Do you find it difficult to make decisions? Do you feel generally unsettled and sometimes downright irritable? When you stop and think about it are you aware of an underlying sense of anxiety or worry that permeates every aspect of your life?<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re nodding your head to all or most of these questions chances are that you are suffering from chronic stress.<\/p>\n
Although the word stress is frequently heard its far-reaching long-term damage is little appreciated. Allowing it to continue builds invisible barriers in your life and limits your ability to simply enjoy life and your capacity to express emotions and appreciate opportunities.<\/p>\n
If a sense of stress becomes the norm rather than the exception you run the risk of inflicting serious damage to your health and limits to your future happiness.<\/p>\n
Think about it \u2013 imagine how different your life would be if you just went ahead with decisions and once you made those decisions they didn\u2019t come back to haunt you. Imagine how much more energy you\u2019d have to enjoy activities that you put off now because you \u2018don\u2019t feel up to it,\u2019 or you \u2018just have to get some extra work done.\u2019<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t worry if you feel all of the above is pertinent \u2013 you are not alone. Stress and anxiety are commonplace in competitive environments and most workplaces. Unfortunately, nowadays we are bought up to believe that you must be seen to succeed at everything and that you must be able to buy all the latest products and gizmos to add short-term enjoyment to your life.<\/p>\n
With this kind of everyday pressure to face it\u2019s not by accident that such conditions as IBS, chronic backache, depression, psoriasis and migraine are on the increase in our high-speed, consumer-oriented society.<\/p>\n
Understandably when we fall prey to these conditions we seek our doctor\u2019s advice, who will invariably prescribe a drug regime. This traps you in a syndrome of dependency on drugs and feelings of failure because you are unable to cope with life like everyone else seems to.<\/p>\n
What Can You Do to Avoid the Stress Trap?<\/p>\n
The simple answer is to learn the art of living consciously and being self-aware in the right way. Instead of constantly going over thoughts in your head that point out your mistakes and what everyone else is thinking, ask yourself some useful questions.<\/p>\n
You could start by posing the question: \u2018How am I contributing to my feelings of stress?\u2019 This could lead you to examine what exactly you\u2019re saying to yourself in your head and notice whether it\u2019s of value or helpful.<\/p>\n
Then perhaps check whether you\u2019re tensing up your body anywhere. You may suddenly be aware that every time you talk to a certain person you are unconsciously tensing up your neck and shoulders.<\/p>\n
Now check whether you\u2019re habitually imagining things going wrong, rehearsing arguments to have or how to defend yourself.<\/p>\n
Changing your thinking in this way may seem subtle but it has far-reaching effects. Firstly it puts you back in control and makes you concentrate on the here and now instead of racing off into your make-believe land of disaster.<\/p>\n
Other key steps to the road of recovery and life enhancement are:<\/p>\n
Acknowledge your current feelings \u2013 being aware is the first step to recovery.<\/p>\n
Getting help help-seeking port is not a sign of weakness but a step toward growth. Talking with a therapist, friends or family about your concerns and frustrations relieves emotional tension and brings a sense of relief \u2013 you\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n
Learn how to relax \u2013 we so often feel that lying inert in front of the TV in the evening is relaxing. It isn\u2019t. Your mind and body need the benefits of regular relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, calm moments of mental space, and regular exercise. The resulting energy and clear-head thinking you\u2019ll experience will convince you of their worth.<\/p>\n
Doing any or all of these exercises will help you regain control and start to create the life you were meant to have. Why wait any longer?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you find it difficult to make decisions? Do you feel generally unsettled and sometimes downright irritable? When you stop and think about it are you aware of an underlying sense of anxiety or worry that permeates every aspect of your life? If you\u2019re nodding your head to all or most of these questions chances\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[277],"tags":[132,316,575,255,380,576],"class_list":["post-671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stress-management","tag-feel","tag-feelings","tag-head","tag-life","tag-stress","tag-thinking"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/w1.affwebsites.com\/articledir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/w1.affwebsites.com\/articledir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/w1.affwebsites.com\/articledir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/w1.affwebsites.com\/articledir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/w1.affwebsites.com\/articledir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/w1.affwebsites.com\/articledir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/w1.affwebsites.com\/articledir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/w1.affwebsites.com\/articledir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/w1.affwebsites.com\/articledir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}