Are You Struggling with Stress?

Stress is a universal part of being human. The triggers of stress – often referred to as stressors – are everywhere in everyday life. From your job to your relationships to your health, there are plenty of potential stressors lurking around every corner. Luckily, there are plenty of healthy habits and techniques that can help you manage stress and keep it from ruling your life.

In this post, we’ll be discussing some of the best and most effective stress management techniques that you should definitely try. Even if you don’t feel like stress and anxiety are controlling your life, these habits can help to keep overwhelm from creeping in and affecting you negatively in the present or the future. 

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How Stress Affects Your Body

The impact of stress on your body and mind is complex, but it’s much easier to understand when explained in relation to three key systems within your body – the endocrine system, the nervous system, and the immune system. These three systems are all uniquely negatively affected by high stress. 

If you struggle with chronic stress – stress that rarely recedes or goes away – the effects on these three systems can be problematic for your health in the long run.

Under high stress, your body reacts with what is known as its “fight-or-flight” response. This response engages your nervous system and endocrine system, which begin producing the chemicals norepinephrine, adrenaline, and cortisol. These chemicals help your body and mind react quickly if you are in a life-threatening situation, but they can be problematic for your health when produced in excess. 

Excessive production of these chemicals can lead to a compromised immune system, constant feelings of intense anxiety and restlessness, and other more severe health issues in some cases.

Now that you know a bit more about the impact of stress on your body and mind, it’s time to find out what you can do for stress relief. 

Exercise and Stress Management

While stress can negatively impact your body and mind, there are numerous habits that you can put into practice in your everyday life that have a positive impact on your physical and mental health. One of these habits is daily exercise. 

Exercise helps you maintain your weight and can keep you physically fit, but it’s also a stress-fighting powerhouse.

Exercising triggers the release of hormones called endorphins, which your body uses to regulate feelings of contentment, peace, and pleasure. You can probably imagine how great endorphins are at helping you fight stress! Even light daily exercise can help you get some much-needed relief from the stresses of everyday life. It’s also a great habit to form for your physical health.

Techniques for Reducing Anxiety

Eating Healthy

Your physical output – what you do with your body each day – can have a big impact on your stress levels, as we’ve just discussed. However, your physical input – what you consume in terms of food, water, and supplements – can also profoundly affect your well-being. 

Eating a healthy diet based around whole foods that contain plenty of vitamins and minerals is one of the best ways to set yourself up with a strong defense against stress. If you become deficient in the nutrients that your body needs, your mental health can be affected in some cases. 

Some of the best ways to avoid nutrient deficiencies are eating a well-balanced diet and complementing what you eat with high-quality supplements. 

In addition to eating plenty of healthy food, drinking enough water is also essential for your physical and mental well-being. If you tend to find yourself feeling mentally cloudy and fatigued, as well as anxious and overwhelmed, it may be helpful to start drinking more water each day. Carrying a reusable water bottle with you everywhere you go is one of the best ways to ensure that you always have plenty to drink in any circumstances.

Other Ways to Reduce Stress in Anxiety

When it comes to stress caused by occasional episodes of anxiety, there are a few other ways to help reduce stress other than healthy eating. Deep breathing or belly breathing (also known as diaphragmatic breathing) can help reduce the stress response to symptoms of anxiety. 

By practicing belly breathing, it triggers a relaxation response which in time can help reduce your heart rate and blood pressure, ultimately decreasing stress levels. It also lowers cortisol levels. 

If you find yourself having negative thoughts to stress caused by negative thoughts, other relaxation techniques like counseling, positive self-talk, yoga, tai chi, laughter, lighting scented candles (scents like lavender), talking to a trusted friend, and writing in a gratitude journal can help. 

Everyone’s relaxation response is different, so trying various relaxation techniques until you find some that work for you is natural.

Stress reduction is important for any one who is trying to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Unnecessary stress is not something anyone wants to deal with in any present moment; short-term or long-term. 

If you have stress caused by anxiety, avoid the following:

• Drinking excess amounts of alcohol
• Caffeine
• Junk food
• Negative energy 

Getting Your Thoughts in Order with Meditation

Another excellent stress management technique is practicing some form of mindfulness or meditation. These practices involve quieting your mind and spending time intentionally sitting still and focusing on calm. In a world teeming with distractions and noise, meditation and mindfulness can be some of your best defenses against stress – and they’re easy habits to form.

Meditation doesn’t need to be a complicated part of your day. Instead, you can start meditating by setting a timer for 5-10 minutes and sitting quietly as this time passes. During your meditation session, try to avoid focusing on any anxious thoughts that might pop into your head. 

As you practice meditating more consistently, you’ll likely find that it gets gradually easier to let these stressful thoughts pass by without affecting you.

Establishing a Wake-Up and Bedtime Routine

Another fantastic method of dealing with stress is bookending your day with consistency and routine. Sticking to a schedule isn’t everyone’s favorite thing to do – if you’re someone who hates making an itinerary or using a calendar, you’re not alone. 

However, while it might be tough at first, establishing a consistent wake-up and bedtime routine can be extremely helpful in your fight against stress.

Waking up at the same time each day and going to bed at the same time each night can help to ensure that you’re getting enough sleep to function well at home, at work, and elsewhere. Forming consistent AM and PM habits can also help you ease into the day instead of rushing out the door in the morning, and can also give you an opportunity to wind down when it’s time to sleep.

One of the best ways to strengthen your AM and PM stress-fighting routines is to add R3SET’s calming supplements to your daily regimen. Our Calm capsules are designed to help you reduce stress and stay focused throughout the day, and our Unwind supplements are made with a relaxing formula to ease your mind and get you ready for bed at night*. 

To learn more about our supplements and how they can help you beat stress, click here.

Conclusion

Fighting stress and winning doesn’t need to be complicated, expensive, or hard. All it takes is determination and the right information and resources. Now that you know how stress can impact your mental and physical health, as well as what you can do to keep your anti-stress defenses strong, you’re ready to live a calmer, happier life. While forming calming habits can be difficult at first, sticking to your stress-fighting regimen gets easier and more natural the longer you stick with it. We encourage you not to give up if you’re still feeling overwhelmed and anxious after several weeks of using stress management techniques – you never know when a breakthrough is coming!

If you want to learn more about the science of stress management, as well as helpful information about what R3SET supplements can do for you, make sure to check out our blog. The R3SET blog is packed with informative articles to help equip you to conquer stress once and for all.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease

Sources:

Adrenal Responses to Stress | NCBI

Understanding nutrition, depression and mental illnesses | NCBI

Hydration State Controls Stress Responsiveness and Social Behavior | NCBI