Dealing With Stress...

Hello friends and welcome back to the blog!! In my last blog post discussing IBS and digestive issues I briefly touched base on stress and the effect it can have on the body. I've gotten a lot of messages and requests to talk about how I personally manage and minimize the stress in my life so I thought this would be a perfect follow up post. I'm not perfect and I still have stressful days but over the last year I have made a conscious effort to minimize and avoid situations that may cause me stress in order to improve my overall health and well being.

Here's a little background:

I've been a stressed out person for as long as I can remember. I've always been an over-thinker, an over-analyzer, a planner, a perfectionist, someone who always has to be doing something (go,go,go,go)!!!! Let me tell you friends...STRESS. All of those characteristics I just described led to a stressed, unhappy, overwhelmed, and straight up exhausted MIK. It started to take a toll on my physical health, mental health, emotional state, and happiness in life. An overabundance of stress can be extremely detrimental to one's health so it's important to avoid it and minimize the stress you allow on your body at all costs.

Think long and hard about what triggers your stress. School? Work? Mindset? Your relationships with others? Make a list of these things. Jot down any thoughts, feelings, and attitudes you have related to stress. Look over them. What about those triggers is causing your stress? For example, why is school causing you stress? Why are some of the relationships in your life causing you stress? In order to minimize and manage your stress, you need to determine what's triggering these thoughts and causing you to become stressed in the first place.

Once you are able to pinpoint personal characteristics or various aspects of your life that may be causing you to feel this way, it will be much easier to manage, minimize, and cope with your stress as a whole.

My personal advice on how to reduce the stress in your life:

• This one's for all you procrastinators out there. Don't leave things until the last minute!

• If you stress easily but you're the type of person that waits until the very last minute to do things then you are setting yourself up to fail. Plain and simple. Give yourself enough time or even a little extra time in order to avoid getting stressed out when everything is piling on at the last second. It can minimize and maybe all together avoid the stress of not finishing, not having all the necessary materials, being late to something, etc. It gives you time to adjust and adapt to the situation if it doesn't go as planned.

• "It is what it is." This is my all time favorite quote.

• Sometimes you just have to accept things for what they are and move on. There is no sense in stressing, overthinking, and overanalyzing things you simply cannot change. This is easier said than done, I know. But it will drop a huge load of stress if you learn to accept that you can't always be in control. Things won't always go as planned. This is a mindset that will change your life for the better, I promise.

• Avoid situations that might cause you unnecessary or unwanted stress.

• If you hate being in large crowds of people, avoid situations where you might encounter large crowds of people (I understand this may be unavoidable at times, it's just an example). What I'm trying to get at here is, avoid situations you know will trigger you to feel anxious and/or stressed. Don't willingly put yourself in an uncomfortable situation (unless absolutely necessary), when you have the ability to do and choose otherwise. You are in control. It's okay to avoid a situation if you don't feel comfortable. Don't let anyone tell you differently or make you feel poorly about your decision. This brings me to my next point...

• Drop negative people and end toxic relationships in your life.

• This one is hard but so important. Do not allow other individuals to cause you more harm than good. If someone is causing you to feel anxious, stressed, or unworthy, I have two words for you. Drop them. There is absolutely no reason another individual should be causing you to become overly stressed. Now this isn't me saying drop every relationship you have just because you get a little stressed out from time to time. No! That's normal. I'm saying if someone is causing you pain, stress, doesn't support you, or makes you feel like garbage day in and day out then remove yourself from the situation and end the relationship. Don't allow others to control you. Don't let another individual to affect/manipulate your physical well being, mental health, or overall quality of life. I understand it will be tough, but it's for the best and you'll soon realize this.

• Develop a sense of structure and/or daily routine. However, be aware that things won't always go as planned.

• Personally, I have a pretty routine schedule. That's what works for me. I make to do lists, record important dates in my planner, set reminders in my phone, and so on... All of this allows me to keep track of things in order to minimize and avoid becoming overly stressed. I have sense of what I need to do everyday, the things I need to accomplish, etc. I think it's important to have some type of structure or idea of things especially if you're the type of person that becomes easily stressed. In the past I would FREAK right out if something didn't go with my set plans or routine. I'm learning to let go of that. I remind myself daily that everything happens for a reason and that sometimes plans change. Altering my mindset has allowed me to slowly let go of that "I need to be in control" mentality. As a result, my stress level has decreased tremendously.

• Fuel your body, get a good night's rest, and exercise regularly.

• This is another way to avoid stress altogether. Fueling your body with the correct amount of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients is crucial. This will create a healthier, happier, and overall more productive you. Food gives you the energy, motivation, and fuel you need in order to go about your day to day activities. When you aren't fueling your body properly everything starts to go haywire and your body gets all out of whack. This creates unnecessary stress, tension, etc. on the body and mind. Next, it's equally important to make sure you're getting enough sleep. The average adult needs a minimum of six to eight hours of sleep every night. If you aren't getting that than this could be the root cause of some of your stress. When we don't allow our bodies time to rest and recover we aren't able to function optimally. Our bodies need time to recharge from everyday activities and responsibilities. You are more likely to become stressed and overwhelmed if you aren't getting an adequate amount of sleep. Our bodies and minds become worn out and unable to function at their very best without sleep, so... GET SOME SLEEP people. Three to four hours isn't going to cut it. I've been there and I was a miserable human. No one wants to interact with a Mik who hasn't had a good nights sleep, I promise you. Yah girl needs her beauty sleep :) Okay!! One last item on the agenda and that is to make sure you are exercising regularly! Not only is this a good way to reduce stress but it's great for your overall health. You don't have to go spend two hours in the gym lifting heavy a** weights if thats not something you enjoy. Find what you like to do and stick with it. Aim for at least thirty minutes a day. A little exercise is better than no exercise at all! Go for a jog, ride your bike, take a yoga class, try spinning, go for a walk, play a sport, the list goes on forever. There are endless activities out there. Get a good sweat on. Take care of your health. Exercise is good for the soul and managing everyday stress levels. Plain and simple.

I have learned so much about myself by becoming more conscious and aware of my stress levels. Some days are more stressful than others and sure there are times where I let my stress get the best of me, I'm human. I recognize when I'm allowing this to happen so I can avoid it happening again in the future. I'm a constant work in progress.

Find what triggers your stress. Narrow down those triggers and determine how you can improve those situations so they no longer cause you to feel overwhelmed and stressed. Be honest with yourself. Be aware. Make changes. Don't over complicate things. Accept things as they are and move on.

Strive to create a better you...your best you! We are all on this journey together. As always, I'm here to talk, listen, and help in any way I can so feel free to reach out whenever. I love hearing from you guys and learning more about you and your journeys. Don't be shy!!

That's all I've got for now, until next time...

-Mik