Wellness Wednesday - managing stress

As busy women stress can be part of our every day lives. Even when we aren't personally stressed we can still be affected by stress when those we love are stressed.

Today my youngest daughter is having a stressful day. She is so stressed that it is making her ill. Even though this isn't my stress it still affects me. One an emotional level I don't want my children to be ill because of stress, and on a practical level she is so unwell that I have chosen to change my plans for the day to provide the extra support and care she needs to get through her day. This will include driving her to an exam, which is probably the cause of the stress.

Have you ever been so stressed that felt physically ill. It is such an unpleasant experience and one that I used to have to cope with on a weekly basis. Learning relaxation techniques can make a huge difference.

Breathing: Deep breathing is a great technique for relaxing the body and the mind. It helps to slow down the release of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. The technique is to breath in slowly for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 2 seconds and breath out for 6 seconds. Keep focusing on your breathing and counting.

Meditation: Visual mediation involves creating a picture in your mind and focusing on it. This picture could be somewhere that you have been and loved, or somewhere that you would like to go. Imagining yourself sitting on a beach or by a pool of water somewhere quiet and green are two favourite images that I use. As you imagine yourself sitting there, focus on how relaxing it feels, be aware of the warm sun, the breeze, the sounds of the trees or the sea and feel your body slowly relax.

Activity: Focusing on an activity that fully occupies all your senses is another way to relax. I like to garden for stress relief. Concentrating on all the colours and smells, the task that I am undertaking and being outside in nature helps me to stop focusing on something stressful and focus on the task at hand.

Going for a walk: Taking a walk in a local park or along a nature trail can be relaxing. Focus on the nature around you, looking for birds in the trees and all the different plants and trees along the way. Moving is very good for reducing stress and the action of moving itself can reduce stress. Moving in nature is using two stress busting techniques at once.

Dance: Put on your favourite dancing songs and really throw yourself into it. Dance the way that you really love to dance. If like me your children are horrified if you move so much as a finger or toe in public (or even at home) then this is the time to let yourself go and really get into it. Dancing is a fantastic way to reduce stress and lift your mood. When we produce adrenaline and cortisol it affects our bodies and dancing helps to use up those hormones and produce feel good hormones to replace them.

There will always be stresses in our lives, so finding the ways that work best for you to deal with stress will add quality to your life.

Please share your ways to reduce stress because the more options we have, the better quality of our lives.

warmest wishes
Sarah