Techniques for a Stress-Free Lifestyle

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One feature of creating a life with less stress is realizing the importance of making small changes. Going to a spa once a month, or taking a vacation once every three months might feel great. But if you come home and go back to the unhealthy habits that create stress, those unhealthy habits will undo any benefit you gained from your healthy activities. Several main areas of self care are centered around mindfulness, nutrition, and exercise. Let's review habits you can build that address each area. Mindfulness is a state of being where you're aware of how you're feeling in the moment. It's the exact opposite of being reactive to a situation. Mindfulness can be an approach to meditation or it can be a general perspective we use moving through our day. We can practice mindfulness anywhere and any time. Try it when you're doing something you do all the time, like washing the dishes or going for a walk. It's useful to build the habit of mindfulness into activities that, by their nature, aren't stressful. For instance, when you take a walk, notice how you feel in your body, notice things around you or the feelings of your feet on the ground. Notice the sounds of cars or birds chirping as you walk through your neighborhood. The key to mindfulness is in noticing what's happening both internally and externally. Another important self-care technique is nutrition. As you know, there are many different approaches to nutrition. And depending on your overall health history, certain foods might need to be avoided. However, in the absence of any specific condition, there's general agreement that one of the best approaches to nutrition is to eat a whole food diet. A whole food diet just means that you're choosing foods that are closest to the source and haven't undergone a lot of processing between their creation and your consumption of them. Dr. Reshma Shah, a physician in Stanford University Healthy Living Instructor, defines a whole food plant-based diet as one that focuses on minimally processed foods, limits or avoids animal products, focuses on a number of different plant sources from fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, and limits foods such as sugar, oils, and white flour. The last component of self-care is daily exercise. One approach you can take to keep things easy is to simply make moving your body a priority every day. Limit the amount of time you're sitting at your desk and increase the amount of time you're moving so that there's some balance between the two. Look for ways to easily build movement into your day such as parking further away from the entrance to a store, buying a standing desk, walking more often, or doing some light stretches when you first get out of bed or while watching your favorite TV show. The U S Surgeon General and the World Health Organization both recommend adults get at least two hours of exercise each week to increase health benefits including a reduction of stress and anxiety.