Are you stressed out? You can reduce stress TODAY…

Lets face it, you’re most likely here on this site reading this blog in your search for answers about stress and anxiety… right?

A 2015 survey indicates that 90% of Australians suffered stress due to life factors such as work, finances and thoughts about the future. Whilst a degree of stress can actually assist us in achieving above average performance, we all know that in the long term stress is damaging to our health and wellbeing. That’s whats got you here right?

Well statistics mean nothing when you can’t sleep time after time, when you almost eat yourself to death in order to feel better, or the opposite happens when the thought of food makes your tummy churn!

Or maybe you’ve moved to a more angst ridden state where alcohol, gambling, smoking or other addictive substances and behaviours have entered your world and things are cascading out of control. Even if you’re not quite there perhaps you are finding yourself more irritable with your kids, partner or workmates, maybe your health is beginning to show signs of breakdown with colds and flu like symptoms, irritable bowels, allergies and intolerances, ulcers and adrenal problems. Maybe your relationships are suffering or your job performance is falling, or the black cloud of depression and its best buddy apathy have imprisoned you…

I could go on and on describing signs and symptoms of stress and anxiety for many paragraphs and cite hundreds of well researched sources ….. but you most likely already know that you are at breaking point and are here looking for an answer!

The answer…..

Now its time to get honest… there is NO ONE ANSWER to fix your world… rather there are multiple directions you can come from and strategies to implement to move towards wellbeing.

I approach it from three directions: Body, Mind and Soul. So, here’s my list, in no particular order of importance:

Body….

1. Make changes to your diet – Out with numbers, sugar and a fat fuelled processed diet and in with wholefoods and organics. Nutrition is vital in turning your world around. What you eat becomes you (hint: do you want to become processed, fast, full of chemicals and easy? Or do you want to be wholesome and fresh!). Time to cut back on the alcohol and caffeine too… it doesn’t serve your physical system to put in stimulants when it’s already in overdrive. Get some guidance from an holistic practitioner like a naturopath. There’s PLENTY of info on the web about organic and wholefood eating that will help you learn the whys and hows, and more importantly – to find a way of experimenting what foods are right for you right now.
2. Exercise:  its probably the last thing your can squeeze into your life some days, especially if you are feeling tired, depressed and apathetic. But, gentle daily exercise can be as simple as walking for 20-40 minutes. It can be more extreme with boot camps, bike riding or hiking. My fave is yoga as it can be gentle some days or more flowing and demanding others. It also has the added benefit of releasing emotional blockages and advancing me spiritually. Check out the yoga classes I run here, especially the Restorative Yoga class.
3. Drink more filtered water. A hydrated body becomes a happier body with plenty of available h2o to supply all the body’s vital functions. On this, one of the best things I’ve done for my body to take it towards health and wellbeing is introduce daily green smoothies and coconut water.
4. Sleep better… for me that means 7hrs a night. Sounds easy doesn’t it? But night time can be when the grip of terror and all our darkness comes at us, and we find ourselves tossing and turning and doing the one thing we need to avoid: STRESSING! However, take some peace of mind knowing that implementing the suggestions in this article (even if it’s only a few) will begin to take you towards better sleep. (For a night time technique that I sometimes use to move away from these night terrors visit here).
5. Massage and Reiki: the body holds tension that the mind in its anxious or stressed state tells it to, so these modalities are EXCELLENT  in releasing the body held tension and tightness (but for long term results you need to work on the Mind and Soul aspects outlined below as well or the body will keep on creating and storing the stress!).

Mind….

1. Reduce, limit or eliminate stressors… sounds easy but sometimes it’s not!
2. Get some help: I’ve tried counselling. I’ve tried Psychology. They were both good to a point… then I discovered they simply didn’t go deep enough to really address my issues. In came Psychotherapy and I found what I had been needing! It’s hard work in the sense that you need to face all your stuff that you’ve hidden from for years, but one session can change your whole experience of life and thats priceless. Imagine what multiple sessions can do! I loved it so much I’ve dedicated my life and work to learning, developing it more and offering that to people like you…
3. Mindfulness: understanding yourself and your feelings in the present moment is HUGE in dealing with stressors. Learning some meditation techniques can transform your day, or take you into deeply restful and nourishing sleep. Understanding that there are levels of consciousness that we move through over a lifetime can support your transformation, as can understanding the workings of inner world and its processes more deeply. You become the Master of the mind, rather than its slave…

and… the only truly long term and permanent change to your world that I have experienced personally and witnessed in friends and clients is to establish a connection with….Soul.

Soul…

Find out and experience that you are not your thoughts, ideas, beliefs, actions or body. You are not your job, your home, your car, your relationships or your life roles. You are something far greater, far deeper and amazingly more spectacular than that. And this will only open up to you when you decide to STOP, find silence and stillness and look for a deeper you… It might be seen with the help of the power of nature, in a loved ones embrace or inside yourself when you move beyond ego…

 

Call any time to book a FREE 30 minute consult, or ask for a referral to an holistic practitioner who can support this stage of your journey.

 

All the best, and know that YOU can change your life… beginning today.

xoxo