The Best Way To Relieve Stress & Avoid Overwhelm

This article was first seen on NateAnglin.com. To see original article, click here. Stress is like the older brother I never had.

He beats me up, teases me, and takes my food when I’m not looking.

Just last month he beat me up really bad. Our email host, Bluehost (terrible), had an issue which resulted in our Virtual Private Server (VPS) being shut down for 24 hours. What this meant was no emails going in and no emails going out for Skylink.

Talk about stress. I was frantically panicked doing everything in my power to yell and scream to get our emails back. The stress lasted late into the night, 12 am to be exact.

I was mentally beaten up, and decided to go to bed.

In the morning our emails were back and the stress was over.

Sleep is one of the best ways to relieve stress. [TWEET THIS]

No, it didn't magically make our emails come back to life, but it did give my mind the ability to chill out and refresh.

Why sleep is so important

Sleep and stress have a hateful relationship.

When you’re stressed, you’re not sleeping and when you’re not sleeping, you’re stressed.

In several research studies (here, here) disruptive sleep affects stress responsivity.

In other words when you're not sleeping your tolerance for stress goes through the roof.

When you get quality sleep your memory improves, quality of life rises, inflammation subsides, creativity increases, attention sharpens, weight is healthy, stress is manageable, depression stalls, and the list can go on and on. Should I continue?

One of the most critical ways to relieve stress is to just sleep it off.  Now, this is easier said than done. If you have sleeping problems, or just need better quality of sleep, put a couple of strategies in your sleeping arsenal.

Prep your sleep sanctuary

Your sleep sanctuary is your bedroom. It’s the royal grounds of your life.

This is where you recover from being a human. This is where the life altering changes during sleep happens. Sleep less and be miserable, or sleep well and live well.

Here are a few strategies you should adopt today:

• Eat a few hours before bed. Give your body time to digest.
• Limit your fluid intake a couple of hours before bed.
• Black out your shades. No light should come in to your room from the outside, your phone, alarm clock, TV or any other device. Completely black.
• Make your room nice and cool. Research says 65°F but that's too cold for me.
• Get ear plugs and block out unnecessary noise.
• Turn your phone on airplane mode and turn off all WiFi connectivity. This will cut your EMF exposure and help create a sleep sanctuary.
• Reduce your blue light exposure at least 2 hours before bed. No electronics. I like to use candles after 9pm.

Sleeping well may not be normal for you, while stress is.

It’s about making conscious efforts to change bad habits and promote higher quality of sleep.

Your stress level is depending on it.

Do you sleep well? Are you always stressed? Comment below and share your sleeping habits.

5 Ways To Reduce Stress With Silence

This article was first seen on NateAnglin.com. To see original article, click here. Gaze into your eyelids and breathe. Think of nothing, and end up in the middle of yourself.

Crazy, right?

In this hectic world, silence may seem like a dream, a fantasy, a scarce jewel you'll never find.

Silence is a scarcity, while stress is the new age commodity.

As you run and cater to the demands of life, your stress levels rise and you become a tyrant of sanity. Your life seems like a chaotic dance of one thing to the next.

From a demanding boss, to screaming kids. From engineering pressures to financial overwhelm.

You dance beautifully with chaos, but if you're anything like me, dancing is never graceful.

Life’s stresses are managed through healthy habits, but it can also be cured with just silence.

The science of silence

Mediation is a mind-body connection. It’s a way for you to focus your attention and end the jumbled stream of thoughts that create a world of chaotic anxieties.

Many people think of meditation as “weird” or not worth their time. But in fact the people who think this are worse off.

The power of silence can literally change who you are. Yes, literally!

“In a study published last year in the Journal Stroke, 60 African-Americans with atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, practiced meditation for six to nine months. (African-Americans are twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease) The meditators showed a marked decrease in the thickness of their artery walls, while the nonmeditators actually showed an increase. The change for the meditation group could potentially bring about an 11 percent decrease in the risk of heart attack and an 8 percent to 15 percent decrease in the risk of stroke.”

If that wasn't enough:

“A second study, published last year in Psychosomatic Medicine, taught a randomized group of 90 cancer patients mindful meditation (another type of practice). After seven weeks, those who had meditated reported that they were significantly less depressed, anxious, angry and confused than the control group, which hadn't practiced meditation. The meditators also had more energy and fewer heart and gastrointestinal problems than did the other group.”

The power of silence and meditation can change the way you think, feel and act. It’s a way for you to calm your mind and be present in the now and limit the clutter overflowing your mind.

Meditation strategies for coping with stress

There are many ways to be silent. Sitting on the couch watching TV doesn’t count.

Pick one of these 5 strategies and begin to see yourself transform.

