Take a Moment to Regroup

Growing up I remember people telling me that time flies but I never believed them; I thought I couldn't wait another MINUTE to be grown up and married with kids of my own. NEWS FLASH: I graduated high school 7 years ago, have been married for almost 4 years, a college graduate for 3 years, and had a baby 1 1/2 years ago. I think its safe to say that I believe them now.

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With spring, comes a whirlwind of activities. Get togethers are scheduled, gardens are started, after school functions are planned, spring cleaning lists are written; every one seems to wake up and remember there are other humans out there when they see the buds starting to show. After a long winter, its no wonder that we feel the need to get out and socialize, but I would caution you to not fill up your calendar too quickly. Remember to take time for yourself and your family. If your friends are what they say they are, then they will understand if you turn down the invitation to hang out here and there. Amidst busy schedules, it is very important for you to take time to regroup and focus in on the the things that really matter in your life. For me, that is my family and God.

I have really been trying hard to focus on my daughter lately; give her my full attention when we are home together. Too often I find myself on Facebook or Pinterest multiple times a day "just checking on something REAL QUICK". My daughter is happy kid and I think that she and I have a good relationship but I want to cherish the moments I have with her at this stage in life. Her world is so big right now and she is exploring everything she sees; I want to be right there with her rediscovering things all over again. It is a difficult task to entertain a toddler all day, I admit, but nobody ever said that parenting was easy. I have "to do" lists started all over the house, including my "to do" list for the specific day's tasks, but I am trying to retrain my brain to not focus my day on the lists. When I focus on my lists, neither I nor my daughter have a good day because I just get frustrated when she doesn't want to help me clean the bathroom or make 3 dozen tortillas for an hour  (C'mon, isn't that what every 1 1/2 year old kid wants to do with their mom?) and she gets frustrated because mommy is distracted and not playing with her. So for now, the lists will be written, but I will be writing in activities to do with my daughter too so that I'm not left checking Pinterest throughout the day for play ideas appropriate for her.

Apparently April is National Stress Awareness Month, with tomorrow being National Stress Awareness Day. (Anyone feeling stressed today? Hope you got your taxes filed in time!) So maybe tomorrow is the perfect day to start taking some time for yourself. Get some exercise and get those endorphins going, read a good book, take a long shower or bubble bath, play games with loved ones, or go get a massage. Review your planner and weed out the fluff that is just there because you felt bad about saying no. Make a point each day to go over your priorities so that you see your day in the right light. It is amazing how different a day can feel when you are focused on the things you care about. 

*For more info about National Stress Awareness Month/Day, check out http://stressawarenessmonth.com/. They also have a free e-book with ways to alleviate stress. 

Learning the Art of Stress Management

Stress is something that affects us all.  Whether it is physical, mental, or emotionally dragging you down, it is important to remember we need to try to maintain composure and keep stress to a minimum if possible.  How you deal with your stress is very individualized and important.

There have been several studies done that link high stress with aging.  To me, it seems like common sense.  Stress affects us on a cellular basis.  Stress affects our organs.  Stress affects our brains ability to process and can negatively affect our health on a number of fronts, so why wouldn't it affect the aging process too?

In an age where it seems that we all need to find the "fountain of youth" through the stress of our daily lives, I find that awareness plays a key role in our ability to cope and manage stress minimizing its negative impact on the quality of our life.  Stress management could be the best answer to our anti-aging needs!  Just a thought...

When you feel stressed, do you recognize it?  Your heart rate might increase, tension in your muscles might also increase as well as just over all feeling drained.  I would like to suggest taking a few moments to write down what is causing you immediate stress.  Draw your awareness to the situations that cause you the most stress and find a ways to cope.  Most of the time stress affects us whether we know it or not.  If we become aware of what stress is negatively affecting us, we can make smarter decisions to cope and our overall wellness will be better off....AND we might save ourselves the bags under our eyes as well as a few added wrinkles.

I have compiled a list of helpful stress coping activities that may help you deal with what life throws at you day to day:

1. Keep a journal at work or your office.  Every morning before you start your day, take 5 minutes to write down everything bothering you at the present moment and once you close that book--you are not to visit the topic again.  This has been extremely helpful to me.
2. When you feel something is causing you stress, take a 5 minute walk around to cool off.
3. Breathe in.  Breathe out.
4. Learn the art of perspective.  Keep the major problems in perspective to minimize the stress of the situation.  It is a hard practice to keep, but once you realize what you think is a big deal really isn't that big of a deal your stress will decrease.
5. Allow yourself to take regular breaks.  This will ensure you are not overloading yourself.
6. If one project is starting to get to you, stop in your tracks.  Switch to something else for a little bit, then revisit the other.  This will allow your mind to breath before being crazy sets in and you are stressed out.
7. Practice yoga...I am not kidding, it will help your mind focus and begin to block out the stress.  Focusing in your energy, stretching, and allowing for peaceful meditation will help you cope with the physical and mental stress.
8. Learn to say no.  Most the time I think stress is brought on by my inability to say, "I am sorry, but I just can't do it today!" As a whole, then it makes you feel bad.  Don't allow saying no to make you feel bad.  Learn not to over extend yourself.
9. Make time for you.  Whether it is working out, getting a massage, or your nails done you have to make time for yourself to breathe.

These are just a few activities that I practice to help with daily stress.  I challenge you to become the master of Stress management!  You can do it!

Remember to make time for your mental sanity through it all.  It doesn't do you any good to stress yourself out.  It has a negative affect on you and on others especially if you are in a job to which you deal with customers and people all day.  I would rather know I am coping and dealing with stress to the best of my ability and not passing the stress on to those I encounter throughout the day.  :-)

-Catie Manning, Hairstylist