Especially during the past couple of years through Covid-19, stress and anxiety levels have been at an all time high for many. It can be tricky to remain positive through circumstances that may or may not be in your control. That's why we think it's important to highlight some tips on how to stay positive during hard days and how to manage stress. Your body and mind will thank you for managing stress & anxiety, rather than simply pushing it away!
Did you know that there are many health benefits that can come from positive thinking? Among the benefits are an increased life span, lower rates of depression and distress, a stronger immune system, and a greater sense of overall well-being.
Here are some tips to maintain a positive attitude that you can try out on a daily basis! Positive thinking is a practice that can be learned through forming habits such as these.
Learn healthy ways to manage your stress
Think of challenges as opportunities to shine
Look for the best in others and yourself
Eat right and get plenty of rest
Exercise for 30 minutes or more on most days of the week
Focus on the joys in life and remember to laugh
Do something nice for someone
Make time each day to relax
Surround yourself with upbeat people
Take pride in your work and your achievements
Constant stress and anxiety can lead to a multitude of health issues. However, there are little things we can do to alleviate worry, stress, and anxiety when those feelings or certain situations arise. These tips are brought to you from the Hope For Healing foundation.
1. Go for a walk
Virtually any form of exercise can act as a stress reliever, but activities such as walking or jogging that involve repetitive movements of large muscle groups can be particularly stress relieving since they offer many of the same benefits as meditation. The benefits are strongest when you exercise regularly. People who exercise regularly are less likely to experience anxiety than those who don’t exercise.
There are a few reasons behind this.
Regular exercise lowers the level of stress hormones. It also helps release endorphins, which are chemicals that improve your mood and act as natural painkillers.
Exercise can also improve your sleep quality, which can be negatively affected by stress and anxiety.
Regular exercise improves feelings of confidence and mood, which in turn promotes mental wellbeing.
Try to find an exercise routine or activity you enjoy, such as walking, dancing, rock climbing or yoga to relieve stress, worry, and anxiety.
2. Practice abdominal breathing
Most people aren’t consciously aware of the way they’re breathing, but generally, there are two types of breathing patterns:
Thoracic (chest) breathing
Diaphragmatic (abdominal) breathing
The easiest way to determine your breathing pattern is to put one hand over your belly button and the other hand over your heart. As you breathe, notice which hand raises the most. If you’re breathing properly, your abdomen should expand and contract with each breath (and the hand on it should raise the most).
When people are anxious they tend to take rapid, shallow breaths that come directly from the chest, but chest breathing doesn’t properly oxygenate the blood and may result in increased heart rate, dizziness, muscle tension, anxiety and panic attacks. When you’re feeling anxious, you may not even be aware you’re breathing this way, but the natural consequences of chest breathing will take their toll.
Deep abdominal breathing, on the other hand, increases the supply of oxygen to your brain and promotes a feeling of calmness. Deep breathing helps to activate the body’s relaxation response and studies show that abdominal breathing for 20 to 30 minutes each day reduces anxiety and stress.
The next time you’re feeling anxious try this simple relaxation technique:
Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose. Keep your shoulders relaxed. Your abdomen should expand, and your chest should rise very little.
Exhale slowly through your mouth. As you blow air out, purse your lips slightly, but keep your jaw relaxed.
Repeat this breathing exercise for several minutes.
You can perform this exercise as often as needed. It can be done standing up, sitting down, or lying down.
If you find this exercise difficult or believe it’s making you anxious or panicky, stop for now and try it again in a day or so. It’s okay to build up the time gradually.
Go outside & connect with nature
Reduce your caffeine intake
Research shows that high doses of caffeine, a stimulant found in coffee, tea, and energy drinks, can increase levels of anxiety, depression and also increases the need for anxiety medication. Caffeine may cause anxiety and panic in panic disorder patients and may aggravate the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. Chronic users who are caffeine-sensitive may develop symptoms of caffeinism a condition marked by restlessness, nervousness, irritability, insomnia, diuresis, tremors, and tachycardia at relatively low doses. And heavy caffeine users may show signs of caffeine withdrawal syndrome after abstaining from the drug.
People have different thresholds for how much caffeine they can tolerate. If you notice that caffeine makes you jittery or anxious, consider cutting back.
Although many studies suggest that coffee can be healthy in moderation, it’s not for everyone. In general, four or fewer cups per day is considered a moderate amount.
3. Use Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy uses aromatic essential oils medicinally to improve the health of the body, mind, and spirit. It enhances both physical and emotional health. Several studies show that aromatherapy can decrease anxiety and improve sleep.
