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Best Your Stress Month

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In my 9 Steps to Perfect Health series, I argued that stress management may be the most important of all of the steps.

Why? Because no matter what diet you follow, how much you exercise and what supplements you take, if you’re not managing your stress you will still be at risk for modern degenerative conditions like heart disease, diabetes, hypothyroidism and autoimmunity.

Many of you may feel defeated or overwhelmed by stress. I understand this. Stress management is hard. It asks a lot of us. It forces us to slow down, to step back, to disengage (if only for a brief time) from the electric current of modern life. It asks us to prioritize self-care in a culture that does not value it.

While I feel your pain, and still struggle with stress management myself, I’ve got to lay down some tough love here. If you’re not doing some form of regular stress management, you will sabotage all of your best efforts with diet, exercise and supplements. Stress management is absolutely crucial to optimal health and longevity. If most health conscious people spent even half the amount of time they spend focusing on nutrition and exercise on managing their stress, they’d be a lot better off.

Many of you have done a 30-day Paleo diet challenge, whether the Personal Paleo Code, Whole30 or maybe a program through your local gym.  You’ve probably done something similar with exercise and fitness.  But what about stress reduction?  Why doesn’t it get the attention it deserves?

We’re going to change that.  This month, let’s dedicate some of our time to taking it easy.  April is Best Your Stress Month!

Here’s how it works:

From April 1 to April 30, pick one way you’ll plan on de-stressing your life. This could be something like meditation, yoga, deep breathing, or spending more time in nature.  There are many possibilities here. What relaxes and calms you? (If you need some ideas, check out my article on stress management.)

Now make a specific goal. 

Goals can be something like “I will start each day with 5 minutes of deep breathing exercises” or “I will turn my phone/computer off for 30 minutes after work.” Make them as specific as possible – you’ll be less likely to back out on your promise later.

Write your goal somewhere you’ll see it often – perhaps your fridge, your desk, your car, (your forehead?) – and then leave a comment on this post with your goal so we can share ideas and support each other.  Please also post your goal on Facebook and Twitter if you use social media so others can see what you’re up to.

Use your community as a resource:

Having trouble sticking to your goal? Need some other ideas for decreasing your stress? Tackle your issue in the comments section of this post. Ask your peers for advice. What are they doing to de-stress? It’s time to make some friends! A strong community of peers is also very important in maintaining a healthy life.

I truly hope this challenge allows you to let go of some of the stress you may have been hanging on to lately and that you make lots of new friends in the comments!

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100 Comments

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  1. Perfect timing for me! I’ve taken on a whole new project for April, and am already stressed :/ Thanks for all of the stress busting ideas!

  2. what an awesome challenge! i wholeheartedly believe that most illnesses/diseases start with or are caused by stress/emotions, which translate into blocked energy. i’d been doing some binaural beat meditations, but i recently discovered an awesome qigong program that really helps me. i’m going to try to do it daily. thanks!

  3. I’m down. This is a fantastic idea. Like you said, so many of us focus and put so much effort toward diet and exercise, and not nearly enough toward stress management.
    I’m going to take 5-10 minutes to practice deep breathing and meditation after every workout I do, along with taking relaxing walks almost every day, and hiking in nature on the weekends when possible. On every hike I will sit and practice deep breathing and mediation for at least 10 minutes.

  4. This is a fun exercise! My goals for April are:

    1) Enjoy the beauty of spring in southern NV. I am bird-watching every morning and enjoying the brief but spectacular blooms of desert plants.
    2) I’ve noticed a few of my regular reads are adding background stress to my day because of negative tones that are unnecessary for constructive consideration. I’m weighing the value/stress involved and may prune a few items from my daily read list.
    3) I’m taking a rest from the “lose weight” mentality. Basically, I’m eating exactly the same foods–and probably the same quantities–but I don’t worry about timing, sequence, macronutrient ratios, etc. Yesterday happened to be a high-drama family day so I chose not to eat any solids. I wasn’t even particularly hungry this morning so it’s noon here now and I haven’t yet eaten solids. I will, when I feel like it–not because I’m supposed to or not supposed to–but because I’m ready to enjoy it.
    4) In May I will shift back to weight loss and hope/expect to lose the remainder of my excess fat. Thanks to April, I hope to be ready for natural/sustained maintenance.

  5. What a great idea, and so timely for me. I will engage in meditation practice every evening, either through my own developed practice of using those great guided meditations from BucchaNet that you referenced recently.

  6. What a great idea! I agree in our culture there is too much focus on perfecting body and not enough on caring for the mind and soul. I’m going to start each day with a series of five sun salutations and then five minutes of meditation. I think I can handle that!

  7. i want to join in. what i would like to do is pause before i eat and say thanks and take a few mindful breaths first. i tend to dive into my food way too quickly! i would also like to try to eat a whole meal mindfully without reading, listening to the radio, or watching TV. i will aim for doing this at least a couple of times a week to start.
    i learned the STOP technique from a therapist i was going to, but haven’t been practicing it, so would like to begin again with that.

