Our lives were already busy and sometimes very stressful. Add in the pandemic and economic uncertainty, and stress can exponentially weigh on our mental health.
The good news is there are many ways to help relieve the pressure before it builds up and becomes more challenging to manage.
1. Laughter is excellent medicine.
There has been a lot of research supporting that laughter is a great tool to reduce stress. When you laugh, it changes your state of mind, which affects you physically.
2. Smile Reflex
One thing to put into your stress toolbox is what we call the “smile reflex.” When you feel the stress beginning to mount, think of things that make you smile or gives you a chuckle. It doesn’t have to be significant. The critical point that it’s something genuine.
3. Make humor/smile accessible
Nowadays, there are more options to have humor at your fingertips. Screen savers saved videos on your phone, have songs on your phone or computer that lift your spirits, and bookmarking funny sites online are all ways to have humor accessible anytime.
4. Keep mindful of your thoughts
Your inner voice is one of the most powerful tools you have that can be used for good, or it can also damage you. Keeping mindful of your inner voice and what you are saying to yourself has a significant impact on your mental well-being, cutting to the heart of the saying, “self-fulfilled prophecy.” When negative and damaging thoughts begin to enter, be aware and replace them with more useful and beneficial ones. What you think is who you are.
We all will have stress from time to time, and we can’t avoid that. What is in our control is our response to feeling stressed. The better we learn to respond productively, the easier it will be to keep stress in check.
For additional tools and techniques, drop us a line, and we’d be happy to share our toolkit with you. Go to the home page and fill out a short form and we’ll get back to you.