Common Sense Tips to Reduce Stress & Anxiety

Everyday Health sends me newsletters on various topics and many times I find the articles are very helpful. Sometimes they are filled with common-sense advice that once I read it, I say "Doh! I know this!" Yet I don't always follow through with that. Now why is that? That could be food for another post.


Anyway, since we are assaulted by stressors from all sides on a nearly continuous basis, 24/7, here are some ways we can cope with it:

1. Exercise. This is one of the things I already knew. When you exercise, your brain begins to release feel-good endorphins which makes everything more bearable. In addition to that, your body is blowing off muscle tensing stress.

2. Talk to friends. This is another one that I know about. Whatever happened to the old kaffee-klatches, do people still get together and do that stuff? Or is everything now online? Part of my issue has always been reaching out. I'm not comfortable with it and have always felt like I was intruding on someone. That is why I've been:

3. Talking to a therapist. For one thing, I can vent freely without worrying about hurting someone's feelings. Also, I feel that the therapist is being paid to listen and to help and so it's not an intrusion. Also again, the therapist usually tells me: call your friend. You'd be doing them a favor and making them feel good by letting them do some good to someone else. Oh, so I wouldn't be intruding?

4. Blog/write your thoughts. I have one book for specific homicidal thoughts against particular people (heh, just kidding) and my online blogs. I keep the two separate because, first of all, everyone has problems and no one wants to go to someone's blog who is whining about a certain sociopathic family member all the time. So I keep the specific problems and stressors offline as much as possible. Not only that, I find cat blogging and photo memory blogging to be so relaxing, it's almost like exercise. Mental exercise.

5. Set limits. This is the "just say no" thing that I also seem to have trouble with. I want to help if I can but sometimes there's just no way to help particular people.

6. Compromise. I'm not sure what that's about so I'm interpreting it to mean "Let go and let God." This is another one I have to work on. I always feel that if I can get things to go my way, everything will turn out for the best. The thing is, people tend to be human and will not always follow my lead like the drones I might suspect them to be. :P Heh again.