1) Sitting in silence: Pick a dark quiet room and sit in a chair. With your hands on your knees slowly close your eyes. Focus on your natural breath, nothing else. When a thought comes into your mind just let it go and return to your breath. Set a timer and do this for 10 minutes a day. You can also try guided mantra, and mindfulness meditation. Whatever you choose the goal is the same.

2) Yoga: You perform a series of postures and controlled breathing exercises to encourage flexibility of your body and calmness of your mind. As you move through poses that require balance and concentration, you're encouraged to focus less on your busy day and more on the moment.

3) Working-out: As you perform an exercise, focus on proper breathing and good form. Much like yoga you’ll be focusing more on the moment and less on your busy day.

4) Take a walk: As you walk focus on a sensation or a sight. Don’t try to dissect the sensation just feel it and let it be. Or you could simply focus on your breath. Would you have ever thought walking could be a form of meditation and low-level exercise combined?

5) Get in the tub: Fill your tub with hot warm water that’s comfortable for you. Don’t make it too hot or cold where you start thinking about the temperature. Make it just right. Light one candle and place it in front of you. Breathe normal and feel your body relax. As you relax focus your attention on the candle. Watch the way it moves and dances. Don’t dissect it, just watch it. Focus on nothing but the candle.

As you can see there are plenty of meditation strategies for coping with stress. Science even validates this.

Meditation is no longer some fru-fru, hippy hugging adventure.

It has true and tangible benefits.

Sit silent, decrease your minds clutter and feel a more fulfilled stress free you.

Have you tried one of these meditation strategies for coping with stress? Comment below.

Simple Strategies To Overcome Stress With Exercise

This article was first seen on NateAnglin.com. To see original article, click here. I have a scary visual for you. Did you know that 7 out of 10 adults in the United States say they experience stress or anxiety on a daily basis?

This isn’t the dinosaur chasing you type of stress our ancestors (very old ancestors) dealt with.

No, it’s modern day media in your face, boss yelling in your ear, and constant barrage of emails screeching in your inbox kind of stress.

Whether you’re in aviation or a number crunching junky on wall street, stress affects every part of your body.

We've talked about stress many times (here, here, here and here) and what you can do to combat it.

Just like your nutrition habits, you're more than likely to make excuses for easy remedies. There are a ton of easy workouts that can help relieve stress.

The benefits of exercise

Exercise isn’t just for health junkies (that would be me) and bodybuilders (only in my dreams).

Getting active is a natural human occurrence. Just until the 20th century have we plopped our butts into chairs for hours at a time. Thank you TV and thank you modern-day business environments.

We've not only become sedentary, but also neglected the best ways to alleviate stress.

Exercising is one of these ways.

Brain - body connection: Stress directly affects the brain with its vast nerve connections, so when your brain is stressed so is your body. Taking care of both is crucial to your stress busting endeavors.

Endorphin processing greatness: When you’re physically active your body produces endorphins, the little chemicals in the brain that act as natural painkillers.

Improved sleep: Research has shown that exercise increases slow wave sleep, the most restorative type. It also balances your circadian rhythm promoting daytime alertness and night-time “sleepiness.”

A form of meditation: When you're physically active you’ll often times forget about the days’ irritations and focus only on what you're doing in the moment. This brief single task focus (meditation) may help you keep calm in everything you do.

Increases confidence: When you set exercise goals and achieve them you get a boost in self-confidence. Not to mention the added benefit of how you look in the mirror.

Increases oxygen to the brain: Exercising increases your heart rate, which pumps more oxygen to your brain. Simple right? It also stimulates the brain's plasticity by stimulating growth of new connections between cells. Research also suggests that it increases growth factors, making it easier for your brain to grow neuronal connections.

3 steps to becoming more active

“I’m too tired”, “I don't have time”, “Exercise isn’t fun”, blah, blah, blah.

We often make excuses for things we do not enjoy and things in which we do not have a goal for.

Exercise is much easier if you're focused on a goal.

Step 1: Set a goal to reduce stress levels by 50%. Write it down and post it somewhere you always look.

Next, think of 7-10 activities you enjoy and write them down.

Step 2: Commit to doing 1 activity for 15 - 30 minutes per day for one week. Rotate the activities each day.

Activities such as throwing the frisbee, walking the dog, climbing a tree, chasing your kids around the house, jump roping, boxing, and the list can go on.

The next and final step is to get moving at work.

Step 3: Choose 2 strategies that help you become more active at the office

I do an office workout and use a stand-up desk every day.

Office workouts that relieve stress are a great strategy to keep blood flowing and to ease your mind. Yes, even during an AOG.

Gone are the days of spending hours in the gym, just add activity into your daily life.

How do you get physically active during the day? If you don’t, explain why. Comment below.