5 practical tips on how to reduce stress, worry less and live better

It's the same with stress. It manifests itself to us on all these five levels and we can also tackle it on any of these five levels. In the rest of the article, I will explain in detail how stress manifests itself on an individual level, and I will give you a few more suggestions along with information on how you can help yourself to get into a more harmonious state and get in better touch with yourself.

My general advice on how to deal with stress on a physical level is:

- eat balanced

- move well

- sleep smart and

- relax more!

It is great to deal with stress on the physical level according to the principle of four equal areas described by the English doctor dr. Rangan Chatterjee in his book The 4 pillar plan:

- food,

- movement,

- sleep and

- relaxation.

In all these areas, stress on our body can also be expressed. Typical signs would be:

- inappropriate eating - excessive feeding or insufficient intake of food

- dehydration

- diarrhea or constipation

- the increased use of stimulants (coffee, alcohol, sugar)

- more sitting than usual

- pain in the neck, lower back, stomach or muscles

- muscle stiffness

- cardiovascular disorders such as high blood pressure

- shallow breathing

- frequent colds

- sleep problems or lack of sleep

Managing stress starts with paying attention to what we put in our mouths and how we move.

A balanced diet, exercise, sufficiently good hydration and taking care of a minimum or zero intakes of alcohol, drugs, caffeine, nicotine and sugar will definitely help the body to deal effectively with stress. The body is our first ally in dealing with stress, and when we don't take care of it, we risk a lot. Of course, it is also good to make sure that in the flood of conflicting information and different views on what is useful and what is not, we do not create additional mental or emotional stress by cycling in our thinking - if, for example, we eat a piece of chocolate more than is "right".

But sometimes it happens that we find ourselves in (or after) a period when we neglected movement and then we want to make up for everything that we missed in terms of movement in the previous period and as a result we exaggerate with activities. In these cases, this means stress for our body, and if we want to reduce it, just don't overdo it!

If we want to increase the body's capacity to deal with stress, the quantity and quality of sleep is crucial. It is very important that we take enough time to sleep so that we are rested when we get up. If we succeed in this, it is already a good sign for our general well-being. If we don't, it's a sign that we need to look a little deeper at certain things in our everyday life. Most of the time, it's a matter of priorities, which we determine completely unconsciously, and behind this there are often emotional factors.

Relaxation is also a particularly important factor in coping with stress, especially if we tend to overdo it with work or physical activity. The easiest portable relaxation medicine available to everyone is conscious breathing.

Just by stopping, focusing on breathing and trying to deepen it a little, most of the time it helps to relax.

There are many simple breathing relaxation techniques, and among the simplest are:

1. breathing, when the length of the inhalation is followed by an exhalation twice as long,

2. box breathing or breathing according to pattern 4444. In this case, we focus on inhalation and exhalation and on holding the breath between them. All phases of breathing are of the same length, so e.g. you can count to four while inhaling, while holding your breath between inhalation and exhalation, exhaling and while holding your breath between exhalation and inhalation. In both cases, you repeat each cycle at least seven times, and this is usually enough to "reset" your nervous system.

But you have to be aware that the side effect of deep breathing is often more intense feeling, which means that you can get in touch with feelings very quickly with these exercises. Then we jump to the next, emotional level.

Typical signs of emotional stress are:

- feeling restless

- anxiety

- feelings of guilt and transference of blame to others

- increased irritability

- outbursts of anger

- increased sadness, depression

- loneliness and social isolation

- relationship problems, argumentativeness and lack of fulfilling relationships

- problems with sexuality

When feelings are unpleasant, we have a tendency to avoid them or try to suppress them, which only increases our stress. Therefore, the first step to reducing stress is to acknowledge our emotions and feelings, whether they are pleasant or unpleasant.

The second step is to express them. It often happens that we cannot express our feelings at a given moment. In this case, it is important to at least acknowledge them and find a place and a way to express them later. Let's find a supportive environment or people with whom we can share these feelings freely and without fear of being judged.

The fact is that pleasant feelings are usually easier to express than unpleasant ones (although this is not necessarily the case!), and in any case, e.g. humor and laughter immediately improve our mood. After a good laugh, heart rate and blood pressure drop and we feel less tension in our muscles. In addition to laughing, it is good to pay some attention to self-love, self-acceptance and self-forgiveness. These feelings are a good counterbalance to anger, fear, shame, and guilt.

It is good to know that, in principle, feelings and emotions come and go. The problem arises when we are stuck in our feelings and they don't come out naturally. This means that they are outdated, that they come from the past, and that we have not yet processed them properly. If this is happening to us and causing us pain, it makes more than sense to consider calling for help.