    • I love that idea of mindful eating. My husband works long hours so I eat breakfast, lunch and most dinners by myself. I usually eat while watching tv, playing words with friends, or listening to music or a podcast. I put so much effort into preparing the food that I eat, and then I zip through the meal! Do I even really taste what I eat?

  8. Hello, thanks a lot for the read. (I’m not an English speaker so please excuse the flaws.)

    I actually did something similar (stress-relieving “”bootcamp”” 😉 ) just last summer. Due to my hypothyreodism my hair started (and continued ) to fall out rapidly and recognizably, all started very suddenly, so with this immediately gaining my full attention, within a few weeks I went to a panicky phase (I didn’t know about my thyroid at that time). The constant stress very quickly became a problem on its own, so I realised I had to shift at least SOME of my attention from my hair to stress otherwise I thought I would lose the rest to panicking over it anyway. So I “forced” myself to battle it on several different lines at the same time.
    Took up a very gentle jog with my mp3 p.- I used to take it seriously, actually used to run off the work stress a few years ago so there was already a connection with me and sport at least, but with my muscles and all gone, I went back to basics, 2,5-3 hours outside, partly walking, partly jogging, just to get into it again.
    I also looked up some herb teas that are said to be stress relieving, I did even fall for herbtea mixtures named “balance/stress relief/harmony” etc, didn’t care if it’s 80% placebo, I actually believe that even the ceremony counts, as making your remedy tea in the evening, doesn’t matter as long as you take your time to think and/or let go.
    I gave up freetime-reading a long time ago, but then, again took myself to do it, I bought some borderline sort of spiritual/thinker/take your time to be kind of book and took on the habit of reading at least 30 mins with my tea before going to sleep.

    It, among the food-supplement line, within weeks started to work for me, I had to admit it played a huge role in coming to better terms with my hairloss and general well-being (I’m 29, f, so I cannot tell you how hard it hit me, for 1 day to another, seeing my hair go). Naturally (for me at least) I fell back into the old patterns, but I sooo hope to get back on it.

    I actually thank you for the reminder, no doubt I could use another “go” at a “regimen” to restore.. myself really.

    I like to be alone to rest, but I think it’s different for everyone what turns your back on stressing over everything, I can imagine that “recreational” gatherings may be for some the way to go. Anything as long as it breaks the pattern of the treadmill.

    • I’m going through the same thing. I have anxiety attacks all day about my hair. I try to hide my panicky mind from friends and family and it’s so hard. I have a 6 year-old who doesn’t deserve a depressed, anxiety-ridden mom. She’s the only thing that keeps me going. Seriously, the only thing.

      • I’m so sorry for you.. at least I could ‘panick’ as I ‘wished /needed’, I remember one crying tantrum when my parents tried to ask about how things are going. But I don’t know how I would’ve dealt with a kid at the same time. Please do try something – try and go back to your baseline. Not because you want to hide it, not because of your daighter, not because you HAVE to get better, but because you have to find yourself under this whole thing, and then you’ll see where it takes you. My hair isn’t resolved, and I am not happy or OK with it, far from it, but that stress that lasted for idk how many weeks, took out a lot, never want to go back there. When I started those teas and things, I really had no other chane bc I had already let things go /cancelled bc of it, I could’t THINK of anything else, bc none really mattered at some point. So I don’t want to get into the hair-side of it at all, but you CAN do something for the feeling/cognitive-side of it. I wasn’t aiming for a calmer me, but one thing I could do, I could think that I don’t know if it’s gonna work but at least I give a try, a chance, and then I’ll see. So I cut out the mirror, so I wouldn’t stand in front of it for.. sometimes 1,5-2 hours (which now sounds SICK) searching for new growths. So I pinpointed some rules for myself, and this with me, works. All the best for you, truly take care.

  9. For the next 30 days I’m meditating for 30 minutes and spending some time in nature. My intent is to be in awareness & let things be.

    Posting it here is a great idea thank you!

  10. I’m in. This is a great idea! I’ve been wanting to re-implement daily mediation again and this sounds like a time to do it. 🙂

  11. I will spend 15 minutes meditating every morning before work. I like to use this website to help create habits: http://www.21habit.com

    It has you check in every day to see if you completed your goal. It is a great motivator seeing the green thumbs build up over the days (6 days no smoking!).

  12. This is such a great reminder. Here are my goals:
    – Leave the office by 5
    – Practice yoga at least twice a week, focusing on relaxation
    – Go on a hike at least once a week

  13. Well there are 2 routes, removing stress from your life or dealing with it better. After months of unsuccessfully trying to “deal with it” with yoga, meditation, biofeedback, deep breathing… I’m making THE big change to remove stress. Just gave my 2 weeks notice and will be taking an indefinite amount of time off to restore sanity. I’m looking forward to not having a “flight or fight” moment every hour. 🙂

    • Bravo Daytona! I totally agree that eliminating the root causes of our major life stressors is imperative. Just applying a band-aid (even if it is a healthy one) will not heal a festering wound.

      Busting the Stress Cycle: Awareness/Recognition -> Proactive Choice -> Power -> Freedom.

