I don't need to tell you that life can be stressful at times. With the accumulation of increasing adult responsibilities, juggling social life engagements, pursuing career progression, maintaining relationships, and staying healthy, there doesn’t leave a lot of time for “me time”.
It’s important for us all to take a step back from life, evaluate what’s happening, and put into action things we can do to destress. We must put our health first in our lives because without our health our opportunities will continue to dwindle down.
So How Do You Know Your Stressed?
Stress is your body’s response to external, and internal factors like your lifestyle. It can manifest in numerous ways like anxiety, depression, lack of motivation, headaches, change in diet, change in exercise, increased use of damaging substances, and disturbed sleep.
There are also three types of stress: acute stress which is momentary stress related to a specific event, episodic acute stress that is a series of stress episodes like a domino effect, and last is chronic stress.
When you don’t put into place a plan of attack to managing your stress, it has long term ramifications such as ruining relationships, decreasing your ability to perform your job, and disturbing your health.
If you’re stressed you need to identify the warning signs that you are stressed such as changes becoming irritable, identify what triggered you to become stressed, find a repetition that can destress you such as listening to your favourite song, establish healthy routines for stability in your life, and create a support network that you can confide in when you feel stressed.
Some Tips From Me With Dealing With Stress
Whenever I’m in times of stress I have a four step plan: breathing exercises, take a long soak in the tub, eat something nutritious but yummy, and have a good night sleep.
Breathing Exercises
When my heart is racing, and I’m feeling unbelievably stressed, I always start with just trying to calm down. So just be still, sit down, stand, lay down, whatever. And breathe in for a count of 8, hold for a count of 8, and breathe out for a count of 8.
So breathe in for 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8
Hold for 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8
Breath out for 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8
And repeat for however many times you need to lower your heart rate so you can think clearly.
Eat Something
Who doesn’t feel better having something to eat when they’re feeling down? It gives you more energy, and provides the nourishment your body needs.
I like making myself a healthy smoothie. Just combine 3 large strawberries, half a cup of greek yoghurt, half a banana, a teaspoon of honey, a cup of skim milk, and a cup of strawberry protein powder in a blender.
This smoothie is healthy, helps you reach your macros, and is filling.
Take A Soak In The Tub
Taking bathes is definitely one of my favourite ways to destress as it’s completely “me time”. I run a hot bath, use my favourite “The Comforter” Bubble Bar from Lush, put in a handful of “The Big Chill Salty Bath Soak” from The Soak Life, and soak my hair in a hair mask like the Kerastase Nutritive Masque Magistral.
“The Comforter” is made of sodium bicarbonate, cream of tartar, sodium laureth sulfate, lauryl betaine, pefume, titanium dioxide, bergamot oil, cassis absolute, cypress oil, limonene, linalool, colour 45410, and colour 17200.
I recommend holding the “The Comforter” Bubble Bar from Lush under the tap to maximise the amount of bubbles that form. The water becomes an unbelievably vibrant pink, and it releases a sweet, blackcurrant aroma into the air.
But beware! I went into my local Lush store to purchase my month of “The Comforter” Bubble Bars, and the staff informed me that they will be discontinued so time to stock up while you can!
I also put in a handful of the “The Big Chill Salty Bath Soak” from The Soak Life, or put this bath soak in the hot water by itself depending on if I’m in the mood for bubbles.
Epsom salt which soothes muscle pain, relieves joints, promotes the production of serotonin, and soothes aches
Australian Sea Salt which leave your skin with a glow, has an antibacterial effect, and removes dead skin cells
Himalayan Pink Salt which contains 84 minerals, draws out toxins, and relaxes cramps
Coconut Oil which nourishes/hydrates the skin, contains antioxidants that protect the skin from free radicals, and is antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory
I love the smell of “The Big Chill Salty Bath Soak” because when I close my eyes it’s like I’m laying on the beach in Boracay sipping a cocktail, with the salty breeze wafting around me.
Have A Good Night Sleep
Many of you probably don’t know that I work at Koala which sells Australia’s highest rated, and most rated mattress. Koala sells mattresses, bed sheets, and is going to release their own bed frame, pillow range, summer range, and many more products!
One of the major benefits of working at a sleep company called Koala is learning so much about sleep, and it’s importance. Having deep, undisturbed sleep is essential for your body to recover, you systems to relax, and for your long term health.
Not having sufficient sleep also results in an increase in stress in life. Insufficient sleep has been proven to increase irritability, make it harder to solve problems, increase your risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity.
Ever since I’ve been sleeping on my king size Koala mattress, I’ve found that I can fall asleep in a few moments instead of minutes, have deeper sleep for longer, and have less trouble waking up.
Why I love using the Koala mattress is that knowing the mattress is they donate a portion of the profits from each purchase to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, is 100% cruelty free, is 100% Australian made, has six zones for optimal spinal alignment, a firm base for back support, contains no heavy metals, no fire retardant chemicals, no phthalates, no ozone-deplete substances, no CFC’s, and the product process produces almost zero emissions.
If you want to buy a Koala mattress, you can use my code BUNNY150 for $150 off. I do not receive any commission for these sales, just the benefit of knowing someone now gets a good sleep!
As mentioned, I fall asleep in a matter of moments which is handy for getting enough hours of rest. The way I fall asleep so quickly is that I calm myself down as mentioned in the steps above, wind down by watching a movie or a few episodes with my fiance, put aside our devices, and just say what we’re happy about from today. These steps make me feel calm, safe, and relaxed!
What do you do to handle stress? Let me know in the comments below xx