APRIL: STRESS AWARENESS MONTH

We all feel stressed or worried from time to time. We’ve all been there with certain life situations or decisions such as choosing important subjects at school, going for a job interview, planning a holiday or organising an event, and whilst a bit of stress is normal and sometimes a good thing to help us get things done, too much stress can have the opposite effect and get in the way of getting things done and enjoying life. Ongoing anxiety and chronic stress can leave us feeling frightened, nervous, panicked and frazzled – ultimately, it’s bad news for our health.

The good news is, there are ways and means to manage stress and reduce the feeling of anxiety to help us feel better and to deal with challenging situations.

1. Communicate: As the saying goes, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’. When we feel out of our depth or overwhelmed, reaching out to someone we trust can really help us to feel connected and hopeful. Opening up can be like a weight lifted off our shoulders.
2. Help others: Doing good for others can be good for us! There’s evidence to suggest that helping others promotes physiological changes in the brain (happy hormones!) linked to happiness. Of course, there must be balance – whilst helping others can make us happier, others can make us feel that we are being taken advantage of. If you have the time, perhaps think about helping others in need or volunteering?
3. Get active: An active body promotes a healthy mind. Being physically active can help lower stress hormones like cortisol, increase energy levels and confidence, boost social skills, brain health and cognitive function. Exercise not only changes our body; it changes our mind, attitude and mood. If you’d like to be more active, you’re at the right place – see what’s on at getactiveabc!
4. Balanced diet: We are what we eat. The ‘Eatwell Guide‘ is designed to help us to be mindful of eating a balanced diet. Eating good foods and staying hydrated can have a massive impact on how we feel.
5. Get creative: Getting creative through art, music, gardening or cooking etc can help relax and calm the mind and refocus our thoughts from worry and stress. Like everything, the change won’t happen instantly but if we can find an activity we enjoy, gradually over time we will reap the benefits.

Stress and stressful situations are something we can’t escape but we hope that the tips above provide some guidance on not letting the stress or the situation get the better of us!