Right now, you’re probably losing focus, and your mind is foggy. Your tasks are piling up, but you can’t stop procrastinating. With that said, you’re probably experiencing stress. Don’t worry, we have a few ways we recommend for you to manage stress properly.
Let’s treat stress management as if we’re building a Lego wall to prevent you from getting overwhelmed. We’ll proceed to gradually stack our bricks to form our brains’ strong foundation against stress.
The Base: Get to know your stressors.
Stress is everywhere. It manifests even in mundane activities, especially now that we are in the digital age; everything is instant and pushes us to have a sedentary lifestyle. One of the common stressors that we encounter is mental stress. This arises when we encounter a situation that causes us distress or worry. A familiar scenario where this stress is evident is when you’re swamped with tasks and responsibilities, resulting in you feeling overwhelmed.
Next, did you know that chemical and nutritional stress exist? These stressors are mostly unfamiliar to people; hence, they are often disregarded. They manifest when you consume a product that causes an imbalance in your body and could make your body malfunction.
Another stressor you must watch out for, especially with the inconsistent temperature change here in the Philippines, is thermal stress. Thermal stress can negatively affect one’s performance and health. Of course, in this digital age, there’s technology-induced stress called electromagnetic stress. In this stress, electromagnetic frequencies emitted from gadgets can negatively affect one’s well-being.
Now that we’ve identified your possible stressors, let’s continue building our foundation against stress.
The First Brick: Try meditation to alleviate mental stress.
In dealing with mental stress, Jose Villablanca introduced in his book Holistically Fit some ways of dealing with mental stress. The first one is through a positive mindset meditation. The second one is through listening to relaxing music. Music triggers the brain’s dopamine production, making you feel better and relaxed. Lastly, he advocated counseling. With counseling or having someone to talk to, you will be able to express your bottled-up thoughts and overwhelming emotions, which can help lessen your stress.
The Second Brick: Keep it organic for chemical stress.
For chemical stress, Villablanca cautions us to be mindful of the products we apply to our skin. Since our skin is directly connected to our bloodstream, a chemical-free skin-care product is better used to avoid intoxicating our organs. Additionally, letting our skin breathe is beneficial in managing the impacts of chemical stress.
The Third Brick: Clean and proper diet is essential to curb nutritional stress.
This brick is essential for a strong stress management foundation since a proper diet is necessary for the body’s nutrient supply and physical development. Always eat on time so your brain will function well and your body will avoid developing diseases. When you know you’re healthy, you’ll prevent overthinking about your well-being.
The Fourth Brick: Contrast therapy can help you cope with thermal stress.
For Villablanca, contrast therapy helps alleviate thermal stress. The combination between heat and cold therapy has great health benefits. Skin detoxification, preservation of muscle mass, and boosting of heart health are the benefits of heat therapies such as saunas or steam rooms. On the other hand, cold therapy helps in inflammation reduction and can relax you. When combined, physical and mental calmness can be achieved.
The Fifth Brick: Limiting your gadget usage can lessen the impact of electromagnetic stress.
This last brick is probably a challenging one, considering that in our present times, we are all connected through the use of technology. However, Villablanca cited studies to strengthen his call for taking a social media break. According to the said studies, electromagnetic frequencies are not natural; hence, they can cause mental fog, fatigue, and headaches. Instead, take a break and spend most of your time around nature, as it can rejuvenate both body and mind.
Now that you have the Lego base and bricks, it is up to you how you will start building your stress management foundation. You don’t have to stack them immediately, especially if you have to adjust to a new routine. However, you can do it one step at a time until you build an unbreakable foundation.
by Ella Mae Importado