In this day and age of uncertainty, our stress levels are through the roof and many people are dealing with constant unrelenting stress, although they may ignore it. When we are constantly operating on alert and keyed up, we are taking a chance on our health and peace of mind. Studies have shown that high levels of stress can result in high blood pressure, elevated heart rate and exhaustion.
The key to all of this stress is to learn how to manage it as we are unable to control everything in our lives and some things produce stress mostly because it is something that needs are immediate attention. What managing stress is about is to start taking control of your thoughts, making changes in your environment and controlling some of your actions.
Some of us take on more responsibility than we should, such as doing favors for neighbors like babysitting or at work by taking on an extra task in order to impress the boss. Although doing these things every once in a while shouldn’t be harmful, but doing these things all the time because you are so focused on getting ahead or having your neighbors think well of you can be interfering with your mental health and your physical health. Learn to say no by knowing your limits. If you feel something will be too much for you, don’t do it.
Avoid those friends that stress you out by constantly looking for an argument, constant talking or gossiping or are just generally negative, think about seeking out other friendships and dropping this one unless you can let the person know that you don’t appreciate him being a bore (in a nice way of course) and change the relationship around.
Try to relax a little when you get home from work and before you make dinner, pick up kids or other chores. Take 15 or 20 minutes to be by yourself if for no other reason than to gather your thoughts. If you get upset by traffic every morning, consider taking other routes even if they are longer, they may produce less traffic, especially if the other route is a more pleasant drive with nice scenery.
Most of the time, we are unable to avoid stressful events all the time, but if you can learn to accept that which is unchangeable or unavoidable, we will be much better off. We all need to be able to accept change, without an attitude. You can’t control the way others behave so don’t even try, even if they do annoy the heck out of you. You can choose how to react to the problem. You may tell the person what it is you don’t like about him or her or you can choose to stay away from that person as well. It is also well to stay away from those who drain you emotionally by their extremely negative behavior.
Lastly, learn to turn inward. Take a hot bath with candle light instead of the electric light, close your eyes and feel the hot water take away your muscle aches. Then climb into bed with some soft classical music or whatever music that you like, although I would refrain from heavy metal or the like as the purpose is to relax, not get you energized. Let your mind go of the day and focus in on the music. You will soon be asleep and will wake up relaxed and ready to go the next morning.
Conrad Raw is an expert in practical techniques for personal and spiritual development. He is the author of "Forbidden Secrets of Personal and Energetic Development." He travels the world to learn and teach and is the founder of http://www.greaterhumanpotential.com a website devoted to bringing you easy to learn techniques to increase your human evolution. Visit his website for a free newsletter filled with tons of great tips and advice.
