1. Ensure Your Tank Is Full

Imagine that you have a tank in the center of your body, that tank is essentially your energy reserve. When our tank is low, we’re irritable, we’re impatient, we’re coping in the moment, and everything is perceived as more impactful than it necessarily may be. When your tank is full, you have the bandwidth to deal with stress and effectively communicate your needs. The energy in the tank is finite and needs to be refilled on a DAILY basis. In order to keep your tank full you need 4 things:

2. Healthy Food & Water

Have you eaten today? Have you eaten healthy food that fuels your brain as well as your body? It’s no secret that what we put in our bodies is important on a physical level, but did you know that food affects our mood too? Emerging research increasingly proves the link between diet and emotional well-being and has even led to a new branch of psychiatry called “Nutritional Psychiatry.” Considering that 90% of serotonin receptors are in the gut1 the connection makes sense! Guess what our guts love most—a vegetable-rich diet composed of whole unprocessed foods. 

And don’t forget the importance of hydration! Drinking water is so crucial to our emotional and physical health that it could be its own section. Tip: try frontloading your water intake at the start of the day by drinking a few glasses of water in the morning! Our brain is 73% water—let's make sure we are keeping it nourished!

3. Prioritize Sleep

Sleep. Some people love it, others wish they could live without it, but we all need it. A lot of it. The Sleep Foundation states that an adequate range of sleep for adults ages 18-64 is 7-9 hours per night. What’s more, we are supposed to stick to a regular sleep schedule to ensure we are getting optimal rest. Sleep can be a really tricky lifestyle change to implement, like eating an unprocessed diet, but in the end, it comes down to priorities. While some people can grow accustomed to getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night they will also grow accustomed to themselves functioning on less than optimal rest. 

What does functioning on less than optimal rest look like? “Some studies have shown sleep deprivation leaves people vulnerable to attention lapses, reduced cognition, delayed reactions, and mood shifts” (Foley, Sleep Foundation). This does not come as a huge surprise considering that a usual hallmark of lack of sleep is a grouchy mood. On a less obvious level, since sleep deprivation can affect cognition it follows that lack of sleep can also lead to increased misunderstandings, mistakes, and misperceptions: all things which can lead to work-related stress or stress in relationships. 

4. Exercise Everyday 

Whenever I go to the gym these days I’m doing it for my brain. Sure, having a toned physique is nice, but I’m more interested in what exercise does to our brain. After all, if you make it a nice place in there, life as a whole gets a little nicer too. So why does exercise work to help manage stress? It all has to do with the neurochemicals your brain releases when you’re working out. According to an article published by Harvard, “Exercise reduces levels of the body's stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. It also stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body's natural painkillers and mood elevators.”

Exercise leads to some truly glorious dichotomies in the body: you feel calm and stress-free due to lack of adrenaline and cortisol, but your endorphins will lead you to also feel invigorated and maybe even high— high on life! Plus, even if you’re not hitting the gym in the pursuit of a toned physique you will inevitably still make your way closer with every session and that will likely translate to an increase in self-esteem which is another potent stress reducer. 

Tip: if making time to go to the gym isn’t something that is available to you, remember, exercise doesn't have to be at a gym. Think of it like pennies in a piggy bank and each thing we do for movement adds up throughout the day. Try taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or parking at the back of the parking lot. Get outside during your lunch break or whenever you have a minute and walk, run, hike, etc. Every movement counts!

5.  Make Time for Joy

The last component necessary for keeping your tank full is joy. What makes you feel joy? It can be anything from watching funny cat videos to making time to talk on the phone with your friends. This final tank tenant is one that often gets shuffled to the back of the line in the name of productivity, but it is crucial because, without it, our drive will lessen over time along with our zest for life. There is a reason the french have the saying “joie de vivre,” which translates literally to “joy of living” and is about as straightforward as it gets. Aren’t we all striving for joy in our lives in some way? Make time for the things that fill you with joy; your future self with thank you.

If you are interested in learning more about your tank make sure to sign up for my free mini-course The 5 Simple Shifts!

