FREE from STRESS By: Jezaniah Perez No comments

Tips to help manage and reduce your stress levels

Avoid Caffeine, Alcohol, and Nicotine

Avoid, or at least reduce, our consumption of nicotine and any drinks containing caffeine and alcohol. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants and so will increase your level of stress rather than reduce it. Alcohol is a depressant when taken in large quantities, but acts as a stimulant in smaller quantities. Therefore using alcohol as a way to alleviate stress is not ultimately helpful.

Swap caffeinated and alcohol drinks for water, herbal teas, or diluted natural fruit juices and aim to keep yourself hydrated as this well enable your body to cope better with stress.

Indulge in Physical Activity
Stressful situations increase the level of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol in your body.

There are the "fight or fight" hormones that evolution has hard-wired into our brains and which are designed to protect us from immediate bodily harm when we are under threat. However, stress in the modern age is rarely remedied by a fight of flight response, and so physical exercise can be as a more relaxed state.

When you fell stressed and tense go for a  brisk walk in fresh air. Try to incorporate some physical activity into your daily routine on a regular basis, either before pr after work, or at lunchtime. Regular physical activity will also improve the quality of your sleep.


Get More Sleep
A lack of sleep is significant cause of stress. Unfortunately though, stress also interrupts out sleep as thoughts keep whirling through our heads, stopping us from relaxing enough to fall asleep. Rather than relying on medication, your aim should be to maximize your relaxation before going to sleep. Make sure that your bedroom is a tranquil oasis with no reminders of the things that cause you stress. Avoid caffeine during the evening, as well as excessive alcohol if you know that this leads to disturbed sleep. Stop doing any mentally demanding work bath or reading a calming, undemanding book for a few minutes to relax your body, tire your eyes and help you forget about the things that worry you. 

You should also aim to go to bed at roughly the same time each day so that your mind and body get used to a predictable bedtime routine.

Try Relaxation Techniques
Each day,try to relax with a stress reduction technique. There are many tired and tested ways to reduce stress so try a few and see what works best for you. For example, try self-hypnosis which is very easy and can be done anywhere, even at your desk or in the car. One very simple technique is to focus on a word or phrase that has a positive meaning to you. Words such as "calm" "love" and "peace" work well, or you could think of a self-affirming mantra such as " I deserve calm in my life" or "Grant me serenity". Focus on your chosen word or phrase; if you find your mind has wandered or you  become aware of intrusive thoughts entering your mind, simply disregard them and return your focus to the chosen word or phrase. If you find yourself becoming tense again later, simply silently repeat your word or phrase.  Don't worry if you find it difficult to relax at first. Relaxation is a skill that needs to be learned and will improve with practice. 

Talk to Someone 
Just talking to someone about how you feel can be helpful. Talking can work by either distracting you from your stressful thoughts or releasing some of the built-up tension by discussing it. Stress can cloud your judgement and prevent you from seeing things clearly. Talking things through with a friend,  work colleague, or even a trained professional, can help you find solutions to your stress and put your problems into perspective.

Take Control
Stress can be triggered by a problem that may on the surface seem impossible to solve. Learning how to find solutions to your problems will help you feel more in control thereby lowering your level of stress. One problem-solving technique involves writing down the problem and coming up with as many possible solutions as you can. Decide ion the good and bad points of each one and select the best solution. Write down each step that you need to take as part of the solution: what will be done, how will it be done, when will it be done, who is involved and where will take place.

Manage Your Time
At time, we all feel overburdened by our 'To Do' list and this is a common cause of stress. Accept that you can not do everything at once and start to priorities and diarise your tasks. Make a list of all the things that you need to do and list them in order of genuine priority. Note what to be done immediately, in the next week, in the next month, or when time allows.
By editing what might have started out as an overwhelming and unmanageable task list, you can break is down into a series of smaller, more manageable tasks spread out over a longer time frame, with some tasks removed from the list entirely through delegation.
Remember as well to create buffer times to deal with unexpected and emergency tasks, and to include time for your own relaxation and well-being.

Rest If you are Unwell
If you are feeling unwell, do not feel that you have to carry on regardless. A short spell of rest will enable the body to recover faster.

(Credit: www.skillsyouneed.com)

SLEEPING is IMPORTANT By: Jezaniah Perez No comments

Why is Sleep Important?

Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. Getting enough quality sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health, physical health, quality of life, and safety.

The way you feel while yo're awake depends in part on what happens while you're sleeping. During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain your physical health. In children and teens, sleep also helps support growth and development. The damage from sleep deficiency can occur in an instant (such as car crash), or it can harm you over time. For example, ongoing sleep deficiency can rise your risk for some chronic health problems. It also can affect how well you think, react, work, learn, and get along with others. 

Healthy Brain Function and Emotional Well-Being

Sleep helps your brain work properly. While you're sleeping, your brain is preparing for the next day. It's forming new pathways to help you learn and remember information. A good night's sleep improves learning. Whether you're learning math, how to play instruments, or how to drive a car, sleep helps enhance your learning and problem-solving skills. sleep also helps you pay attention, make decisions, and be creative

Sleep deficiency alters activity in some parts of the brain. If you're sleep deficient, you may have trouble making decisions, solving problems, controlling your depression, suicide, and risk-taking behavior. Children and teens who are sleep deficient may have problems getting along with others. They may feel angry and impulsive, have mood swings, feel sad or depressed, or lac motivation. They also may have problems paying attention, and they may get lower grades and feel stressed.

Physical Health

Sleep plays an important role in your physical health. For example, sleep is involves in healing and repair of your heart and blood vessels. ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increases risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke. Sleep deficiency also increases the risk of obesity. For example, one study of teenagers showed that with each hour of sleep lost, the odds of becoming obese went up. Sleep deficiency increases the risk of obesity in other age groups as well.

Sleep helps maintain a health balance of the hormones that make you feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin). When you don't get enough sleep, your level of ghrelin goes up and your level of leptin goes down. This makes you feel hungrier than when you're well-rested. Sleep also affect how your body reacts to insulin, the hormone that controls you blood glucose (sugar) level. Sleep deficiency results in a higher than normal blood sugar level, which may increase your rick for diabetes.

Sleep also supports healthy growth and development. Deep sleep triggers the body to release the hormone that promotes normal growth in children and teens. This hormone also boosts muscle mass and helps repair cells and tissues in children, teens, and adults. Sleep also plays a role in puberty and fertility. Your immune system relies on sleep to stay healthy. This system defends your body against foreign or harmful substances. ongoing sleep deficiency can change the way in which your immune system responds. For example, if you're sleep deficient, you may have trouble fighting common infections. 

Daytime Performance and Safety

Getting enough quality at the right times helps you function well throughout the day. People who are sleep deficient are less productive at work and school. They take longer to finish tasks, have a slower reaction time, and make more mistakes. After several nights of losing sleep- even a loss of just 1-2 hours per night-your ability to function suffers as if you haven't slept at all for a day or two. 

Lack of sleep also may lead to microsleep. Microsleep refers to brief moments of sleep that occur when you're normally awake. You can't control microsleep, and you might not be aware of it. For example, have your everdriven somewhere and then nor remembered part of the trip ? If so, you may have experienced microsleep. 

Even if you're nor driving, microsleep can affect how you function. If you're listening to a lecture, for example, you might miss some of the information or feel like you don't understand the point. In reality, though, you may have slept through part of the lecture and not been aware of it. Some aren't aware of the risks of sleep deficiency. In fact, they may not even realize that they're sleep deficient. Even with limited or poor-quality sleep, they may still think that they can function well. 

(Credit: www.nhlbi.nih.gov)