5 Ways to Reduce Stress and Be Happy and Healthy - Elaine Watkins

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It has been a crazy month! But in the midst of the news, commentary, school closures, work closure, social distancing, and wondering if you have enough toilet paper, here are 5 ways to reduce stress and be happy and healthy!

But before you read this, take a big, deep, slow breath, and let it out. stress management

Okay. Do it again and maybe even a third time.

Okay.

What is Stress?

While there is positive stress, like the stress caused by exercising within safe parameters to stress, in order to strengthen a muscle.

But generally, the causes of stress that I’m focusing on today are:

beliefs about certain situations and if you feed those beliefs
illness and injuries
life’s challenges (loss of job, financial challenges, etc.)
difficult relationships
traumatic world area events or their threat

Overwhelming stress can impact your work performance, relationships, health, and your basic enjoyment of life.

But you can shift what’s going on in many of these areas, or how you choose to think about or respond to many of these, and end up changing your stress response.

Common Symptoms of Stress

A few of the common symptoms of stress can be:

increased sweating
sleep difficulties
increased muscle tension
heart rate increased
digestion difficulties
increased difficulties with logical thinking
emotional responses increased

Set Aside Daily Quiet Time to Reduce Stress

I realize this might seem impossible with all that’s going on, but find 15 minutes for you to be alone with you.

Others might be tempted to join you, but do whatever you’ve got to do to be alone for 15 minutes for some quiet time.

During your 15 minutes, focus on topics that inspire you, fill you with peace and appreciation, and grow your faith.

Possible times for your Quiet Time could be:

extending time in your room for 15 minutes before starting the day
shutting down the household and heading to your bedroom 15 minutes early
rotating through different options during the week that use a 15-minute break or 15 minutes of your lunch to get alone and quiet
utilize “thought time” during less involved work processes and responsibilities

Possible activities during your Quiet Time could include:

walk around outside and breathe in the fresh, air and appreciate all the beauty around you
sit in your favorite, cushy chair with a cup of coffee/tea to read scripture and pray
check your thoughts and kick out anything that’s nothing but fear, worry, etc.
enjoy singing/humming a beautifully uplifting song while progressing through a simple personal function of your day
journal your prayers, discoveries, blessings, and beautiful events of the day
recognize, reflect, and give thanks for your many blessings.

Allow yourself to quiet your thoughts a bit and capture a mental idea as to what you hope to see the day become. Notice the beautiful gifts all around you every day that you might not normally notice. Quiet and focus your thoughts on the blessings in your life, even in the midst of challenges, and who those blessings are from.

As a Christian, I usually include scripture reading and prayer in my quiet time. It can be so easy to get fixated on myself and my fears and troubles. But time spent praying and in God’s word reminds me to look up and then look forward.

Get Moving

Our society is becoming more and more sedentary, which is one of the big health-damaging choices being made nowadays if we want a healthy future as a society.

So if you’re like me and Want a healthy future, look for opportunities to incorporate and increase movement throughout each day.

Of course we are all in different places in our life, health, and physical abilities, so start where you are and move forward.

And the time to start is Now!

While dedicating to a specific time and action to increase movement is great, don’t limit yourself to that. Enjoy that 1-hour workout or those 30-minute exercise videos but also look for ways to increase movement in your everyday functions:

run to and from your mailbox
turn on some music and enjoy learning some dance moves with your family
add some lower leg and arm stretches and movement while you’re sitting at your desk
enjoy a few stretches while you’re waiting for the dog to….you know…
do lunges while you’re waiting for that water to boil
go on a walk around the block date with your spouse
stand rather than sit while completing a task
chase your dog (or husband) around the couch
add in some aerobic moves walking while you’re standing at the counter, waiting, or otherwise standing but not moving
enjoy some chalk drawing with your kids or grandkids

When you start thinking about exercising, do you immediately have reason after reason after reason pop up in your thoughts with reasons why you Can’t exercise? If:

no time – then start small – if not 30 minutes then what about 15 or even 5 minutes
embarassed – then choose exercise options like exercise videos in your room, laps in the backyard, stretches in your office
no weights – then what about lifting water bottles or bags of beans

These are just a few ideas, but there’s always a work around for every excuse.

