Maintaining Your Health During Life’s Most Stressful Moments

by: Maggie Potter

While happy moments such as the birth of a child, a much sought after job promotion, or finding the love of your life make life that much sweeter, we are also faced with more stressful moments that can really rock us to our core. Whether it is the death of a family member, a divorce, or crippling debt that never seems to decrease, we are all faced with the unexpected at some point.

The key when facing these challenges is to not stay paralyzed by fear, but to try and move forward.

Luckily, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and by thinking positively and putting things in perspective, you can get to the other side. The key is maintaining your health so you can move forward successfully and not further compound your problems.

While these moments are sad, we cannot let stress and anxiety get the better of us. If you are dealing with a dark time, heed these tips, and you will persevere.

Adjust Your Frame of Mind

Mental and physical health go hand in hand, so the first thing you want to do is get your mind in the right place. Although you are going through a trying time, remind yourself that what is happening to you has happened to others, and if they pulled through it, then you can too.

Although it may be hard, you need to try your best to keep a positive mind frame, because with a healthy mind, a healthy body will follow.

If your stressful event is a divorce, then you could have a number of dark thoughts circling around in your head, including wondering what will happen with your children, stress with lawyers, realizing that you will have to divide assets, and wondering what will come next. Instead of keeping a negative mind space, start by accepting the situation and considering what parts of this process you control.

Think about the positives. Your children still love you; you might have to move, but you can still stay close to family; and there are loved ones in your life you can turn to. It will be hard, but keeping a positive mentality is key in every stressful moment.

When dealing with a death in the family, life can seem almost unbearable, but it is important to think about the happy memories you had with that person and think about the strong bonds that you can make with your other family members as you recover together. If you find yourself in a financial crisis, you must simply believe it will get better and take solace in the fact that you will move forward with a plan of action to minimize that debt and look at brighter times ahead.

In every difficult situation, from physical ailments to the loss of a job, staying positive is a crucial first step to recovery.

Managing Stress and Anxiety Right Now

If your stress is simply becoming too much, then you should take immediate action to get yourself in a better, healthier place. In the most extreme cases, when your anxiety is getting completely out of control, and you don’t know what to do, then you should contact a health professional so they can give you the best guidance.

If you are having a particularly stressful day, go out and meet with friends and family and confide in them, as talking out your problems can often mitigate your stress.

Whether you are with your friends or not, practicing yoga can do wonders for your body and spirit, including helping with insomnia. As far as stress is concerned, yoga can also help put your mind at ease by increasing the gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA levels in your brain, which get your neurons excited and ultimately helps you deal with your anxiety.

Yoga can also help you to focus on positive breathing techniques that can reduce the tension in your body and help quell the side effects of stress, including increased heart rate and high blood pressure.

You may also turn to supplements to keep your stress in check. Often made from natural ingredients, particular supplements, including valerian root and melatonin, can help with blood pressure and heart rate, usually while you sleep. One of the more popular supplements is ashwagandha, which has been found to reduce stress by 44%.

Keeping Your Stress and Anxiety in Check Going Forward

No matter how well you prepare, tough moments will happen, so it is important always to keep an optimistic approach to life and live in such a way that it is harder for you to become stressed when such a moment arrives. In order to live a relatively stress- and anxiety-free life, you need to live a healthy lifestyle. 

One of the most important elements is getting enough sleep, with experts recommending between seven to 10 hours depending on your age.

Getting enough sleep helps with anxiety and your overall well-being because, in addition to leaving you more refreshed in the morning, it also gives your body time to recharge and heal. If you have trouble falling asleep, make sure not to eat or drink caffeine too late, avoid screens while in bed, and try CBD oil to calm your nerves.

Getting enough exercise is also key to lowered anxiety. Exercise has been found to help with stress and depression because when you get moving, you release endorphins, which is similar to giving your body a shot of morphine which creates positive feelings. However, unlike an addiction to morphine, you don’t get addicted to the drug but rather the feeling of excitement and accomplishment that dedicated exercise can provide.

Aim for at least two hours of exercise a week; you can make it into a morning routine, as having regular routines can also help with stress.

Finally, it is not only about what your body releases but what you put in, and that is why healthy eating is another secret to lowering anxiety on a regular basis. Instead of indulging in the sweets that make you feel better temporarily, consuming fruits, vegetables, and protein while reducing sodium can decrease the number of stress hormones in your body like cortisol and help to reduce that all-important blood pressure.

Eating better will also help you be more productive with your exercise, providing an endless circle of stress-reducing behaviors.

No one likes to think about the bad things that happen in life, but many scenarios are simply unavoidable. Think about your anti-stress plan now so you can be better prepared to cope and move forward.