Although many people don’t like to speak about it, stress is extremely common in multiple people’s everyday lives. Some may have a high stress tolerance whereas others may have a lower stress tolerance. The only difference is, some people may know how to relieve their stress whilst others struggle.

There are multiple factors that contribute to stress:

• Feeling under pressure or overwhelmed

• Constant worry

• Changes to your personal life or working life

• Having no control over a particular situation

• Taking on too much responsibility without leaving time for yourself

• Family and personal relationship issues

• Grief

…and of course, there are many more factors too.

Is stress normal?

Stress is completely normal and you’ll find that if you’re struggling with it, then you’re not alone.

In the body, we have adrenal glands. Adrenal glands create a hormone called cortisol, which is released when the body enters a ‘fight or flight’ mode - stress. When you’re experiencing a stressful event, the cortisol in the body increases to help battle paramount challenges.

Although stress is commonly experienced by everyone, it doesn’t mean that it’s healthy. Untreated stress can lead to an array of issues both mentally and physically, that will require more treatment.

What are the side-effects of stress?

There are different side effects of stress on the body, yet not a lot of people realise it.

• Headaches

• High blood pressure

• Heart problems

• Breathing problems

• Diabetes

• Digestive issues

• Muscle aches

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Sleep deprivation

These are only a few of the side-effects of stress, and there are a lot more.

How can you de-stress at home?

Helping to reduce your stress at home is completely possible, and there are many ways you can achieve this.

Mindfulness

Practising mindfulness helps you to gather awareness of your thoughts and feelings. Pick yourself a daily activity, and focus on being present for a few moments. The activity could be finding what you’re grateful for, focusing on breathing techniques or taking part in yoga.

Call someone you can rely on

Having a conversation with someone you can rely on, can help to decrease your stress levels. Your ‘support person’ can listen to your problems, reassure you and help you to unwind. Remember, a problem shared is a problem halved after all!

Exercise

When you exercise, you release endorphins that in a nutshell are feel-good chemicals. Exercising helps you to blow off steam, refocus your mind on what’s important, reground yourself back into reality and settle whatever thoughts may be intruding your mind. Also, fresh air is a wonderful thing!

Release your creativity

Being creative often requires a lot of focus, so this is a great way to divert your mind onto something more positive.

Do something you enjoy such as baking, cooking, painting and upcycling to give your mind a break. Let your mind float free!

Practice self-care

Self-care is super important because you’re looking after yourself! 

Self-care can be in the form of anything - a bubble bath, cooking your favourite meal, watching your favourite film or reading an indulgent book. We spend the majority of our time doing things for others such as working, caring or looking after a family if we have one, and rarely take that time out to have a breather for ourselves.

Be in the moment

This one may be easier said than done, but when you practise it it’s easier to maintain than you think.

Even though stress can happen when we’re building up emotions from a specific moment, a lot of it can fall on us looking in the past or towards the future. Being in the moment allows us to focus on what truly matters at that time, without being blinded by future possible stresses, or ones that have been and gone.

Here are just a few ways to help you reduce your stress levels and keep them at bay. Although there are ways to help reduce our stress, if it becomes unmanageable then please seek medical advice from your doctor.