Feeling stressed? Here’s how to reverse it! 

Sustained busyness and or stress over long periods creates a major load on your system and can lead to serious illness and dis-ease. However science is now showing that our body is equally capable of activating the relaxation response, as it is the stress response. Effectively science supports what many of us know intuitively; that through simple everyday healthy rituals we can reverse the damage caused by prolonged stress and busyness.

Human beings are by nature creatures of habit and often these habits are created unconsciously. So how do we let go of these old habits and consciously create new healthy habits?

A growing body of research shows that repeatedly resisting temptations using willpower takes a toll on us mentally. Some experts liken willpower to a muscle that can get fatigued from overuse. With the awareness that your willpower is a finite resource, it’s important we use this resource wisely to create new habits consciously, which will eventually begin running on autopilot.

Here are some of our top tips for creating healthy new habits.

• When you commit to installing new habits and deleting old ones it is essential that you give yourself plenty of effective feedback
• Feedback maintains the momentum and helps you get back on track when you slip up
• Remember, to create sustained behavior change, small incremental steps regularly are inevitably more effective than big action taken sporadically
• Think about the best time of the day for you to install your new habit, the AM/PM bookends of your days is usually a great place to start
• Get yourself an accountability buddy; a friend, coach or mentor and check in regularly

If you are ready to start taking small daily steps to improve your energy and start thriving right where you are this next activity is for you.

Design your ‘daily five to thrive’;

Ultimately this is all about taking responsibility for your wellbeing by making it a part of your daily routine. The ‘daily five to thrive’ are consciously created habits to support your wellbeing on multiple levels; mentally, physically, socially, spiritually and emotionally.

• Review the list of ideas below and select the five healthy habits that could have the greatest impact on your life right now
• Write them down
• Share your goal with someone
• Focus on implementing one habit at a time for a couple of days so you can get in to a routine with it before adding the next

Remember small steps regularly.

Healthy habit ideas;

1. Drink hot lemon water each morning
2. Mindful eating – chew your food well (20-30 times each bite)
3. Eat dinner before 7.30pm
4. Avoid caffeine after 12:00pm
5. Drink herbal tea and/or green tea
6. Replace sugar with stevia
7. Stay hydrated – drink 8 glasses of water per day
8. Eat colourful alive fruit or vegetables
9. Try a probiotic or eat fermented foods daily to aid in digestion
10. Take a good dose of high quality magnesium before bed
11. Vitamin C and complex B especially when stressed (always check with doctor for specific deficiencies)
12. Pack from home what you need to eat for lunch each day at the office so you can control what you eat
13. Make super-power green smoothy (add spirulina)
14. Practice mindfulness and or meditation
15. Create thinking time, yes put it in the diary
16. Plan your day – use tools like Pomodoro, digital calendar, paper diary
17. Brain-dump – It takes mental energy to remember things so clear your head by writing them down
18. Read and/ or listen to motivational material: reading and listening to inspirational books/ audio books
19. Visualize the day ahead see the successful completion of the outcomes
20. Reflect and review the day and give yourself feedback
21. Draw, paint, colouring
22. Create your third space – transition mindfully between activity and roles during the day
23. Say ‘I Love You’ make a call, send a message, reach out
24. Make a heartfelt connection with someone and get the Oxycontin flowing
25. Give someone a hug
26. Play with kids, animals, toys or games
27. Gratitude list – Write down at least three things you are thankful for
28. Affirmations and embedded commands – ‘you’ve got this’, ‘I can let this go’
29. Journal writing old fashion analogue style with pen and paper
30. Listen to music – background music like Beethoven is proved to increase focus and productivity
31. Mindful body-scan
32. Loving kindness meditation
33. Power napping – no longer than 20mins is recommended
34. Learning something new every day
35. Enjoy sunset or sunrise
36. Put your bare feet on the earth – Earthing
37. Go to sleep at the same time each night
38. Dim the lights at least half hour before bed
39. Use sleep sounds app listen to ocean, rain, forest sounds or binaural beats
40. Practice breathing exercise (4 counts breathing in, 3 counts holding breath,6 counts breathing out)
41. Turn off all technology before bed – use aeroplane mode and switch of wifi
42. Tense up all of your muscles, and then relax them, repeatedly, until you feel completely relaxed
43. Floss your teeth mindfully
44. Teeth pulling with quality coconut oil
45. Take regular breaks and intentionally change the channel (50/10 25/5 15/2)
46. Hour of power – Schedule toughest task in your most productive time slot and remove all distractions
47. Schedule specific times for emailing (i.e. 30mins at 11am and 3pm)
48. Disconnect from social media and create specific times for these activities i.e. while on public transport
49. Switch off all notifications and pop ups
50. Educate your self watch Tedtalks and youtube
51. Take the stairs
52. Deskercise or standing desk
53. Stretch and oxygenate your muscles
54. Connect with nature, go outside
55. Move your body, walk, run dance -exercise for 20 minutes or longer

What will be your new daily five to thrive? Let us know how you go!