“There are several components of good health that are essential for living a long, strong life. Eating properly, exercising, and getting enough rest are critical. However, one aspect of divine health that isn’t emphasized as much as healthy eating and exercise habits is the importance of living a stress-free life” (Daniels). To live a successful stress-free life, you must identify what it is that causes you stress and once you have figured out what causes you stress you can tackle it. The four common types of stress are: time, anticipatory, situational, and encounter stress. Every one of these types of stress happen daily for many people.
Time Stress is more likely than not, the number one common stress individuals encounter. Whether it is trying to get everyone in your family to the places they have to be, or having to run all your errands on your day off, there just never seems to be enough time in the day to do what you need to do. It is important to remember that it is okay if some things on your “to do list” don’t get done and not to stress about it. Although, that is easier said than done. To help yourself reduce this type of stress, organize your schedule with an agenda or planner. This will allow you to help prioritize your errands with the time you have and complete the most important items on your list.
“Anticipatory stress describes stress that you experience concerning the future” (Causes of Stress, What Causes Stress, Common Causes of Stress). This type of stress deals with focus on a specific event at work, home, sporting event, or social event. It may also be defined as something that one worries about in the future due to a feeling they have. Either way, this type of stress is one an individual may overthink. To remain calm or stress free, take each day leading up to the event one day at a time. Make sure to also prepare yourself for what the event is and to not be constantly thinking about it. Give yourself enough time to feel comfortable but at the same time distract yourself with doing something that makes you happy and not think about anything other than the task you enjoy.
“Situational stress can occur in any of our everyday life situations” (Causes of Stress, What Causes Stress, Common Causes of Stress). People have situational stress because they have no control over the situation they are stressed about. This is one of the worse types of stress because you do not know what is going to happen with your given situation. The best thing to do for this is to not think about it, but how often does that work. Therefore, you need to do something that will 100% distract you from the situation. The best medicine to relieving stress is working out. Working out has been proven to “help you fall asleep faster and deepen your sleep” (Mayo Clinic). Working out also gives you a chance to unwind and focus simple on the exercises you are doing.
“You experience encounter stress when you worry about interacting with a certain person or group of people – you may not like them, or you might think that they’re unpredictable. This type of stress also occurs when you feel overwhelmed or drained from interacting with too many people” (Causes of Stress, What Causes Stress, Common Causes of Stress). People experience this type or stress mostly at work or with people they see on a regular basis. Unfortunately, you can’t always avoid the people you don’t like. The best way to deal with this is to try and practice communicating effectively and efficiently with people you are comfortable with, therefore when you have to speak with the people who cause you stress, you can keep it short and sweet and to the point.
All in all, stress is evident in our everyday lives. Fortunately, there are multiple ways to destress for any given type of stress and It is up to you to choose how you reduce your stress.
I encourage you to answer the following four questions below, to provide feedback on this subject (if you feel comfortable). Stress is something that is not easily avoidable and a major concern to our health. I hope you take this post seriously and take the actions to dealing with the stress appropriately. The following questions are:
- What cause you stress?
- How do you deal with your stress?
- Are there other types of stress you have?
- Do you agree with these 4 types of stress as the common ones?
Related Links:
https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/stress-tips.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Deal-With-Stress
References:
Causes of Stress, What Causes Stress, Common Causes of Stress. Retrieved February 25, 2017, from http://www.stresstostrength.com/causes-of-stress/
Daniels, S. (2013, February). CHANGE Magazine, a Creflo Dollar Publication. Retrieved February 25, 2017, from http://change-deploy.creflodollarministries.org/site/1028/health.aspx
Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity. (2016, October 13). Retrieved February 18, 2017, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389?pg=1
“The word ‘yoga’ means ‘to unite’ and refers to the fusion of body, mind and spirit through meditation, breathing and physical postures” (Rosen). Whether you are young or old, yoga is a practice you can do. The more you practice yoga the better the results will be. This is because “yoga rewards consistency” (Crawford). The practice of yoga promotes health and wellness benefits. A few examples include: increasing your blood flow, ups your heart rate, raising your self-esteem, and building muscle strength.
Believe it or not yoga gets an individuals blood flowing. Specifically, the relaxation exercises help your circulation in your hands and feet but thats not all that yoga does. Yoga “gets more oxygen to your cells, which function better as a result” (McCall). Inverted poses (headstand, handstand, shoulderstand) “encourage venous blood from the legs and pelvis to flow back to the heart, where it can be pumped to the lungs to be freshly oxygenated” (McCall).
While regular aerobic exercises such as running, increases your heart rate and lowers the risk of heart attacks yoga can boost your heart rate if you do exercises vigorously. “But even yoga exercises that don’t get your heart rate up that high can improve cardiovascular conditioning. Studies have found that yoga practice lowers the resting heart rate, increases endurance, and can improve your maximum uptake of oxygen during exercise” (McCall).
The numerous self esteem boosts yoga provides is incredible. Firstly, it gives one peace of mind by slowing down “the mental loops of frustration, regret, anger, fear, and desire that can cause stress” (McCall). Secondly, it gives you the inner strength you may not of had before starting this practice. Inner strength could be sticking to a diet or quitting a bad habit that effects your life in a negative way like smoking. Thirdly, yoga helps focus on the present. “Studies have found that regular yoga practice improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ scores” (McCall).
When practicing yoga, you build muscle strength and balance it with flexibility. Yoga protects us from experiencing arthritis and back pains. Yoga also protects an individual from cartilage and joint breakdown, your spine, and perfects your posture. When your body and head are aligned with your spine it reduces the work on your neck and back muscles. Spinal disks are shock absorbers between the vertebrae that can herniate and compress nerves. Your spinal disks crave movement because that is the only way they get nutrients. Therefore, your body needs to be capable to backbend, forward bend, and twist.
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