6. Identify the Root Cause

If you’ve done the work to ensure your tank is full, but you are still feeling stressed, it’s time to go deeper. For example, you might find yourself feeling stressed because of what’s going on at work. If that’s the case, ask yourself whether you have the support you need there or whether you even like your job. From there, go underneath what is presenting as stress. Sometimes the solution can be as easy as having a conversation and communicating that your needs are not being met. Other times the solution can be more complicated like choosing whether or not you can leave a job that is making you crazy when you are living paycheck to paycheck. Whatever the case may be when you figure out what the root cause of your stress is you can begin coming up with a solution, and that in itself is empowering. 

7. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a practice available to anyone at any time. All you need to do is tune in to your body and mind. Take a minute, notice where your mind has been. Has it been sprinting around thinking about all of the tasks that need to be done today? Worrying about what people might think of you after you were tagged in an unflattering photograph? If you’ve never practiced mindfulness before you might be shocked to hear what you’ve been saying to yourself, but try to tune in without judgment. 

Sometimes it helps to shift awareness to your body and the physical sensations within it. Feel the weight of your body in its seat, or the way your lungs expand and contract as you inhale and exhale. The more aware you become of these minute movements, of being fully present, the easier it is to notice when your mind starts running around. As you become aware of your mind when it takes off in a direction that feels uncomfortable to you, you can consciously slow it back down.

8. Practice Gratitude

Stress is such a consuming emotion that it can be difficult to feel anything else when we are feeling stressed. Stress often comes with a sense of urgency, so we feel like whatever it is we’re stressing about needs to be resolved right away. It is because of that feeling of urgency that we might find that we are clinging to stress even though we certainly aren’t enjoying how it feels. Up until this point, we’ve mostly focused on stress management tips that need to be sustained over time to work, but what can we do when stress feels like it is all around us? 

Next time you are feeling stressed try taking out your journal and writing down three things you are grateful for. Ideally, this practice of gratitude is a practice that you make a habit of in your daily life for optimum results, but it can work in a pinch as well. A recent article from Psychology Today stated that “gratitude helps lower cortisol levels in our bodies by about 23 percent.” As we rack our brains for things we are grateful for, we shift our attention over to the positive, giving ourselves space to breathe, and time to get away from the mounting feelings of stress. 

9. Pull Your Emotional E-Brake

Whether our tank is full or not there will be times when our emotions feel overwhelming. Next time this happens try a 4:8 breath to restore your calm. Why does this work? When we breathe in we are collecting everything that is stored up in our body and giving our system the chutzpah it needs and when we exhale we are coming down and pulling the e-brake. By breathing in for 4 counts and then doubling the exhale and breathing out for 8 counts we ensure that the energy of pulling the e-brake supersedes that of the inhale resulting in a super soothing effect on the body and the nervous system!

10. See a Therapist or Coach

If you are putting into practice all of the tips we’ve discussed so far and you are still struggling to manage your stress it might be time to seek help in the form of a licensed therapist or coach. Finding a professional that you can lean on is invaluable because they can help you determine what is causing you stress and then help you come up with a stress management plan that works for you. I know a lot of people hesitate to find a therapist because the cost is holding them back, but investing in professional guidance is the ultimate investment because it is an investment in yourself, your future, and your relationships.

So there you have it! Ten highly effective stress management strategies that can be implemented over time and in a pinch to reduce out-of-control feelings of stress and instill a greater sense of mastery over your life. If you would like to learn more strategies to take you from surviving to thriving make sure to sign up for my upcoming free course: The 5 Simples Shifts!

1. Exercising to Relax - Harvard Health Publishing. Harvard Health. (2020, July 7). https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/exercising-to-relax. 

2. Foley, L. (2020, September 11). Why Do We Need Sleep? Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/why-do-we-need-sleep. 

3. Khorrami, N. (n.d.). Gratitude Helps Minimize Feelings of Stress. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/comfort-gratitude/202007/gratitude-helps-minimize-feelings-stress. 

4. Naidoo, U. (2019, January 16). Nutritional Psychiatry: The Gut-Brain Connection. Retrieved from https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/nutritional-psychiatry-gut-brain-connection

5. The Water in You: Water and the Human Body. (n.d.). https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/water-you-water-and-human-body?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects.