Finding a Healthy Outlet to Channel Your Stress

Stress can get to the best of us. It doesn’t matter if you hate your job, love it or you’re indifferent to it. It doesn’t matter if your stress is related to your academics or your home life. It’s a real, emotional experience that most of us know all too well.
However, the problem with stress is that most of us struggle to recognize it, which means we end up neglecting it, too. We don’t pay enough attention to it and continue to live a life of agony.

What Are the Signs and Effects of Stress?

Stress isn’t just an experience that takes place in your head—it has very real physical symptoms and manifestations.

Some of the most apparent signs of stress are:

• Feeling snappy and agitated easily
• Lacking a sense of control
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Feeling isolated
• Depression and anxiety
• Fatigue
• Stomach trouble
• Lowered immunity
• Low libido

If these symptoms persist and aren’t addressed, they can spiral out of control and eventually lead to serious health issues, both physical and mental, like hypertension, labored breathing and many other issues.

How Can I Combat Stress?

In order to deal with stress, you need an outlet that’s healthy. First, identify the source of stress and understand why it’s being caused. Is it a persistent thing or something more temporary?
This can help you gain clarity on how to combat it better and what your options are. For instance, if your home environment is the source of stress for you, a healthy outlet might exist away from that space.
Some of the best things you can do to manage your stress are:

Meditate

It may seem like the opposite of what you want to do, requiring immense patience, consistency and peace, but meditation is shown to help combat stress significantly.
It’s a time in the day that you’re dedicating to yourself, tuning out the world and channeling a sense of peace and mental clarity.

Write, draw, paint

A creative outlet is a wonderful idea. You can use time after work to write, paint or draw, participating in social activities or individual practice. It’s a relief to be creative without expectation and helps your mind relax as well.

Indulge in physical activity and movement

Physical activity is another great way to channel all that anger and frustration and derive motivation from it. Channel your rage into energy or go the opposite way and allow your body space to move and relax with some yoga.

Positive self-talk

For this, the most apt explanation is the following wise words from stress management speaker Steve Rizzo:

“The entire process of conditioning and reinforcing of bad habits is fueled by negative self-talk. I call it “self-curse-talk,” because this type of internal dialogue literally curses you with its power to cast a spell on your life. If there is anything that can keep you from being productive and partaking in the joy and abundance that life has to offer, it’s self-curse-talk.”

Steve Rizzo’s advice is to be gentle and reinforce good habits and adopt positive thinking—it’s a powerful thing!
For more inspirational content shared by this incredible wellness speaker, get in touch with Steve’s team!