Some scents are especially soothing. Here are some of the most calming scents:
Lavender
Rose
Vetiver
Bergamot
Roman chamomile
Neroli
Frankincense
Sandalwood
Ylang ylang
Orange or orange blossom
Geranium
Aromatherapy can come in many forms including using essential oils, scented candles, diffusers, aromatic spritzers, inhalers, bathing salts, body oils, creams, massage lotions, facial steamers, etc. There are many available options to use this tool to help relieve anxiety and stress.
4. Journal/ Write it Down
One way to handle stress is to write things down. Many studies have shown that journaling is a valuable tool to improve mental health. There are many approaches to journaling that can help with anxiety:
Taking out the trash: If you’re struggling with negative or overwhelming thoughts, one technique to help relieve the tension and stress is to write all the negative thoughts down on paper. Keep writing until you can’t think of anything else to write. Then tear up the paper and throw it away or burn it. This symbolically helps your mind understand that these thoughts are garbage. Then write new positive thoughts to replace the negative ones. Keep and re-read those positive thoughts often.
Gratitude journal: Gratitude may help relieve stress and anxiety by focusing your thoughts on what’s positive in your life.
Success journal: Writing down successes and focusing on positive thoughts have been shown to reduce worry and stress.
Write a letter you won’t send: When you’re feeling anxious about an interaction or a personal relationship, you might have a lot of dialog building up in your head. And while a real conversation might be necessary, writing a letter to someone that you won’t send will help to expel some of the extra energy that’s overwhelming you. Write an honest and brutal letter, holding nothing back. Write as many letters as you need to before you feel some relief — just don’t send them.
5. Listen to soothing music The soothing power of music is well-established. It affects our emotions and can be an extremely effective stress management tool. Soothing music can slow the pulse and heart rate, lower blood pressure and decrease the levels of stress hormones, and distract us from our worries. Research shows that listening to music can help a person with clinical depression or bipolar disorder get through their worst, lowest moods. When people are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, there is a tendency to avoid actively listening to music. Perhaps because it feels like a waste of time when there’s so much to do and to worry about. But adding music to our day is a small effort that can produce great rewards since our productivity actually increases when stress is reduced. To incorporate music into a busy life, try playing CDs in the car, or listen while doing other necessary tasks like bathing or getting ready for the day. Take portable music with you when walking the dog, or listen to music instead of watching TV to wind down before bed. 6. Sing along to your favorite mood-boosting songs Singing has been scientifically proven to lower stress, relieve anxiety, and elevate endorphins which make you feel uplifted and happy. It helps relax muscle tension and decreases the levels of the stress hormones in the blood stream and can help take your mind off the day’s troubles to boost your mood. In addition, scientists have identified a tiny organ in the ear called the sacculus, which responds to the frequencies created by singing. The response creates an immediate sense of pleasure, regardless of what the singing sounds like so you don’t have to have an amazing voice to feel the positive effects of singing. Participants in one study showed significant decreases in both anxiety and depression levels after one month of adding singing to their routine. So if you find yourself in a rough spot, sing along to an upbeat, positive song to relive stress, worry, and anxiety. Sing through one song three times or sing three different positive upbeat songs once. Allow the music to wash through you and feel the healing and invigorating effects immediately lifting mood and bringing relief. From my own experience, I can say that it really works. Print out the lyrics so you can sing all the words and choose songs that have lyrics that have meaning to you personally. Here are a few suggested songs to help you create your own list: Roar by Katy Perry, Try Everything by Shakira, Waka Waka by Shakira, Brave by Sara Bareilles, Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield, Fight Song by Rachel Platten, Happy by Pharrel Williams, Better When I’m Dancin’ by Meghan Trainor, On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons, Believer by Imagine Dragons, and You Are Loved by Stars Go Dim. 7. Laugh! Watch a comedy special or your favorite funny movie When looking for an excellent distraction, laughter really is the best medicine. Laughter stops distressing emotions. It helps you shift perspective, allowing you to see situations in a more realistic, less threatening light. Laughter makes you feel good. It triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. And the good feeling that you get when you laugh remains with you even after the laughter subsides. Humor helps you keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations, disappointments, and loss. It adds joy and zest to life, eases anxiety and tension, relieves stress, improves mood, and strengthens resilience. So what makes you laugh? A good joke? Funny cat videos? Make a list of things that make you laugh and keep them on hand because nothing works faster or more dependably to relieve stress, worry, and anxiety than a good laugh. 