We might all be in a wide range of activity levels and endurance as far as physical activity, but so what. Physical activity is a great way to build stamina and strength while also releasing hormones that lift your spirit, so have fun.

Learn or Do Something New

Our brain is always busy at work, and we’re always filling it with something.

So look for opportunities to learn something new.

If you are like some and anxiousness makes it difficult for you be still, choose to learn something involving movement or that you can do while moving like:

discover gardening and planting/maintaining a vegetable garden while learning about plants and gardening
learning a new language and listening to your lessons while you exercise or do chores
sign up for that online line dancing class and get your boots scooting with the videos
join together with your family at the meal table during meals and talk

But oftentimes you might be fine being still to learn and you’re just fighting to limit those stress-inducing, fear-growing thoughts. When that’s the case, choose to learn something new or challenge yourself with relaxing but effectively involved thinking through examples like:

teaching yourself to sew and working on a particular project
deciding to accomplishing a certain amount of reading
working to complete a puzzle with your spouse

Restrict your Social Media and “News” Time

Your time is precious, so choose to not fill too much of that valuable commodity with regurgitated and re-regurgitated “news” featuring different people, a little fear-mongering and salesmanship, and opinions, opinions, and more opinions.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do recommend that you find 1 or 2 or maybe 3 (tops) quality information sources to help you stayed informed. Then designate a single 15-minute time slot or maybe 2 15-minute time slots to listen to and get a regular update to stay informed about important topics only.

Set a timer if you need to, but definitely restrict your time online and walk away when that time is done. Then go do all that other stuff you’ve been wanting to do but haven’t found the time to do them.

Think about how you feel when you get all that other stuff done and can enjoy the benefits of what you’ve accomplished.

Enjoy Fun Times With Family

This seems like such an easy suggestion, that I almost don’t want to include it.

But let’s face it.

We all oftentimes seen to automatically migrate towards obligations, busy-ness, and so much that squeezes out time with our family.

So consider this a friendly reminder that you have a great opportunity to study, learn about, talk with, and enjoy new experiences with your favorite people:

play games like 20 questions, Apples to Apples, and Pictionary during weekly gamenights
share dreams and ideas instead of watching tv
cook together and discover new favorites
enjoy joke and pun competitions
complete projects together like building a garden or training a dog
read, dance, sing together
team up with family members to learn something new or teach each other
explore together on bike rides, hikes, and walks

Every family is different, so while one family might read one book together and act it out as they go, another family might read their individual books together in the same room and talk about what they’ve just read while together.

Just a Little More Information to Help You Reduce Stress

Here are just a few online resources that can help you get started with some of these examples, just in case you’re interested:

Intentional by Grace Topic directed Bible reading plans
Jessica Smith TV Online workouts
Walk at Home 1-Mile – Online walking workouts
Leaves From My Garden – Free subscription that comes with garden care guides
Square Foot Gardening – A Great How-to Gardening that you can probably find at your local bookstore
Jayda Institches – Teaches fun crochet online
Apples to Apples – A fun game for ages 12+
Settlers of Catan – A fun, strategy game
Farkle – An easy, no set-up game

A Prime Opportunity to Reduce Stress

We are in the midst of a very unique time in our world.

You might be in an area where just about everyone is hunkered down at home, or you might be working your tail off in a necessary role.

Whatever your unique situation might be, take time to evaluate how you can redirect some of your time and energy into activities and behaviors that will enable you to reduce stress now and in the future.

Making changes in even one of these areas can quickly give you an outlet to release built-up stress and be happier because you are making healthier choices with beneficial results.

What’s even better about these is that while you reduce stress, you’re also strengthening your faith, family, and changing your future.

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