Did you know Stress is one cause of many common illnesses and/or can make chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure and Diabetes worse?  Therefore, it may also be related to people dying younger than they should, which makes it paramount that we caretaking professionals both help patients to deal with it more effectively and handle our own stress.

Dealing with daily stress effectively can be as easy as carving out a short period of self care time daily.

Five Simple Life Saving Stress Management Tips:

1. Take a warm bubble bath.  For extra self nurturance add soft jazz or classical music  and a scented candle.
2. Take a walk (in nature if possible).
3. Read and contemplate on a positive self-help story or book.
4. Breathe slowly and deeply (called abdominal breathing), which can be used to immediately reduce stress during an emotionally charged interaction or situation as well.
5. Use simple forms of meditation, such as looking at a candle flame, repeating a positive word, like “peace”, or concentrating at the tip of your nose as you breathe in and out.

The key to managing stress is to practice daily, to sort of inoculate you against  stress’s negative effects.  Start with five minutes a day and work your way up to about twenty minutes. Either first thing in the morning or before bed are usually good times but it is your personal choice or may depend on your schedule.

If you do commit to daily practice you may be surprised how much this small change can positively affect your sense of wellbeing.  Who knows, you might  even save your own life!