5 psychologist approved de-stressing habits you need in your life!

by Sophie Allen

I get countless messages from women saying they've tried everything for weight loss. They're sticking to their steps, adhering to their calories and meal plan and training consistently. But you know what they're neglecting? Their stress management.

Chronically elevated stress levels have been shown to contribute to a cascade of health issues if they’re not managed. This can create high levels of Cortisol, the stress hormone, which has been associated with weight fluctuations, poor sleep and heightened mental health issues. Incorporating some de-stressing activities where possible is essential in decreasing this hormone and benefitting our overall health and wellbeing! I had a chat to TWS psychologist @jess.psychology about some suggestions for supporting your stress.

It’s important to note that stress is experienced differently by everyone - stress can appear in both mental and physical component symptoms, some examples below:

Mental:
Feeling overwhelmed
Tired
Struggle to focus

Physical:
Aching body
Shakiness
Sore back
Headaches 

Note: If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, always check with your Doctor to ensure they’re not something more serious. 

Our 5 stress management tips:

1. Routine: A routine can give you a sense of accomplishment and help you feel less overwhelmed, whether it’s making your bed in the morning or preparing your meals for the day.

2. Daily movement: This doesn’t have to be about specific fitness goals - have you heard of mindful movement? EG: as you go on your daily walk, use all of your senses to take in what you can see, hear and smell.

 

TIP! If you get distracted on your walk, leave your phone at home and brig yourself back to what you can see

3. Ask for help/ lessening your load: Can someone help you with something? Can you reach out to a friend or professional for support? Asking for help could be as simple as asking someone to drop off dinner if you’re too busy to make something for yourself. 
4. Journaling: Sometimes stress can be the result of a busy mind, so sometimes writing can help to free up your mind. It’s a great reflective practice to help you see things clearer and work through processes, problem solve and it can be nice to get things out of your head and onto paper so you don’t have to hold them in anymore. 

TIP! Not a writer? How about creating a drawing instead. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, let your hand do the creating and expressing

5. Mindfulness: There’s a very large base of research supporting the benefit of mindfulness for stress reduction. Before you roll your eyes, hear me out! Mindfulness is not about switching off your mind - that ain’t possible! Mindfulness is the practice of sitting with your thoughts, and allowing them to come and go rather than focussing on them and being strung out by them.

Mindfulness is a skill, it takes practice and you mightn’t get it straight away. There are plenty of beginner mindfulness practices for you to try, breathing exercises are among the most popular. Using your breath as the focus, a  Box Breathing example of this can be found below. Don’t forget, it might take a few times through to feel as though you’re gaining the benefits of it.

 

Give it a go! Try this box breathing technique to ease your nerves: 4 seconds in, 4 seconds hold, 4 seconds out, 4 seconds hold. Enjoy the bliss…

We all experience stress differently. If you try one of these and it doesn’t work, don’t feel like you’ve done something wrong - it’s just very specific to who you are and what you’re experiencing 

Wanting to learn more around mindset, meditation and creating healthy habits in general that will set you up for life? Come join us at TWS and enjoy a FREE 7 day trial on us! 

Soph x

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