focus on the breath for a few minutes. Then, begin counting up while you inhale (a count of 3 works best) and counting down while you exhale. Do this for at least five minutes if you have the time.
Management of Stress
Learn to Prioritize. Sometimes your current life situation may feel out of your control. One way to combat that, to make things more manageable is to create a list of tasks that you can be in charge of. Determine which items in the list need to be prioritized first, and create a schedule. That way, you can turn that stress energy into high quality, fast paced productive energy.
Talk it out. Find someone that you can share your feelings of stress with, and discuss. Being able to hear your own issues vocalized really helps with the connection to one’s self. The act of finding the words and knowing that they are being heard by someone other than yourself makes for a more positive environment to work out of.
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