Stress Relief For The Soul
Stress Relief For The Soul
5 Ways To Improve Your Mind & Your Life
Everyone experiences stress from time to time. This is normal and proves to us our fight or flight modes are alive and well.
However, when we begin to experience chronic stress that interferes with our daily life and mental health, it can be a problem.
Have you been feeling overwhelmed and on edge lately? If so, you’re not alone. Regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, or gender, stress can affect you in more ways than you know. Not only can it make you more prone to depression and anxiety, but if left untreated, stress can wreak havoc on your physical health. A compromised immune system, sleeping problems, digestive issues, heart disease, and high blood pressure can all be symptoms of burnout or stress if left untreated.
So, how can you combat stress in a world that moves at the speed of light? This is what we're here for. Stick around to understand the different kinds of stress and how they affect you. And get suggestions from a specialized burnout therapist on what you can do about it.
What Is Stress?
Stress is our body's natural reaction to any situation we feel is threatening, overwhelming, or out of our control. We may experience emotional responses such as irritability, anger, fear, dread, anxiety, or depression.
You may experience stress in physical ways as well, feeling low energy, headaches, muscle tension, appetite changes, or an upset stomach.
Stress is caused by external factors such as:
Financial problems
Family responsibilities
Relationships
Health issues
Personal safety
The Three Types of Stress
People experience stress in three distinct ways. Understanding the different kinds can help you learn which coping habits will benefit you most.
Acute Stress: This type is short-term and fleeting. Imagine you almost got hit by a car while walking your dog. You may experience a brief period of stress afterward. However, your body's natural state soon returns to normal.
Chronic Stress: This type is the most damaging to our mental and physical health. It occurs in situations where stressors are long-lasting and rarely give a person the opportunity to recover. For example, being in an abusive relationship or living in a high-crime part of town.
Acute Episodic: The second type is acute episodic. This type occurs when you experience frequent, short-term stress. Think of a server at a busy restaurant. They likely experience periods of stress every night as it gets chaotic, however as the night dies down, their stress levels drop… only to return the next night.
5 Healthy Ways To Get Stress Relief
1. Get Your Body Moving:
We’ve all heard time and time again, that exercise is good for you. But why is a burnout therapist suggesting this as a tool to get relief? And in the case of stress, how does exercise play a role?
Well, when we get our bodies moving, we increase our endorphin levels (mood-boosting neurotransmitters) making us feel happier and giving us a more positive outlook on life. Additionally, exercise lowers our stress levels by reducing the amount of cortisol in our brains.
Aim for exercising 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week for optimal relief.
2. Utilize Mindfulness Practices:
While mindfulness has certainly increased in popularity over the last few years, it’s not a ‘fad’ that’s going to disappear anytime soon.
Mindfulness practices such as journaling, yoga, or meditation have been scientifically proven to reduce levels of stress and anxiety. When we journal, we allow all the racing thoughts that swirl in our heads a release. By putting our worries and fears onto paper, we can often come to realize they aren’t as bad as we once thought.
Meditation helps calm the central nervous system, our fight or flight center. When we practice meditation daily (even 5 minutes in the morning!) we train our CNS to better perceive situations as non-threatening, calming our defense responses.
3. Practice Breathwork:
It’s true, breathing can help provide stress relief. But... you breathe all day every day, right? Yes. But intentional, conscious breathwork has been shown to have monumental benefits on mental health.
Practicing long, deep breaths from the belly rather than the chest, can activate our parasympathetic nervous system - the ‘calming’ system in our brains.
One way to practice breathwork is to breathe in for 4 seconds through your nose, and out for 6-8 seconds through your mouth. Be aware of how you’re exhaling, envisioning all the negative energy being pushed out through your body.
4. Get Outside:
Spending time in nature has immense benefits for both mental, and physical health.
Getting fresh air and sunlight helps us slow down, and focus on what’s around us. Rather than the problems we are currently facing. Spending time outdoors has been researched and shown to reduce blood pressure, stress hormone levels, and nervous system arousal. While improving self-esteem and enhancing positive emotions.
Try going for a walk every morning to jump-start your day on a happy, healthy note.
5. Try Therapy for Stress & Burnout:
If you’ve tried all the home remedies you can think of, and you’re still feeling stuck in a prison of stress, there is no shame in reaching out for help from an online burnout therapist.
There are therapists out there who specialize in exactly what you’re going through. They are willing and able to assist you in overcoming these feelings.
Therapy for stress and burnout will not only give you an outlet to talk it through, but you’ll also learn valuable lifelong management skills. Which will help you with stress relief both now and for the rest of your life.
If you are looking for support to overcome your stress VDC Counseling can help. Not only with general stressors but also the stress of developing and maintaining a work-life balance.
You Can Overcome Stress!
With all the research coming out about how stress affects us, there’s never been a better time to take control of your mental health.
Not only does it make you more prone to depression and anxiety, but it can also damage your physical body on a cellular level.
Stress brings with it hypertension, migraines, weight gain, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, and more.
However, by practicing at-home remedies for stress relief, you can greatly enhance your quality of life now, and in the future. Get your body moving even for less than an hour a day to jumpstart your brain function. Practice getting all your thoughts out and onto paper. Breath long and slow each day to regulate your nervous system. And get out into nature as much as possible.
If you feel as though you’re not getting better, even with all the self-regulation techniques we’ve discussed, therapy for stress is always available. VDC Counseling can help you get on your way to your best, stress-free self.
Experience the freedom being stress-free can bring, you won’t regret it!
Want to Start Therapy for Burnout & Stress Relief in Arlington, VA?
When overwhelmed by stress taking the extra step to reach out for help can feel impossible. However, contacting a burnout therapist can make all the difference. At VDC Counseling I want to help you start living a full, happy, and healthy life with therapy for stress and burnout. Call for therapy near me. In order to get started follow these steps.
Just reach out to VDC Counseling for a free consultation
Meet with the most caring burnout therapist in Arlington, VA
Other Services I Offer in Virginia & Maryland
More than therapy for stress and burnout is offered at VDC Counseling in Alexandria VA. We specialize in EMDR and trauma therapy. Additionally, we provide therapy for work-life balance, anxiety treatment, and depression treatment. With our online therapy our services are available whether you are in Arlington, Falls Church, Bethesda or anywhere else within Virginia and Maryland. All of our mental health services are offered in both English and with therapy in Italian.