      “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is the power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” – Victor Frankl

    • Awesome! I did the same a while back. You need to do what is necessary. High stress jobs need to be left behind, even if it means reduced or no pay for a while. Getting your mind and true self awareness back as well as finding work with purpose and enjoyment should be at the top of the list.

  14. I’m taking 45 minutes of quiet reading time with a real book made of paper each day. Same for the kids.

  15. Sounds like a great plan! My goal is to not use electronics an hour before bed and do some relaxation exercises twice a day, after meals. Gotta give myself a chance to digest!

  16. Hooray!
    As an instructor with eMindful, I am happy to see you bring more awareness to the debilitating effects of stress – on our health, relationships, performance at work and school and our overall outlook on life. I appreciate you recommending the Body Scan practice, as that is a favorite among all my students.

    I’d like to also suggest something that everyone that drives to work or school each morning can do. It is very helpful to create anchors that will cue the mind and body to re-center and let go of stress. With mindfulness practice, bringing awareness onto the breath is a key anchor to move into a calmer state. To add to that, I’d like to suggest each morning, as you head out for the day in your car, do a slightly modified version of the STOP practice*. Sit up with a dignified and self-respectful posture, place your hands on the “10 and 2” position (anchoring), close your eyes, and bring your focus onto the breath, breathing naturally, not forcing the breath to be extra deep (anchoring). Check in to see if there is stress or tension in your body and/or mind, and begin to let it go with the out breath. Bring your awareness onto your emotional heart, and visualize or imagine feelings of peacefulness, grounded-ness, empathy, strength and clarity moving from your emotional heart into your physical heart, and with the breath, flowing throughout the body and mind, touching and enlivening everything in its path, and then exhaling … releasing any toxic stressful energy, visualizing or imagining it flowing out and away with the breath … perhaps even seeing it in your mind’s eye as a fading color, or as ice melting in the spring sun, or as clouds passing in the sky … without getting caught up in a storyline of why it’s there … just let it go. Feel yourself centered and poised, take a couple more breaths, open your eyes and head out into your day, feeling refreshed, energized and clear.

    (* The STOP practice is S – stop what you are doing, T – take some calming breaths, O – observe what is going on inside of you, and P – proceed into what’s important to do next. I add the visualization practice in the mix as people find it to be enlivening.)

    Of course, you don’t need to be in your car to do this, it’s just nice to have that added anchor of the “10 and 2”. It can be helpful to do this anytime you need to relax and refocus – before a meeting, taking a test, prior to a difficult phone conversation you’re about to have, etc. If you’re stressed while driving, pull over and re-center so that road rage doesn’t take you over.

    Best wishes to all!

  17. I’m in. Thanks for doing this, I definitely need to be reminded to lower my stress level. I downloaded the Body Scan meditation you linked to last week and have done it several times and enjoyed it, but need to make it a habit, so I commit to doing it everyday for the next 30 days. I also want to commit to singing and dancing to 1 song each day. I recently got a turntable so I can listen to my old vinyl from the 80s, great dance music! Rereading this post, the word “commit” sounds so serious! Okay, so my goal is to have fun and relax every day, better. Love your blog.

    • I am in a study for post-partum depression and mindfulness based cognitive therapy at a major university. This is an off shoot of MBSR that Chris posted about last week. It’s designed specifically for depression.

      Anyway, we started off with the body scan to learn to connect with our bodies mindfully. Then we have been incorporating new techniques like mindful yoga, breathing and even straight sitting meditation.

      The goal is to try these different techniques and incorporate your favorite meditation/yoga everyday building up slowly to 40 minutes a day. You have to practice and find which one you like best. You have to practice, like building your muscles.

      The program is 8 weeks so that you create this new habit and incorporate it into your daily life.

      I have a lot of resistance to self help (self-sabotage?) so my teacher encouraged me to write down all the reasons I found that I could not meditate in a given evening. The writing exercise was SO FUNNY. I cannot meditate because I need to take out the trash? Or paint my nails, or I don’t FEEL like it (even though it will help me feel better tomorrow?) Very revealing.

      This program has been nothing short of life changing. I have learned that thoughts are just thoughts, and they are not facts and we do not have to believe them. We also have to be gentle to ourselves and let ourselves feel whatever comes up if we need to. But we don’t have to be stuck in negative emoting. It is a pattern, a habit, and not often based in reality or the here and now.

      I’d like to offer this as another good tool like the body scan. The three minute breathing space is very effective when you are doing a meditation practice because during the day you don’t have time to sit down and meditate for 1/2 hour. But you can take three minutes to focus on your breath, and get back in the here and now.

      Read about it and download it here: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mindfulness-in-frantic-world/201202/beating-stress-downloadable-three-minute-breathing-space-me

      May peace be with you,
      Kristen

  18. Anxiety and adrenaline are the two most annoying things about menopause. What can I do to help myself??

    • also look into bio-identical hormones….you may benefit from these.

      I second mindfulness, it’s wonderful – you just need to stick with it and take it with you during the day rather than just as a 10-20 min thing in the morning or evening.