8. Connect with friends We live in a digital age where we can be tempted to replace person to person contact with phones and computers, especially if we’re feeling vulnerable. But humans are social creatures, we crave feeling supported, valued and connected. Studies show that being socially connected increases happiness and leads to better health and a longer life. It helps overcome feelings of loneliness and isolation. Make a list of the people you can turn to. These are people that you trust to support you and make an effort to contact them regularly. Reach out to them and ask for specific kinds of help. Remember, your friends can’t read your mind and it’s not fair to expect them to. And if you’re working on a goal, such as trying to overcome anxiety and depression, having a friend to report to and keep you accountable can make all the difference in the world. The likelihood of getting new habits to stick, of following through on your assignments and reaching goals is remarkably higher when someone else is aware or your goal or assignment and you set a time to report back to someone on your progress. 9. Say “no” to the things that add to your stress or don’t serve you Being selective about what you take on — and saying no to things that will unnecessarily add to your load — can reduce your stress levels. Take control over the parts of your life that you can change and are causing you stress. One way to do this may be to say “no” more often. This is especially true if you find yourself taking on more than you can handle, as juggling many responsibilities can leave you feeling overwhelmed. Finding ways to simplify can help to prevent, manage, and relieve stress, worry, and anxiety. 10. Get organized & avoid procrastination! Another way to take control of your stress is to stay on top of your priorities and stop procrastinating. Worrying about something that you need to do takes energy. That is energy expended in addition to the energy required to actually do the task. Procrastinating undesirable tasks takes more effort than just doing them. Procrastination can lead you to act reactively, leaving you scrambling to catch up. This can cause stress, which negatively affects your health and sleep quality. Get in the habit of making a to-do list organized by priority. If you can’t get everything done, pick six items that are the most important and focus on those. Give yourself realistic deadlines and work your way down the list. One suggestion is to set aside a certain block of time each day, 30 minutes for example, to work on items on your to-do list. 11. Pet a dog or cat If you’re feeling anxious, stressed, depressed or lonely, one thing that might help is to spend some time petting a dog or cat. Science shows that playing with or petting an animal can reduce stress and can also help us reduce feelings of isolation and help us feel more connected. Petting a dog or cat increases the production in the brain of “feel good” neurotransmitters which lowers stress and increases feelings of happiness. It also decreases production stress hormones, so it works in multiple ways to help you calm down and feel better. 12. Meditate There are many studies that verify that mindfulness and meditation ease anxiety and mental stress. Mindfulness is about paying attention to daily life and the things we typically rush through. It’s about turning down the volume in your mind by coming back to the body. To see what a mindfulness meditation experience is like, you can try a guided recording. These can be found for free on YouTube. Here’s a mini mindfulness/meditation exercise that you can do anytime, anywhere, to help calm you down in just a few seconds. With your hands in front of you, line up the tips of the fingers of your left hand to the corresponding tips of the fingers of your right hand. Take 5 slow, deep belly breaths while pressing the fingertips against each other. Shake out your hands and relax them to your sides or your lap and take one last slow, deep breath. Some people have found that doodling or using coloring books helps them get the creative juices flowing and lets their minds take a break. There are a variety of Art Therapy Adult Coloring Books featuring geometric patterns, mandalas, nature, flowers, owls, the ocean, Native American inspired designs, and more. Many experts recommend these anti stress adult coloring books as an alternative to traditional meditation. Deep abdominal breathing increases the supply of oxygen to your brain and promotes a feeling of calmness. Deep breathing helps to activate the body’s relaxation response and studies show that abdominal breathing for 20 to 30 minutes each day reduces anxiety and stress. 13. Try Yoga or Tai Chi Yoga has become a popular method of stress relief and exercise among all age groups. Research has found that yoga can enhance mood and may even be as effective as antidepressant drugs at treating depression and anxiety. Yoga helps lower cortisol levels, blood pressure and heart rate, and modulates the stress response Tai chi is another fabulous option for stress management. Tai chi may help improve your mood if you are depressed or anxious. Preliminary research suggests that regularly practicing tai chi can reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression. It is believed that the slow, mindful breaths and movements have a positive effect on the nervous system and mood-regulating hormones. 14. Volunteer: Serve others Depression, worry, stress, and anxiety tend to make a person retreat inward. Helping other people can help bring us outside ourselves. It can also help distract us from our own problems and think about something else. Studies have shown that people who help others have lowered levels of depression and anxiety. In fact, in the research study, service was more effective in making a positive difference in the way participants felt about themselves than making an effort to pamper themselves, or creating self-esteem goals. To read the full Hope for Healing Article: click here
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