Are you stressed????? Here are some tips to help get a little mellow...:)

 Are you under a lot of stress?  Is your boss driving you crazy?  Your spouse nagging?  Stress can cause a great deal amount of symptoms such as weight gain, hives, asthma, illnesses, ulcers, heart problems, and can eventually lead to death.  That's just scary.  Who can live without stress these days?  Whether it is someone cutting you off on the road,  co-workers talking behind your back, list of bills, kids that won't even let you go to the bathroom by yourself, dogs chewing up everyones underwear, etc.... I don't know of anyone that doesn't live with any stress.

Depending on what is bothering you, the first thing you should do is to try talking about it to your spouse, best friend, or a trusted family member.  Sometimes just talking about it to a loved one can have an immediate response of relief and you will feel much better about it.  Learning how to do yoga or meditation is another way to help try to get rid of your stress as well.

My favorite way to relieve stress is through exercise.  Exercise helps keep me in shape and it helps me get through stressfull situations I've had.  For me, running is my stress reliever.  I run without an ipod because I like to think about everything that stressed me out that day and I actually re-live it in my head although I may have edited my parts by yelling back in my thoughts or saying what I wish I had said.  No I don't go around running and yelling foul words looking like a crazy person, I just run and play it all in my head.  By the time I am done I feel so much better and it is all forgotten.  It is kind of a running joke, ha, ha, that when anyone sees me running around my neighborhood, they say "Oh, I guess her husband pissed her off again."  LOL

Exercise will help to reduce tension.  I think most of us hide stress in our necks so really good neck stretching exercises can help with that.  Exercise can also help relax you so you can get better rest.  Exercise can give your better self esteem and people that exercise regularly, will eventually start eating healthier as well. 

The type of exercise that you do for stress will vary from one person to another.  Finding something you enjoy is a good first step.  Whether it is running, elliptical, roller skating, yoga, dancing around in your living room, or playing hopscotch with your kids.  Outdoors is usually the best place to exercise when wanting to relieve stress and try to stay away from crowds or work people since they may trigger the stress. If you are stressed at work then try taking a long walk while on lunch and take your lunch with you to eat while walking.  Healthy lunch of course:)

Keep trying until you find something you like, you have to like it if you want it to help you.  GOOD LUCK!

                                                                                                                     Kristina Crossway    http://www.kriscrosstraining.com/