Know Your Onions About Dealing With Stress (Day 6 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge)

Stress - its a definitely a happiness killer. You don’t need me to tell you that, as I’m sure you have experienced that for yourself.

It doesn’t take much thought to think of at least one high-stress event in your life - losing a job, planning a wedding, moving house, missing a flight - it all can get very overwhelming.

Hopefully, you were able to resolve the situation and enjoy the outcomes, but chances are there wasn’t too much happiness about whilst you were feeling stressed.

Stress is like a vampire that consumes happiness - it sucks the joy right out of us…

So, we in order to be happy, we need to have strategies and ways that we know destress us.

Being less stressed (I won’t say completely stress-free as let's be realistic here, that’s not going to happen) is good for both your health and soul.

And it’s good to think about what causes you stress on a daily basis and what your triggers are, how you can avoid them if impossible, or approach them from a different perspective.

For me, sometimes, picking up the children presses a stress button because as soon as they see each other, they are bickering - working on that one, but one I can’t obviously avoid, but accepting the things you cannot change springs to mind here.

Here are some simple ways to destress that generally work for everyone…

Get Enough Sleep

We need to make sure that we get enough sleep. People say that 7 to 8 hours is optimum, but it really does depend on the person. More important is consistency in going to bed at the same time and waking up same time.

But you know the feeling when you don’t sleep well, or get enough sleep out bodies feel sluggish and are in a state of stress constantly trying to make up for the lack of sleep and the littlest thing can make you snap.

So if you are guilty of burning the midnight oil, get some regular sleep as you will get more done when you are feeling refreshed and rested and you won’t be so stressed either.

Get Moving Plus Get Some Exercise

There is no doubt, the best stress reliever out there is exercise. So get moving and exorcize that stress right out your system!

Even better than working out at home, or at the gym is getting outside as the fresh air and sunshine (or just fresh air) will do you the world of good. So go for a run, or even a short walk when you feel stressed. Again, this works best when it is done regularly.

We will touch more on exercise tomorrow. Please don’t underestimate the importance of this one.

Don’t Forget “Me” Time

A lot of times in our lives we tend to spend a lot of time and attention on others, making sure that they are are okay…

Maybe you are helping out a friend, raising a toddler, looking after an elderly parent, or you are focused on your job what seems like 24/7, or indeed setting up your own business.

We end up being guilty of not taking ‘me’ time. So try to incorporate at least a little bit of ‘me’ time in your daily routine, even if its just 10 minutes. This is where your list from Day 3: Digging Deeper Into What Makes You Happy can come into play.

It’s okay to be completely selfish for a minimum 10 minutes a day, as it is a great way to de-stress and unwind.

Practice Meditation

Today, I am going to end on one last really beneficial technique that can keep stress at arm’s length. Again, it is something that you don’t need to spend a lot of time on.

Sitting down and listening to a meditation audio or guided meditation can do wonders. Personally, I use Zen 12*, who offer a free audio that packs an hours meditation into 12 minutes, but you can also find some extremely good guided meditations on YouTube too.

(affiliate link, which means if you decided to buy the full product because you like the free gift so much, I will get a commission)*

A daily meditation can really do wonders, as you will use that skill and automatically draw on it when something stressful hits. Even a minute or two to meditate and steady the emotions works well in reducing stress, as allows the mind to relax.

Trust me, it is a really useful technique to have under your belt, when life throws a curveball, or you just feel totally and utterly overwhelmed.

(Pictures from pixabay.com)

Previous Days

Day 1 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: How Happiness Is A Choice You Can Make Daily
Day 2 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: Make Happiness Your Best Friend
Day 3 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: Start Your Day With Gratefulness
Day 4 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: Start Your Day With Gratefulness
Day 5 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: Time to Get Busy...