In moments when we cannot or should not express our emotions, we often jump into our thoughts. Rationalization is one of the common ways we escape from feeling here and now. In this sense, there are also signs of the expression of stress at this level:

- increased pessimism and a negative view of the world

- too much concern

- too much focus on what is right and what is wrong, what is allowed and what is not allowed

- poor concentration

- forgetfulness

- "slow" thinking

- reduced ability to organize work

- self-judgment or judgment of others

- constant thinking about the past or future

- dissatisfaction at work or dissatisfaction with oneself

Pay attention to the dialogues in your mind. What messages are you telling yourself? Are these messages negative? Do you try to think positively, or is it too much, too much for you?

Whatever we tell ourselves has a tendency to amplify itself: what we water, it grows.

If you already encounter negative messages in your mind, try to consciously find a positive counter-message. At the same time, observe the feelings around it, because if they are not aligned with a positive thought, conflict and thus stress is created in the body again. By asking yourself what you feel at this moment or what you perceive in your body at this moment, you return back to the here and now. And then you are again in a position to admit these feelings and allow them to be expressed. In short, jumping back to the emotional level...

Another extremely important activity of the mind is time management. Good and quality activity planning is definitely something that can potentially reduce stress. When planning activities, plan them in such a way that you try to "kill several birds with one stone". For example:

- when planning meetings with people who are not close to your heart, make sure that you plan periods where you can distance yourself_but you will still be able to take_some time for yourself

- if you plan a walk in nature (or other things that make you happy) plan it with someone close to your heart

- plan a small activity for each day that you know will give you pleasure

It also makes sense to plan daily activities that you know will cause you a little stress, but you also know that you will be able to survive them, e.g. showering with cold water. In these cases, observe yourself and try to find out how your body, mind and emotions deal with and cope with the given stress.

If you're still with me, maybe with all this listing you've probably already felt one big "I WONT" a few times. But if you haven't already, remember this moment the next time you turn the faucet on in the shower to warm instead of cold water.

In the moments when we feel this sincere "I don't want" and at the same time think about how we "must" do something, we create a conflict within ourselves and thus stress. I don't want is the first stepping stone to something that in Core Energetics body psychotherapy we call negative intentionality. And when we direct all this will toward ourselves, we create stress in the body. At the level of will, this also manifests itself as:

- task overload

- lack of will and interest in things

- feeling tired and overwhelmed

- aversion to things we "should" do

- reduced creativity

- difficulty making decisions and not being able to complete the tasks we have set for ourselves

A little while ago I suggested planning various activities. Imagine what would happen if these things you planned don't come true? Do you care or does it stress you out? Can you imagine that despite the plans in the previous step, you allow change and flexibility and simply allow Life to happen?

It makes sense to explore your life also from the perspective of your will. Try to find out how much stress you accumulate just because you want everything to be "your way". Try to imagine how you feel at the thought of loosening control a little and letting life go a little more.

In addition to negative intentionality, which is mostly unconscious, it is extremely important to be aware of and cultivate positive intentionality.

So take a few minutes every morning, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths and exhale and feel an intention or a positive intention for the coming day. In doing so, allow yourself to do things your way, to lead your life, but you are not tied to the results!

By stopping and squinting, you open the door to something greater than yourself. Meditations, prayers and various practices to increase "inner silence" are the key to our higher self, to our Soul. All these activities will help you find meaning in life and your mission.

Observe yourself from within. What is your inner space like? What's your energy like? At the same time, watch yours:

- moral conflicts

- feelings of lack of meaning in life

- regret,

- feelings of guilt.

All this increases the stress in the body and thus prevents inner peace and alignment with the higher truth within you.

In general, we humans spend way too much time thinking about negative things and not enough time thinking about positive things. So take ten minutes and ask yourself what things you feel grateful for. It is interesting that we can often find things for which we are grateful even in difficult moments.

Make yourself a "gratitude jar" and throw a small piece of paper into it every day, on which you write down three things you feel grateful for. If you start today, there will soon be quite a few leaves in the container ;)!

Gratitude is the key to the fullness of life. Gratitude can turn chaos into order, denial into acceptance, confusion into clarity, a meal into a feast, a house into a home, and a stranger into a friend.

Sometimes it's good to remember what I'm thankful for!

Do you want to know how to target deeper layers of stress in your body and learn how to deal with tension in your body? Do you want to strengthen your mental stability and resilience to stress and help yourself overcome any challenges you have in your life?

I know the way, and it's called grounding. Join my Grounding Fundamentals online course here.

Stress is basically an energy problem. It manifests itself to us on all five levels of human existence, and therefore we can address it on each of these five levels. The first level is the physical body, followed by the level of emotions and feelings and the cognitive level, and the pyramid is completed by the level of will and the spiritual level.

My general advice for dealing with stress would be:

- eat a balanced diet, exercise a lot, sleep well, relax more

- put great emphasis on emotions and feelings

- observe your thoughts and optimally manage your precious time

- sharpen your will and strengthen positive intentions

- choose actions that are in line with your purpose!

- start with grounding exercises