Stress and general feelings of losing control of our day can affect more than just our mood. In fact, stress has been linked to all kinds of physical health problems from heart-based to digestive problems. Is your current lifestyle is making it difficult for you to feel in control and more at the whims of your environment? You should start taking measures to reverse that. Below, we’ve taken a look and compiled some of the best tips to make your everyday a bit easier.
A good day always starts with a good night’s sleep
Sleep is one of the most important factors for good health. When it comes to having a less stressful day, getting the right amount of sleep definitely matters. An important factor is how you measure the amount of sleep you get, too. We’ve all heard how ‘8 hours’ is the most important thing. However, it’s proven to be more beneficial that you wake up in between sleep cycles. A sleep cycle lasts roughly an hour and a half. Even if you can’t get as much as eight hours, time yourself to wake up at your most convenient part between sleep cycles. You will be a lot more refreshed in the morning.
The morning ritual
It’s a good idea, even before breakfast, to give yourself a bit more time in the morning. Even if it means going to bed earlier to wake up earlier. One of the best rituals you can adopt for these early hours is to start with a bit of meditation. Meditating is great for clearing stress. It declutters the mind and helps you form a more composed perspective on the read of the day. It can also be great for compartmentalizing your problems so they’re not always on your mind. Follow up your meditation with a fresh cup of coffee as suggested by www.thealternativedaily.com/meditate-then-coffee/. This way you’re left feeling energized for the rest of the morning.
A good breakfast
As with all parts of our life, what we eat plays a huge role in our mental health. If you want a good start to the day, then getting your metabolism and your energy levels in check demands a good breakfast. Overall, making sure that have a good supply of whole foods is a lot better than eating processed foods. So, for breakfast, you should try to make sure you have some high fiber carbs like oatmeal. These get your digestion working better so you better absorb energy from your food throughout the day. High calcium foods like Greek yogurt can help you curb the hunger that tends to add to our stress through the day, too. www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20676415,00.html shows a lot more examples of foods that are best for breakfast.
Why exercise matters
Having a proper workout a few times a week is another important part of putting stress to the back of your mind and having a healthier, productive day. Not only does it help you sleep and improve blood flow throughout the body. It has some serious mental benefits besides. For one, it can block the stress hormones from being created inside our body. That stops that anxious ‘flight or fight’ feeling that results from serious bouts of stress. It’s also good for dealing with the symptoms of stress and depression. Endorphins, our body’s ‘happy hormones’, get released when we exercise. There are also the countless benefits in regards to general confidence and self-esteem.
Make the time to be active
Even if we can’t fit in a full exercise in a day, it’s a good idea to find those little times that can add up into a more active lifestyle. Nothing is worse for our mood and our general health than spending too much time sitting around. There are a lot of ways to sneak in exercises, whether it’s at work or even when watching the TV. One of the best ways to make our lives immediately more active is by changing how we commute to work. Even if you have to drive the distance, park your car a bit further from the office so you can power-walk it in. As said above, that endorphin rush can make you a lot more prepared to take on the day.
Finding something to wind down the evenings with
After we come back from work, we want to shake off the day and start feeling more relaxed. I find one of the best ways to do just that is by finding a casual, yet engaging hobby to perk up your mood. For me, it’s all about crochet and knitting. Or perhaps a light spot of reading. The gym can be what helps you wind down and put the stresses of the day aside. Whatever it is doesn’t matter so much as the fact that you take time to engage your mind with something other than your stresses. Just sitting down and doing nothing is more likely to keep those woes in the back of your mind.
Making sure your home is the perfect environment for you
Of course, the environments we’re in play a lot in how we perceive our time spent in them. Work can be a stressful place, but the home can be a place that doesn’t exactly help, either. freshome.com/2013/05/13/how-to-make-your-home-more-relaxing/ recommends making your home a much more relaxing place through décor. Giving yourself a lot of space by rearranging furniture can help. Inviting nature in with a houseplant has also shown to have a lot of
positive mental benefits, too. It’s not just décor but the state you keep it in, too. A cluttered environment easily leads to a cluttered mind. Clean up and find more ways to make storage space so you’re constantly running into one mess or another.
Routine is the best thing for getting control of your life. Not only does it help you approach life in a more orderly way. It also helps you find the time to slip in practices that are overall beneficial to your health. Hopefully, this article has helped you spot a few ways you could regain a bit of control in your life.
Speak Your Mind