Thoughts on Stress Free Living

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Do you dream of being stress free? Peaceful? Serene?

The following thoughts on stress free living will move you closer to your dream of peace and serenity.

If you are like most people, you have a lot of stress in your life and you want to feel better. You wonder, if it is possible to live stress free and to enjoy happiness, good health, and peace in your life.

While stress is a natural part of life, there is much that you can do for yourself to bring peace and calm into your life. Here are some of my thoughts on stress free living. In no particular order:

Think positively

You don't have to be in denial to think positively. Positive thinking is accepting the negative and focusing on the positive.

Think about a situation that feels stressful to you. What are your thoughts? Are they negative? If so, change them to positive. For example,

Negative: "My marriage is terrible. My husband never listens to me and he never helps around the house."
Positive: "I have some challenges in my marriage. I will try something new. Right now, this stress does not feel good to me."

See how you can change it around and feel better?

Forgive

What does it mean to forgive? Does it mean to condone harmful actions of another person? No. That's not what forgiveness means.

To forgive means to "be in favor of giving" - For-give. When you for-give, you give to yourself a gift. With forgiveness you give to yourself a gift of stress relief and freedom.

Take care of your body

Your body needs proper nourishment to help you deal with stress. Eat a balanced diet and never skip breakfast. Stay away from sugar, white flour, and unhealthy fats. Avoid addictive substances like coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol - they create more stress in your body.

No thoughts on stress free living would be complete without mentioning exercise. Find an exercise that you like and stick with it. Yoga, cardiovascular exercise, jogging, sports, or tai chi - all are examples of great ways to exercise your body.

Feed your mind

Your mind is an important part of you as a whole. Feed it it with knowledge. Go to a library and browse through books. What interests you? Learn something new. Pick up a subject that you don't know much about and you are curious about. Give your mind a little workout.

You can also learn more about stress. Studies show that simply by learning about stress, you reduce your stress levels. Click here to learn what is stress.

Nourish your soul

What nourishes your soul? A prayer, meditation, inspirational stories and books? Whatever it is, take time to nourish your soul every day.

Learn to communicate well

Good communication skills can help you reduce misunderstandings, motivate people, and encourage cooperation. Learn how to communicate your feelings and your needs in a non threatening way. Use "I" statements to express how you feel.

"John, I feel angry when you don't pick up after yourself."

Take an assertiveness or communication skills course. Or, pick up a good book or two on the subject.

Be grateful

One of my favorite thoughts on stress free living is to be grateful. Much has been written about the power of gratitude on our lives and our health. What is gratitude and why is it so powerful?

Gratitude is being grateful for what you have. There is always someone who is worse of than you are. You have clothes, shelter, food, and internet. There are many who don't No matter how big or small, acknowledge what you have and be grateful for it.

The power of gratitude is that you simply cannot feel stress when you are in a state of gratitude.

Laugh

Laughter is a powerful medicine. It strengthens your adrenal glands, releases anxiety, tension, and anger. It is physically impossible to produce stress hormones while you are laughing. It is also impossible to feel depressed with a smile on your face.

It is like a healing tonic for your whole body. In his book "Anatomy of a patient", Norman Cousins talks about how he healed himself from a terminal illness with laughter. Laugher heals.

Laugh hard, laugh much, and laugh often.

Learn relaxation techniques

There are many relaxation techniques that can help to calm your nervous system and Experiment with several of them and see which on you like. When you find the one you like - practice it every day. You may want to start to learn how to use your breath for relaxation. 

Connect with nature

And the last of my thoughts on stress free living - get out into the nature! Weather you go for a walk, a hike, dig in your garden, or just sit under a tree, it does not matter. The important thing is to connect and spend time in nature every day.

You can always stop for a minute and breathe in fresh air. Feel the ground underneath your feet and the fresh air on your cheeks. Imagine long roots growing from your feet deep into the earth. Nature has wonderful healing effects. Connect with it.

 

Gradually, implement these thoughts on stress free living and your life will change. You will be in control of your life, you will experience feelings of peace, calm, and serenity.

For more thoughts on stress free living:

Fun Ways to Relieve Stress
Instant Relaxation Exercises
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Progressive Relaxation
Autogenic Relaxation
Muscle Relaxation Technique

 

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