What is Stress and Anxiety?
Nowadays, stress and anxiety is a normal thing to us brought about by our daily activities. In the United States it is recorded that 70% of adults suffer from stress daily.
Stress is the body’s way of reaction to threat or demand from different aspects of life. They may include arguments with people, increase of financial obligations and status loss. During this period of stress, the body may over react and change your relation with people around.
Anxiety is a normal body’s reaction that increases ones alertness and fear. Sometimes it may be severe and may cause harm in one’s life.
Stress and anxiety are things that one has to
face and they cannot avoid them. But, you can relieve them by trying the three
best ways to relieve stress. They include;
- Exercises
It is one of the easiest and the most important physical activity that can reduce stress.
Exercise plays a big role in maintaining ones both physical and mental health. When your body is well and fit then is your mind. Exercise helps a lot in reducing stress and anxiety by:
- Improving ones mood- Many people prefer doing their exercises every morning before they get to go to work or school. Stretching your muscles and sweating early in the morning alerts your body and mind. They have more energy to help them during the day compared to those who don’t exercise in the morning.
- It increases endorphin productions- Endorphins are hormones in the body that act like natural pain reliever. Exercises such as jogging can increase endorphin production especially when you feel like your muscles are swollen, upbeat and energized then there is massive production of endorphins.
- It increases ones social health- When one is fit you get to socialize and spend more time with family and friends. During exercising in the gym or outside in an open area, you get to meet new people whom you befriend them and they later on become friends.
- Improves ones social confidence- Exercises alerts one by letting them know about their physical and mental health. Exercises will help you get the kind of body you want and thus it will also increase your self esteem.
It is advisable to get an exercise routine to help you. Regular exercise helps in maintaining physical and mental health and have peace of mind.
2. Eating Healthy Foods.
There are several people who tend to eat and eat when stressed. Yes, eating
foods can lower down stress but then what kind of foods should one eat?
Some foods, when eaten they increase the production of hormones that fight stress. Eating any kinds of food may lead to obesity thus there are specific foods that reduce stress such as:
- Avocado- This fruit is loaded with health benefits that reduce stress and anxiety. It contains Folate that helps mainly in reducing stress. Avocados also contain Vitamin E, Lutein, Bera-Carotene and Vitamin B. When one gets stressed Vitamin B tends to be exhausted and thus we need them in our body.
- Berries- Any kinds of berries from red to black berries are stress free fruits to take. Berries contain Vitamin C that helps in lowering blood pressure and cortisol after stressful events. Vitamin C also helps in boosting ones immune system, then why shouldn’t you blend some of it in your smoothie?
- Nuts- Nuts are one of the beneficial foods in reducing stress and anxiety. Some of the best and healthy foods are cashew nuts, almonds and walnuts.
- Leafy Greens- Leafy greens are healthy and contain vitamins that reduce stress. Thus, leafy greens should be staple in any diet. Stress can exhaust magnesium levels. Lack of Magnesium can cause severe headaches and fatigue. Thus you should eat plenty of leafy greens since they contain magnesium.
- Seeds- When you feel stress and anxious you can eat seeds since they contain packed minerals that help in regulating emotions.
- Carrots and sweet potatoes- Most of the root foods contain fiber that result to serotonin production that help in reducing blood pressure blood levels.
3. Organize your Priorities
Stress nowadays can be as a result of approaching deadlines of various tasks that you might have not done. This can be overwhelming and can you stress. The best thing to overcome this is by writing down a to-do list.
Sit down and write each task you intend to do. After that, rank your tasks and perform the most important tasks first and do the rest later.
During your organization, be realistic on the time you award for each task to be done. This will help in avoiding the last minute rush.