Stress Management. How Not To Freak Out.

Do you have a job? No job? A house? No house? A car? No car? Then you probably have stress. As a massage therapist, it would be out of my scope of practice to issue any formal diagnosis here but let's just see if the shoe fits. Stress is defined as:

¹stress

noun \ˈstres\

: a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc.
: something that causes strong feelings of worry or anxiety

: physical force or pressure

Any of this ring a bell? Or maybe you are more of a visual person:

                                                                                                                                   

GOT STRESS?

Either way, I'm fairly certain there is something in your life that causes you some degree of stress. Forget to pay the cable bill on time? Procrastinating on something you should have done a week ago? Just find out your kid needs 30 nut-free, gluten-free, kosher cupcakes by tomorrow?  Mother in law coming back from Florida soon and you still haven't cleaned the house? Wish these were the only problems you had?

Stress can manifest itself in different ways. Anxiety, insomnia, depression....For a more comprehensive list check out web MD's list of physical, emotional, behavioral and cognitive effects of stress. ( Just a heads-up, Web MD itself has been know to cause more than a little stress. Spend more than 30 minutes on this site and you will self-diagnose yourself with no less than 6 potentially fatal conditions you didn't even realize you had).

Do not try this at home.

Eliminating stress entirely from our lives is unrealistic. So the real question is how can you effectively manage stress in a healthy manner? (I have a strong suspicion you know where this is heading) Massage has been proven to reduce stress--you knew this--but just like in my first blog post: How Often Should I Get a Massage?  I know it is not always possible to get a massage as often as you would like due to finances or time constraints but here are a few things you can do on your own to manage stress that also work, don't cost a dime and can be done anywhere with minimal time commitment.


 Breathing--When you breathe deeply, you send a message to your body to relax. You kind of have to breath anyway so simply altering your technique, even briefly,  shouldn't be all that difficult. Click here for breathing techniques and scroll down to 'The Centering Breath'. Pay special attention to diaphragmatic breathing.

Exercise--Exercise helps to release endorphins that help combat stress hormones. You've probably heard of a 'runner's high' but walking and other forms of exercise can help defeat stress. Find something you like (biking, swimming, hiking) you are more likely to stick with it.

Meditation--Even just a couple minutes of clearing your head can help reduce stress. It doesn't have to be overly involved and complicated. Click here for an article that makes it easy for even the most distracted of us.

So if you have stress in your life, these are a few things that have been proven to work to decrease stress and are worth giving a try. If you do not have any stress in your life, please contact me. I need to know what your secret is. For real.



I also found an article that I liked: Seven Positive Ways To Deal With Stress .