April marks Stress Awareness Month, which aims to raise awareness of the causes and cures for stress.
The last two years have been been especially difficult and stressful for some people with the coronavirus pandemic, but there are some simple steps you can take to relieve your stress.
Dr Anna Persuad, the CEO of This Works, has shared her top tips for stress management.
Take a look:
Lifestyle choices matter
- Learn to say “NO”; reduce social obligations – avoid over stretching yourself too much; Accept and nurture time in the day where you may do nothing – embrace the boredom of even 30 minutes of not being connected to your phone for example – becoming its master rather than its slave.
- Learn to recognize your stress and restlessness triggers and try to cope proactively – for example turn screens off, or take regular breaks – this is a good time to spray the This Works stress check mood manager or apply stress check kind hands and just take a few moments to breathe and inhale the fragrance.
Eat well and at regular intervals
- Having a good and balanced diet with regular meals and avoiding long intervals between meals can help; as both high and low blood sugar can be the culprit of some of the symptoms – ideally stick to a low sugar diet but not at the exclusion of all sugar as actually too low blood sugar levels can elevate the level of cortisol.
Get up and move
Exercise improves the mood and help reduce cortisol level; try to find an exercise that enables you to release any pent-up tension.
There is a link between regular exercise and achieving a good night’s sleep but do avoid the temptation to train in the hours before you go to bed as it can elevate your heart rate and core body temperature.
Dr Anna Persuad also recommend using the new Stress Check franchise from This Works to lead a less stressful life.
