EDEN’S TOP TEN STRESS ANTIDOTES
Summer is coming to a close and it’s back to school and work. This means rushing around from pillar to post. But don’t get stressed about it, turn your attention to the simpler things in life and find calm when it’s needed. Try our ten top tips, aka stress antidotes.
1) Spending time with friends. Scientists at Harvard University found that happiness is catching – if you are friends with a positive person then 25 per cent of their cheerfulness rubs off on you.
2) Catch up on sleep. Not only will getting enough sleep give you more energy, it could also boost your immune system and help you to lose weight.
3) Don’t make life more complicated than it needs to be by fretting. Leave worries behind by concentrating on life’s simple pleasures, such as a walk in the park. Spending time in natural surroundings, whether it’s at city parks, in forests or at the beach, has been shown to have specific health and wellbeing benefits, from helping to reduce stress, anxiety and depression to boosting focus and creativity. It can also help you to age more healthily and happily.
4) In the UK the weather isn’t always conducive to the outdoor lifestyle, so start a new hobby that you can use to help pass the time indoors. Brainteasers and puzzles such as Sudoko or the crossword, knitting or cross stitch, painting and jigsaws are all great ways to pass the time calmly.
5) Exercise is vital for stress free living, although there’s no need for gym membership; buy a pedometer and set daily step goals. Start at 5,000 and work up gradually to 10,000 steps per day, which can burn around 400 calories. Find workouts online that you can do at home.
6) Balancing blood sugar is essential in lowering stress as the crashes in sugar levels (due to long periods without food and not eating the right foods) stimulate the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol to be released. Ensure you have a small meal every 2-3 hours that contains protein. This will stop those roller-coaster highs and cravings for sweet foods. Because your blood sugar isn’t allowed to drop, your body will no longer have to ask you for a quick fix.
7) When it comes to wellbeing, mindfulness and mediation are all the rage. Apps such as HeadSpace can show you how. Otherwise, simple breathing exercises will help: Fill up your lungs with air, counting from one to five, then let the breath escape slowly, counting from one to five – keep doing this until you feel calm. Practise this relaxed breathing for three to five minutes whenever you feel stressed.
8) Cluttered social media accounts can eat time and energy. Use the mute function on social networks to hide the posts of users without unfollowing them. To do so, tap ‘more’ then ‘mute @username’ on Instagram and Twitter, and use the drop-down arrow on Facebook posts. Check your followers and delete any fake accounts that might send you spam.
9) If emails are your enemy, try Boomerang for Gmail, Outlook or Android. This plug-in lets you hide messages until you’re ready to deal with them, schedule emails for sending later and send reminders to tardy recipients.
10) Rather than your usual never-ending to-do list, focus on jotting down three key tasks a day to keep your goals achievable. Writing a ‘done list’ will also help: you stay motivated by seeing what you’ve accomplished, even if a job gets shunted onto the next day’s tasks.
