Life is stressful.
There is no way to avoid it.
Not the most reassuring intro is it?
It will get more positive, I promise.
There
is no way to avoid it, true. But when there is something you can’t
change, you change your perspective, and change your strategy. For all
you entrepreneurs out there, you pivot.
That’s what we are going to do here.
We
are going to take a little perspective, mix it with some new
strategies, and voila! The stress will be minimized, we will be happier,
life will be easier.
But first…….
What Is Stress, and How Does It Affect Your Health?
**if you don’t care about the sciency stuff, skip down to the next set of stars.
In
layman terms, stress is the “fight or flight” triggered in our
sympathetic nervous system when we are faced with an overwhelming
situation. Millions of years ago, it was to run away from lions. Today,
there are no lions, but we still have the same response to our daily
stresses. Your body releases adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol.
(Sorry to get a little nerdy on the vocab. I am not a doctor, but my
brother is, so, I am pretty sure that counts in some countries, right?
No? Oh, well.) Basically, adrenaline and norepinephrine release hormones
that allow for a burst of energy and an increased heart rate. Cortisol
maintains body fluid balance and blood pressure while downregulating
bodily functions that are not necessary at the time (i.e. reproduction,
immunity, digestion, and growth).
Like
I said, this is all awesome if you are stressed out every once in a
while, running from lions, escaping a burning building, things like
that. In the most extreme cases, this can save your life. It increases
blood flow to the brain for optimal processing to give you the best
chance to get out of whatever situation you find yourself in.
But
like everything else, too much of a good thing can be bad, especially
when it’s not a life or death situation. Stupid evolution moving too
slow.
And this is no different.
Stress
causes a response in the body that is manipulating your central nervous
system. Too much stress too often can lead to: depression, insomnia,
anxiety, hypertension, over-eating, undereating, digestive problems
(even if you aren’t puking, or pooping, you may not be breaking the
foods well enough to absorb nutrients), tight muscles leading to back
and shoulder pain, headaches, etc., a lowered immune system, and
reproductive issues.
Whew. That’s a lot.
What
makes it worse, is once all of those things are off, they send signals
to your brain that things are off, which perpetuates the problem! It’s a
cycle of doo doo!
** So basically, none of you s*** works right (no pun intended. Well, maybe a little).
Dealing With Stress
Since
we already know we can’t avoid stress, we need to make sure we are not
adding to it. Then we can start removing some of it from our lives. It
is amazing how just knowing that you are dealing with your issues is a
relief in-and-of-itself. There is comfort in knowing that you are
handling it, that you are in control.
There are steps. It’s a process. This is what worked for me. Adjust it to suit you.
Mitigate the stress, then manage it, so you can control it.
1. Don’t Add To It
Diet:
When you are stressed out, your body is on fire. Not literally of
course, unless you are stressed out because you are actually on fire,
then none of this stuff you are about to read is going to help you
anyways, just find water. You aren’t releasing the proper chemicals at
the proper time. You are an inflamed roller coaster of rollercoasterness.
Don’t add to this hot mess.
Avoid inflammatory foods:
- Trans fats
- Sugar
- White bread (which basically breaks down in to sugar)
- Alcohol
- Are you making a sad face yet? Don’t worry, it’s not fun at first, but you will feel better.
- Milk and other dairy products
- MSG
- Gluten (which is just all the other bread)
- Canola Oil, or other cheap vegetable oils
- Artificial additives
- Processed grains: white flour, etc.
Basically, crap you shouldn’t be eating anyways.
Eat inflammatory reducing foods!
- Fatty fish (salmon, tuna, sardines) or if you don’t like fish take cod oil supplements
- Dark, leafy greens (kale, spinach, etc.)
-
Nuts, almonds, walnuts (great for snacks so you don’t eat other crap
when you are on the go, like if you work a 12 hr. shift or something)
- Colorful vegetables (bell peppers, eggplant, Brussel sprouts)
- Legumes, black beans, pinto beans
-
Beets (they taste like dirt, but they expand your capillaries and make
you feel amazing!!! Juice them though, don’t eat them like an apple.
Yuck!)
- Ginger (great for your stomach and digestion)
- Turmeric (great for inflammation. People use this as a natural alternative to Advil)
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries
When
you get your gut right, your body is able to release the proper
chemicals. You want to be calm, be happy? Well your gut releases
serotonin. Basically, your happiness! Help the release of serotonin in
your system by cleaning up your gut.
If you are interested, add me on Snapchat (JustOneJoey or https://www.snapchat.com/add/justonejoey)
and snap me. I will be happy to show you different recipes I use to help
you in this process. Just ask! I am here to help people!
Can you feel the roller coaster slowing down yet? Just heading in the right direction feels good!
2. Sleep/Meditation:
These really should be separate, but just in case you work a crazy job
and are not able to get the proper amount of sleep (7–9 hours a night),
meditation can actually help with side effects from your lack of sleep.
It’s like a two for one with meditation!
Sleep:
There are two phases: pre-sleep and sleep-sleep (not scientific terms
in case you were wondering). In order to get the most out of your sleep
you need to prep it. If you are stressed out, you are already releasing
too much cortisol. If you are producing cortisol you can’t be producing
melatonin. Melatonin is what helps you get restful, recovery sleep. No
melatonin = no recovery. No recovery = probably more stress, tiredness,
irritability, etc. It makes things worse. It’s a cycle of poo, remember?
A
way to stop the production of cortisol is to eliminate blue light. It
is VERY easy, you either turn off every electronic device in your house
for a couple hours before you go to bed or you get blue light blocking
glasses. Which are really, just orange glasses (http://geni.us/4488).
