Tag Archives: stress management

Merry Making.

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For those of us who find Christmas to be a joyful and special time of year, it can definitely also be quite a stressful and exhausting time of year. One of the things I like most about the Holidays is all of the food. Food everywhere. And the best part is that it seems to also be the one time of year when Turtles, Toblerone, and toffee pudding are acceptable choices for a lazy morning breakfast… alongside an eggnog latte of course.

Tis the season of continuous consumption and often an excess of stress, so I say we combine the two and make the one work for the other. I love efficiency.

I thus give you a list of the:

TOP 5 STRESS REDUCING FOODS:

  • Blueberries: Foods high in Vitamin C aid in steroid hormone synthesis, which is needed to cope with stress. Blueberry crumble anyone?
  • Brown Rice: Whole grains like Brown Rice and Buckwheat are high in B vitamins which help the adrenals, increase energy, and aid in stress management. Mmmm… Rice pudding.
  • Green Vegetables: Nourish the body and create balance to help respond to stresses rather than react. Spinach salad with pecans, dried cranberries and goat cheese? Yes please.
  • Apricots: High in Magnesium. Magnesium has a very calming affect on the nervous system and can help you remain in a more parasympathetic state. Drop a few dried apricots into the mixed nut bowl.
  • Sweet Potatoes: When under stress the body is depleted in minerals specifically in potassium. Sweet potatoes are high in potassium and are also a great substitute for that carbohydrate craving under times of stress. Enough said.

So when it comes to these 5, eat, enjoy, and feel more merry.

Happy Christmas dear readers.

~Julia Kristina

The list of 5 is courtesy of Naturuopathic Doctors Sonya and Nicolas Jensen of Divine Elements Health Centre in Vancouver.

The Wisdom to Know the Difference.

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Today I developed a new appreciation for bus drivers. Perhaps it was because during my short 15 minute bus commute to work I saw my bus driver be the direct receiver of other people’s stress and frustration 3 times. Just a guy, doing his job, and doing it well – and all the while being blamed, targeted, held responsible, and insulted for literally doing nothing wrong. I don’t know about you, but I sure couldn’t do that job.

All this to say I imagine bus drivers and other individuals in those types of customer service roles have got to have some pretty heavy duty coping and stress management skills and techniques. Some of which likely include aspects of Stress Management Strategy Number 4:

 Accept the Things We Cannot Change.

Sometimes some stressors are unavoidable (think losing ones job, becoming ill, being yelled at by a stranger, being snapped at by a loved one…) In cases like these sometimes the best thing is to figure out how to accept things as they are. Of course this is often MUCH easier said than done, but in the long run, it’s a whole lot easier than fighting a situation we cannot change and may not have any control over.

In essence, don’t try to control the uncontrollable: We are much better off using our energy to think about and choose how we want to respond to uncontrollable situations (for example, the behaviours of others). We always have control over how we react.

Look for the upside: Overcoming and moving through challenging situations and interactions without losing ones cool is not only very satisfying but it also increases our capacity to handle difficulties without getting too, too ruffled.

Learn to Forgive: Although it would be nice if the world were fair, just, and hassle free, unfortunately it is not, nor will it ever be. Expecting it to be so only leads to unnecessary hopelessness, anger, and resentment. The world is imperfect and people make mistakes. If we can accept and bare this frustration we will free ourselves to enjoy life much, much more.

Talk to supports: A friend, family member, therapist… whoever we feel safe and comfortable talking to. Expressing what we’re going through can be very healing – even if there is nothing that can be done to change the stressful situation.

Fa la la la la.

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Tis the season to be a little (read: A LOT) more stressed than usual (and for many of us, yes, many lovely emotions do come with the Christmas Season package as well).

I read an article recently about stress management and although all of it was really useful, there was one section that stood out for me. It was Stress Management Strategy Number 1: Avoid Unnecessary Stress.

A note before we begin: not all stress can (or should) be avoided – many situations DO need to be actively and responsibly addressed. However, there are, in fact, many stressors in our lives that we CAN do away with.

  1. Learn how to say No. Become aware of, and stick to your limits. Take on the responsibilities you can realistically (emphasis added) handle and say no to the rest.
  1. Avoid people who stress you out – i.e. not always necessary to just grin and bear it (them). If someone consistently causes you stress and upset and the relationship can’t be changed, either limit how much time you spend with the person, or stop seeing them.
  1. Take control of your environment – For example: if traffic makes you tense, take a longer, but less travelled route, take the bus, ride your bike, or walk. If watching the news makes you frustrated and tense, don’t watch it. As a side note I was working with a client one time who said that watching the news just made him really worked up and angry. So I asked him what it would be like to watch the news less. Over that next week he did limit his news watching to 30 minutes and reported back that surprisingly his frustrations went down and his happiness went up. Funny how.
  1. Avoid ‘trigger’ topics (I love this one) – If you get upset when talking about religion or politics, don’t bring them up in conversation. If someone else brings up one of your hot-button topics in a discussion either change the subject or politely excuse yourself and go do something else.
  1. Modify your to-do list – take an honest look at your list of tasks and decipher between the ‘would-like to’s’ and ‘musts’. Drop the less necessary ones to the bottom of your list or take them off completely.

*Please note: All of the above are to be used seasonally. And by seasonally, I mean every season of the year.