Ease the transition from wake time to sleep time with a period of relaxing activities an hour or so before bed. Take a bath (the rise, then fall in body temperature promotes drowsiness), read a book, watch television, or practice relaxation exercises. Avoid stressful, stimulating activities—doing work, discussing emotional issues. Physically and psychologically stressful activities can cause the body to secrete the stress hormone cortisol, which is associated with increasing alertness. If you tend to take your problems to bed, try writing them down—and then putting them aside.
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Stress Hack: Need a Quick Fix from Stress?
- Sit in a chair and get comfortable with good posture.
- Place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your diaphragm (just above yourstomach).
- Spend a moment concentrating on your breath and notice how your body naturally breathes.
- Now bring your shoulders back slightly. By bringing your shoulders back slightly (with no strainon the neck), you open up your heart to receive more oxygen and blood flow.
- Practice paying attention to your breathing. When you inhale, your belly expands; when youexhale, your belly goes in and pushes out oxygen.6)Practice two to three slow inhales and exhales. As you get better at this exercise, spend moretime at each sitting. SOURCE
Longevity Tip: Stress & Anxiety Don’t Help
Think About It: Will What Your Worrying About Solve the Problem?
Anxiety and stress may significantly decrease your lifespan. For instance, women suffering from stress or anxiety are reportedly up to two times more likely to die from heart disease, stroke, or lung cancer. Similarly, the risk of premature death is up to three times higher for anxious or stressed men compared to their more relaxed counterparts. . . . Studies show that pessimistic individuals have a 42% higher risk of early death than more optimistic people. However, both laughter and a positive outlook on life can reduce stress, potentially prolonging your life.
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Stress Hack: Humor Is Your Friend
Find an alternative, funny image to focus on every time you start worrying. In a classic study of thought suppression, participants who were instructed not to think about a white bear ironically couldn’t stop themselves from thinking about a white bear. But, when given an alternative image, they could focus on that instead. My favorite image is a bright pink elephant on roller skates. When you start to worry or ruminate, think of your elephant!
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Stress Hack: Pop the Bubbles
Picture your worries as bubbles popping in the air, or as leaves floating down a stream. This is a mindfulness technique that can give you some distance from your worries.
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Stress Hack: Train Yourself When to Worry
Designate a Worry Time & Place
Make a “worry corner” in your house, or designate a chair as your “worry chair.” Allow yourself to worry about your stressor only when you’re in your worry chair or corner. Give yourself fifteen minutes two or three times a day to sit and worry. If worries come up at other times, either write them down or save them up for your next worry period. Soon your brain will learn to associate worry only with your worry chair and associate all your other activities with the absence of worry. In this way, you can satisfy your urge to worry in a controlled, time-limited way.
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Stress Hack: Slam the Brakes on Worry
Practice thought-stopping. Wrap an elastic band around your wrist, and snap it hard every time you notice yourself beginning to worry or ruminate. Shout aloud, “Stop!” (or shout it to yourself if it’s not socially appropriate to shout it out). Visualize a big red stop sign. Or visualize a detour sign, directing you onto a new mental track. You may even want to visualize a TV control that allows you to change channels by putting on a more positive or humorous mental program.
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Stress Hack: Does Worrying Help?
If you find yourself worrying . . . ask yourself how helpful the worry is. Are you actually finding new solutions and making concrete plans to implement them? Are you seeing the situation in a new light or in a more positive way? Do you feel better after thinking about the problem in this way, or do you feel worse? If you aren’t finding solutions and new perspectives and you feel worse, then the worry is unhelpful and it is more helpful to focus on something different.
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Stress Hack: Clench Your Right Fist
Clench and unclench your right fist a few times.
Clenching your right hand activates the left side of the brain, which is more verbal and logical. The right brain is more global and emotional. So, if you feel flooded by fear and anxiety (a right brain function), activating your left brain can prime you to think through the situation in a logical way instead.
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Stress Hack: Stand Tall
Stand up straight.
Standing upright not only makes you feel more confident, but it actually decreases stress hormones. A recent study in the journal Health Psychology found that people who had a slouchy posture while performing high-pressure tasks reported having more negative thoughts and feelings than those who sat upright. Other studies by researcher Amy Cuddy show that standing with an upright posture increases testosterone and decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This seems to cause people to feel less anxious and more assertive and confident.
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