By Emily Anderson
It’s time to start being more aware of your lifestyle and potentially stressful habits! When your body goes into fight or flight mode, your Adrenal Gland generates a “stress hormone” called cortisol. While this is a natural bodily response to stressful situations, high levels of cortisol can increase your heart rate and blood pressure. Too much stress is not healthy, and not fun either.
But don’t worry, stress isn’t ALL bad; you can have good stress too! And when you generate good stress, the bad stress tends to go away! For example, cortisol is released when you exercise. Your body needs this type of stress, and it can be beneficial in strengthening your heart, memory, immune system, and regulate your blood pressure and sugars. There are six core values that Lakeland wants you to start thinking about, and implement into your daily life, in hopes of promoting healthy stress.
Have you ever considered that your messy schedule makes you more likely to work longer hours than you’d like? Keeping an ORGANIZED and realistic schedule will help you to check off your to-do list in an efficient, and sustainable way. Block off a realistic amount of time for each task, and don’t be afraid to take breaks! These breaks are crucial, keeping you from getting burnt out. And you’ll feel more relaxed when taking them because you’ve scheduled the rest of your to-dos around that break-time.
Once you’re properly organized, you can RELAX. Put an emphasis on your relaxation time, you deserve it! Strive for 7-8 hours of sleep at night and aim to keep your sleep schedule consistent. This is crucial to waking up and feeling refreshed and ready for a new day.
NOURISH your body with good food and lots of water. It’s easy to over-eat or grab the unhealthy, easy option when you’re feeling stressed. Sometimes, you skip meals altogether. Your body and mind need you to feed yourself so they can work properly! This means well-rounded, balanced meals, and lots of water! By practicing these great habits, you’ll end up having more time, and be more mindful about how you fuel your body.
Don’t forget to MOVE! If you work an office job, you likely spend most of your day sitting. After a long day of sitting, you’ll likely feel like going home and doing some more sitting! Apart from many health benefits, good exercise, a walk outdoors, or lap around the office every hour can help to refresh your mind and decrease any anxiety or stress that you may feel.
CONNECT with others. If you’re feeling stressed out, there’s a good chance your neighbour is too. We should all be kind and take care of each other, sometimes all anyone needs is to have someone to relate to.
Having a CREATIVE outlet is a great way to distract your mind and put your emotion to a task. Let the stress flow from your head to your fingertips, and onto a canvas. Listen to some music to get you inspired and motivated. Creativity can bring out the confidence you need to keep going!
References: Premier Health, August 23, 2022