The path to “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” isn’t as simple as the song suggests, but if the song had a heart, it would be in the right place. Today’s contribution to your New Year’s resolution of less stress in your life is the development of your individual stress management program.
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YOUR INDIVIDUAL STRESS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

• Learn to smile. Force it if you have to. Wear one when you walk. Your brain receives signals based on your physical appearance.
• Learn to be optimistic. Force it if you have to. When you’re in a difficult situation, learn to ask yourself, “What’s the best that could happen?” Let optimism become your goal, and plan with achieving it in mind. Even if you don’t achieve your best, embrace positivity. Focus on the opportunities, not the obstacles.
• Learn to have fun. Force yourself to have fun, whatever that is for you. Plan specific activities that will make you smile and laugh. Your brain and body need this outlet.
• Learn variety. Force yourself to switch your routine. Even if you’re a workaholic or in a stressful environment, maneuver between activities.
• Learn to break. Force yourself to rest, both mentally and physically. Turn it off and recharge. You’ll be more efficient when you return and won’t be as stressed about the activities you must perform.
• Learn to add by subtraction. At some point you’ve got to learn to move past those things in your life that produce physical and mental stress. This includes foods, habits and sometimes people. I recently came across this quote:

“Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.”

That should either be a ringing endorsement of your choices or a warning sign. Make good choices!

Remember, these activities address both physical and emotional stress.

“Sound mind = sound body” is a real thing!

 
Physical activity creates good blood flow and healthy muscles and other tissues. This will reduce your levels of stress.

• Don’t just sit there. Commit to do something. Commit to a routine.
• Strive for 150 minutes/week of aerobic activity.
• You’ll perform best with a personal trainer, but you don’t even need to join a gym. If you engage in brisk walking for 20 minutes/day, you’re good.
• If you don’t have a trainer, get a workout partner or group. This is using peer pressure in a positive way.

Nutrition is the fuel for your body’s normal functioning. It will keep your brain and body sharp, your immune system powerful and you less susceptible to physical and emotional stress.

• Use the food plate guide to facilitate making healthy choices.
• Increase the amounts and varieties of fruits and vegetables you eat.
• Stop eating when your body tells you that you’re full. Don’t worry so much about “finishing your plate.”
• Avoid super-sized anything unless you’re splitting the servings.

Social support—an effective support network—can serve to dissipate your stress. Stress without an outlet is a force multiplier.

• Wear a smile as your shield from stress. It invites positivity and positive people. Bringing new friends into your life is exciting for most people. Make an effort to socialize and enjoy the benefits of friendship, family and strong networks.
• You are your own best support. If you hardwire positivity into your personality, you will find yourself less stressed. Take care of yourself, and be good to yourself and those around you.

Relaxation is for many people a distant memory that should go high on your New Year’s  resolution list.

• If you don’t have time to relax, make time. If you can’t make time, take time. Enjoy your family, hobbies and life!
• You must learn to connect mentally with your body’s cues. If you’re tired, rest. If you’re in pain, don’t push it. These early signs of physical stress are meant to be warnings. Take heed.
• Don’t laugh, but relaxation techniques work! Consider mediation, yoga or just
  “resting your eyes.” Appreciate the healing power of music and the arts. The deeper you get into these effects, the better they become at relaxing you.
• Sleep is your body’s way to reset and replenish. Good sleep habits are an important way to alleviate your stress.

Professional Support
We multiply our stressors by failing to take advantage of the resources that are available. If your efforts to put a stress management program in place are unsuccessful, and you’re still addressing more than you can handle, you have a wealth of talented caring professionals ready to provide assistance. Licensed social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists can teach you additional stress management techniques and strategies. Nutritionists and personal trainers can fine-tune those factors that may otherwise contribute to physical stress. Your communities likely have resources to help. Of course, you also have access to 844-SMA-TALK and www.sterlingmedicaladvice.com, both of which offer you trained mental health professionals to get you through whatever issues you’re confronting.
Feel free to ask your SMA expert consultant any questions you may have on this topic.
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Let’s agree not to go into the New Year filled with last year’s tension or without a plan to avoid new stress. In fact, let’s take this time to lay the groundwork for one now.

Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. Stress by itself isn’t the problem; in fact, stress can be a powerful motivator. After all, that’s what the “fight or flight” response is – a response to stress. The issue becomes when you can’t manage your stress.

Remember that stress comes in different forms, including emotional and physical. Emotional stress is mental and impacts your ability to respond to situations you find challenging. This type of stress is individualized – what one person considers stressful, someone else might not. Physical stress is the body’s response to triggers. A simple example is what happens if you place your hand in fire. Your body gets burned. That burn is a physical stress on your body. Interestingly, each type of stressor may result in the other. For example, that burn causes you to have emotional pain to accompany the physical pain. In another instance, your emotional stress may produce physical stress such as sweating, vomiting, blackouts or abnormal heartbeats.
You have to get in front of tough situations and learn stress management. You need to learn to reduce, control, defect and channel tension away from its potentially crippling effects. Don’t think it can’t be done: just as the fireman runs into a burning building, the pilot navigates a crashing plane to safety or the emergency physician saves a live without being swallowed up by the magnitude of the moment, you can conquer the challenge confronting you.
Today, I want to focus on 5 factors that play into your development of physical and emotional stress: attitude, diet, physical activity, relaxation habits and support systems. These factors not only work against you if they’re not healthily managed and working to your advantage, but they are the basis for the stress management program we’ll build for you.

• Attitude: Your perspective and attitude make you interpret the same situation or trigger either negatively, positively or indifferently. A negative attitude goes along with more stress.
• Diet: One’s poor eating habits literally place the body in a state of physical stress and weakens the immune system, resulting in an easier ability to contract a variety of diseases. Poor nutrition eventually will affect the brain and result in additional physical and emotional stress resulting from sub-optimal function of the brain.
• Physical activity: Insufficient physical activity will eventually put the body in a stressed state due to diminished blood flow to your organs. Just as a feeling of well-being will reduce stress, being ill and/or out-of-shape will increase stress.
• Relaxation: Your inclination and willingness to allow your body to rest and recharge has ramifications for both physical and emotional stress. This involves taking time to sleep as well as enjoy life. If you’re not relaxed, you’re probably going to be stressed.
• Support systems: The presence or absence of individuals and groups to help you through potentially stressful situations has the power to diffuse or magnify a situation and its associated stress.

Please take the time between this post and the upcoming post on developing a stress management program for you to assess your own situation, including the factors just mentioned. You’ll learn a lot about yourself and be better prepared for what comes next.
Feel free to ask your SMA expert consultant any questions you may have on this topic.
Thanks for liking and following Straight, No Chaser! This public service provides a sample of what http://www.SterlingMedicalAdvice.com (SMA) offers. Please share our page with your friends on WordPress. We are also on Facebook at SterlingMedicalAdvice.com and Twitter at @asksterlingmd.
Copyright © 2014 · Sterling Initiatives, LLC · Powered by WordPress