Super cheap, super effective. Put them on before bed (3 hours would be
ideal) and you are ready to go! As long as you don’t stress yourself out
with other stuff, like: intense TV shows, scary books, arguing, hanging
out with people you don’t like, etc.)
One
strategy I have heard over and over again is taking a hot, Epsom salt
bath before bed. Help your body remove toxins, relax in the water
(mediate in there too!) and release the day before you go to bed.
The better prep, the better sleep. Remember that.
Sleep
is healing time. Your body needs to recover from today so it can do it
all over again tomorrow. This is not a problem for you anymore because
you are eating better, sleeping better, and soon you will be meditating
too!
Now that your pre-sleep is locked in, you can focus on the sleep-sleep.
A.
Black out your room. I mean, not even the light from a clock. It sounds
crazy, but your skin can absorb light, which will then compromise your
sleep. How much? I don’t know. But we are shooting for the stars here,
so stop asking so many questions and just black out your room.
B.
Either no noise, or white noise. Not noise from a white person,
something soothing like the ocean, or wind in the trees. You know,
hippie stuff.
C. Wear eye covers and ear plugs if you have to.
D.
Keep the room under 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 or 22 Celsius. I don’t
really know. I’m American. Sorry everyone else in the world). Preferably
65–67 Fahrenheit.
With
the pre sleep and the better sleep-sleep, you should feel much better
in the morning, which will help carry you throughout the day, which will
be a stress reducer in itself. Poor sleep is horrible when you are
stressed out. It is a downward spiral if you don’t get a hold of it.
Mediation:
I do this every morning. When I am having a rough day I do it when I
wake up and right before I go to bed. Besides working out, it is the
number one thing I do (and eat healthy of course) where I notice the
impact on my well-being throughout the day. Research shows that people
who meditate regularly are able to switch off parts of the brain
associated with anxiety, schizophrenia, attention deficit, and hyperactivity disorder and other problems. #mindblown.
What
you are doing when you mediate regularly is you are switching from the
busy beta wave state to an alpha wave state, the state that precedes
sleep. This activates the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing the
body to slow down and the brain to regenerate. It only takes 10–15
minutes of meditation to feel the benefits. Think about that. It’s
basically a power nap. One that rests your brain, your thoughts, and
helps you process where you’ve been that day and where you are going.
You can do this on your breaks at work! How f’ing helpful is that?!?! I
know!!
15
minutes a day! That’s it. Or 30 minutes if you are doing it before bed
also (highly recommended). It is a little tricky getting in to it,
figuring out what works for you, but there are places you can go for
help. Two apps that are perfect for busy people, that just need a 10–15
break in their day, but don’t have time to figure it all out are: Calm and Headspace.
You sit down with your smart phone, plug in the headphones, and boom,
you are meditating. My sister uses Headspace and absolutely loves it,
but I have heard amazing things about Calm as well.
Another route to go is with Tara Brach and her guided meditations.
You basically pick the amount of time you want to spend meditating,
find a file that fits that space, and go to town. She will guide you
through a complete meditation, what to focus on, what to feel, and lead
you all the way to the end. No muss, no fuss.
Once
you get used to meditating, as you find yourself in a stressful
situation during the day, it will eventually take as little as a deep
breath to center yourself and go on with your day. Again, this takes
time, but you start to feel the effect immediately.
As
a little bonus, just to help center yourself in the beginning (and you
will start to internalize all of this, which will make it much easier),
use positive self-talk.
You don’t need to say it out loud (unless you are super secure in
yourself), but repeat positive affirmations. Literally, tell yourself:
“This is just a moment”
“This is just one incident”
“This isn’t personal”
“I love myself. I know I do a good job. I am ok.”
“Don’t let work stress come home with me. I have a wall.”
“This is what I prepared for. This is why I eat well, sleep well, and meditate, to be able to handle something like this.”
“I only have ‘x’ amount of hours before I can relax.”
One
thing that I noticed was once I had a structure in place, it made every
‘dip’ in my day easier to handle, because I knew I was doing all the
right things, and I knew that I had something in place that would come
up soon to make me feel better (i.e. working out, a healthy dinner,
family time, etc.). If it was really bad, I would use the positive
self-talk. It’s not a light switch, but it works, especially if it is
something you use regularly.
We are creatures of habit and conditioning.
If you put in healthy conditions, both physically and mentally, you are
conditioned to be ok. There is a lot of comfort in knowing that you are
doing your best, not leaving anything on the table.
Here is the article I wrote on structure and process. It is called, “The Process Of Happy,” It repeats some things that I am putting down here, but goes in to more depth with others.
3. Remove Stress
Now
that you are sleeping well, taking better care of your health, and
meditating every morning, you are starting to feel a lot better. Now is
when you can fine-tune your life.
Eliminate unnecessary stresses.
Really, unnecessary people.
You
can’t really avoid the people you work with, but you are mediating, and
you are able to bring yourself down when you get stressed out, so that
is not a huge issue. You are tired from your long day at work, but you
can handle it. But on your days off? Do you really want to spend your
Saturday with people that you don’t like? Hell no! So don’t.
We
have added some things to your plate to deal with stress, now you need
to go through your life and audit the other stresses, then remove them.
Family excluded because it’s family, but don’t spend time with people
that don’t make you happy. You may have to have some tough
conversations, or you may never have conversations ever again. This is
your life we are talking about. This is your health. Your family’s
health. Your kids’ health. Maybe your future kids’ health. Make sure
everything is prioritized correctly so you are focusing on what you
should be focusing on.
If
you have any questions please find me on social media. All the links
are below. You can also ask directly in the comments. However you feel
comfortable communicating, I can accommodate.
Hope you all have a great day.
Remember that YOU are in control, but you have to take the reins. Yeehaw!
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