April – Stress Management Month

How are you feeling today? Excited, happy, anxious or worried? Sometimes life gets stressful. Bills, work and relationships are some examples of day to day stressors. There are bigger stressors such as losing a job, coping with loss or an illness. Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. We are all prone to stressors at the different encounters of our lives. April is stress management month and here are some tips that will help you overcome stress:

1. Exercise

Working out will help reduce stress and anxiety. It will help lift your general mood and even better, it will improve your body physique. During this time, you can engage in exercises such as yoga, skipping, push-ups, jump squats and sit ups.

2. Meditation

Meditation will help you calm down, and enable you to relax as you live in the moment. During meditation, breathe in deeply through the nose and slowly but evenly through the mouth. Focus your attention on the breath and on how the body moves with each inhalation and exhalation.

3. Sleep

Sleep is a powerful stress reducer. Following a regular sleep schedule calms and restores the body, improves concentration and regulates your mood. You are a better problem solver and are better able to cope with stress when well rested.

4.Write it down

Being stressed could bring you down to a point that you forget the good things in your life. Writing down things you are grateful for will help you look at the positive side of things and allow you to be appreciative of what you have, rather than what you have not.

5.Laugh

Watch a comedy, look out for funny memes or call that humorous friend and have a good laugh. As they say laughter is the best medicine.

As you mark stress awareness month do not let anything put you down and most importantly identify your stress triggers and try as much as possible to talk it out with a trustworthy friend.