Blog 156 Tips for Stress Management

Are you aware of anyone who does not have stress in their life? If we are not careful, stress can cause a change our health. Some stress is good and healthy. It might even be exciting! A roller coaster ride can be stressful, but exciting. Good stress shows up when your heart beats faster as you are interviewing for the “perfect” job in a field you are extremely passionate about and have invested four years of your life getting a degree to be able to do. Another kind of stress is acute stress. Acute stress comes on quickly and does not last long. It could be good or bad stress. An example of this is when you set a goal to go to bed by 10 pm and you realize it is already 9:40 pm. You quickly put your pajamas on, brush your teeth, and hop into bed to meet your goal. The bit of stress you experienced to meet your goal is soon over. Your heart slows down as you start reading for a few minutes before turning off your light. That stress is over. Chronic stress is stress that goes and on. It happens in a job where your boss is habitually critical and demanding, and there is no end in sight. What can a person do to manage the many different stresses of life? Read on to find some tips that might help your stress management.

Personal Story

Stress is a part of everyone’s life. As a home school mom, I always felt guilty that I felt stressed at times. Shouldn’t I be happy as I go through my days at home, enjoying my children, and keeping our home clean and organized for our family and guests? It took an exceptionally long time for me to accept that it was okay, even good, to recognize children and self-imposed goals can be stressful! Thank goodness, I set goals and work hard to attain them. I have been able to make the world a better place for my husband, children, and many other people who have benefited from my working genius of tenacity and enablement. I have begun to learn tips that help me manage my stresses, both good and bad.

Tips for Managing Stress

1. One especially important way to attain peace during our busy lives that are full of stressors is to get spiritual feeding each day. Bible reading, prayer, meditation, and spending time with the people of God help us depend on God to help us accomplish our tasks each day, and He gives us direction on what priorities we should have.

2. Life stressors indicate a need for more of certain vitamins or minerals. There are ten vitamins and minerals that a body needs to fight stress: B-complex group, vitamin C, magnesium, calcium, zinc, copper, potassium, chromium, iron, and selenium. Shortages of these can be compensated for by eating nutrient-rich foods and taking supplements, if necessary.

3. Herbal supplements can provide body support during stressful times. Adaptogens increase the body’s ability to cope with non-specific stress and have a nourishing and tonic effect. Panax Ginseng, astragalus, and eleuthero are commonly taken for their ability to normalize body processes. Relaxant herbs can help calm tension. Some relaxant herbs include lemon balm, passionflower, skullcap, and Valerian. These herbs relax tension in the body.

4. Some other stress management tips include:

• doing deep breathing exercises
• having daily walks outdoors
• safely diffusing lavender essential oil
• taking baths with Epsom salts
• getting plenty of sleep

These tips can help relieve stress.

Action

If you feel stressed, try to nourish your body with good food, supplements, spending time with God, and other some of the other tips. Stress management techniques are valuable to your health!

May God bless your healthful endeavors!

Joni

P.S. How do you cope with stress?