5 WAYS TO REDUCE STRESS TO KEEP YOUR SKIN LOOKING HEALTHY AND VIBRANT

Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash

Taking care of yourself is the most important thing you can do. Many people rely on you to keep them going. That’s why it’s imperative for you to put yourself first. You can’t help others if you’re not in top shape. That goes for your mental health too.

Daily we are bombarded with stress. Stress on our jobs. Stress from our environment. Stress from worrying. Stress on our bodies from being inactive. Stress from being married. Stress from children. Stress from being single. Too much work. Too little work. Stress. Stress. Stress.

Too often the solution to reducing stress is a long vacation. This seems to work for a moment, but sooner rather than later the stress creeps in and threatens to destroy all that peace you gain when you were on vacation.

Stress is a silent killer. It causes diseases, illnesses, and pain throughout your body. It also causes you to overeat or not eat at all. In either case, this doesn’t help your body or reduce the stress you’re feeling.

You have to be diligent in fighting stress because your life could very well depend on it. What you need is to implement strategies on a daily basis to combat these daily stress factors. Below are five ways to help you. You can start small by implementing only one strategy. Then build yourself up to incorporating more than one of these ways. 

1. Move if you want to stay alive.

Believe it or not, exercise is one of the best things you can do for your skin. Your skin is the largest organ on your body. It filters out many toxins through sweating. The more toxins released from your body, the less your other organs have to work to keep you healthy.

Exercise doesn’t have to be something strenuous or boring. You can dance your life to health, walk, run, play on the trampoline, skate, swim or ride a bike to name a few fun things.

2. Breathe deeply.

Human beings have lost the art of deep breathing as a normal way of life. Now you must consciously think about breathing deeply. And that’s exactly what I want you to do, not just when you’re stressed.

Deep breathing benefits you by having less stress, stronger lungs, lower blood pressure, improved digestion, increased immune system, reduced anxiety and depression, and better posture.

The best news is that breathing deeply calms your nerves and allows your body to release built up tension. This reduces all types of problems.

Now let’s try this breathing exercise.

1. Sit straight up in a chair.
2. Pull in air through your nose, allowing your diaphragm to expand. Focus on peaceful thoughts, such as floating, relaxing, waterfalls, or quietness.
3. Hold for a count of 10.
4. Slowly blow out your breath through your mouth for as long as possible. Try to blow out the air longer than it took to suck it in.

Start by taking 5 minutes a day to breath deeply. Once you get used to doing this on a daily basis, try adding one or two more sessions to your day. After a week of deep breathing several times a day, compare how you feel to the week before. If you can see any improvement in how you handle stress, continue the process.

3. Cut work off at a certain time.

Work can be the worst stress factor of all. You’re always bombarded with more work than time to complete them. To fix the time issue you take work home or stay late to finish. Day in and day out you work hard.

Working without taking care of yourself causes an overload of stress. To combat this problem I propose you stop working at a certain time.

“But I can’t!” you shout. “I have all of this work that needs to be finished. Who else is going to do it if I don’t do it?”

“I have a business to run. If I don’t get this done, we don’t eat.”

“My boss expects me to work late.”

Changing how you do something is easier said than done. I know you think the world will fall apart if you don’t stay up late to finish that last report. Or you’ll be fired if you don’t work late. But will you really? If so, then maybe you should find a different job.

Did you ever hear the story about the man on his death bed crying over the fact he didn’t finish the report his boss wanted in the morning? I don’t think you have because no one cares about work when they’re dying.

What they care about is all the days they missed in their family’s and friends’ lives because they worked so hard. And you know something else. It’s what their family and friends are crying about too – all the missed days.

It’s nothing wrong with working hard. Just do it between certain hours. When those hours are done walk away. Enjoy your free time with yourself, your family and your friends.

The truth is that if you died today, your boss will replace you tomorrow or the next day. But your family will mourn forever. Give them the best times you can give now so their memories will be sweet later.

4. Take a break.

Sometimes you need to just stop what you are doing and take a break. I’m not talking about a 10-minute break. I’m talking about a real break. How about a 30 to 60-minute break? Give yourself enough time to relax your mind and give in to the moment.

Perhaps you can play your favorite music and dance around the room. Or listen to soothing music with a cup of coffee or tea. Maybe it’s time to finish that good book you started a while back. Perhaps you can finish or start a new craft project.

The point is to take time for yourself. Tell everyone else you need a moment to yourself. Then do whatever you want to do. Just you. Do something that brings you joy.

5. Get your beauty sleep.

They don’t call it beauty sleep for nothing. Improper sleep causes you to look tired and old. Your eyes develop bags under them. Your face looks blotchy. You feel miserable. Your patience is short. There’s nothing beautiful about this.

Sleeping allows your body to heal itself without you interfering. At night while you’re sleeping your body is trying to process all of your interactions during the day. Your organs break down all you’ve eaten for the day. They’re deciding what should be kept  and what should be eliminated? The sugar in your blood begins to drop. Your blood pressure goes down giving your vessels a time to rest. Your mind tries to figure out what’s important to keep in its memory bank and what it can put away for another day.

But the most surprising thing your body does while you’re sleeping is process emotions. Yes, emotions. You know that hectic and strain day you had, and you didn’t know what to do about it.

Well, the old adage, “Sleep on it and you’ll have a clearer head tomorrow” is true. Your mind processes all those emotions you built up during the day, properly handling all those chemical changes. It breaks down what is harmful so you can feel better when you wake up.

Sleep is your friend. Lean into it.

Let me know in the comments which strategy you try and how it worked out for you. If you have a strategy we can all benefit from knowing, drop it in the comments also.

We can be beautiful and healthy at the same time.