One of the things I have learned over the years is that stress is just as bad as a poor diet for your health. Years ago, several things happened at once including being laid off from my job. I had 2 little kids and had very little support and financial help. I took a job with no benefits and an $8 an hour pay cut, so I could learn web development. Times were tough to say the least. Months later, I had a tooth suddenly fracture and ended up having it removed. I’ve had random cavities, but nothing major like that. I came to the conclusion that it was probably due to a build up of stress. Since then I’ve really tried to reduce my stress load as much as possible.
Here is a list of some things I try to do for stress relief:
- avoid doing things I don’t like doing if possible.
- meditate, which changes the brain and makes it easier to deal with stress when it does happen.
- take magnesium which helps with anxiety and staying calm.
- unplug from the internet as much as possible on weekends.
- only watch local news in small doses. On the weekends, I don’t watch the news at all.
- drink green tea, although chamomile tea is also supposed to be calming.
- get enough sleep, at least 7 hours per night, which makes you feel better to being with. Being under stress makes it harder to think clearly which can lead to poor decision making.
- avoid sugar and processed foods as much as possible.
- listen to calming, peaceful music. The internet archives has a whole collection of Grateful Dead concerts.
- get out in nature. If you live in a city, go to a park, watch nature videos if there is no place to go
- find a hobby. Vegetable gardening is one of my hobbies. It’s outside and gives the added bonus of growing your own food. I also make potholders.
- watch mindless tv or movies, comedies. I like soap operas.
- reduce time on social media. I try to spend a half hour at the most per day doom scrolling and only follow people that have something positive to share.
- exercise. I exercise about 20 minutes in the morning and then 15 minutes after dinner riding my indoor bike while doom scrolling.
- eat a piece of dark chocolate. The darker the better, but at least 70% dark chocolate. The cacao contains nutrients like magnesium and flavanols that help lower blood pressure.
Stress raises cortisol levels, a stress hormone. Long term, elevated cortisol levels will lead to inflammation and health issues like heart disease and elevated blood sugar levels. Stress may also shrink the hippocampus which is the part of the brain that stores and retrieves memories. Fortunately, the body is resilient and the long term effects of stress can be reversed using stress management techniques such as the ones listed above.
Challenge:For 5 minutes every day for a week, stop what you are doing, close your eyes and focus on your breathing. At the start of the week, write down how you feel. At the end of the week, compare how you feel to how you felt at the start of the week and see if there is a difference.
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References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2568977/
https://psychcentral.com/blog/how-stress-aaffects-your-memory#3