WHY WE NEED TO MITIGATE OUR STESS

As we age, life’s stresses have a tendency to build up. More stress leads to an increase in cortisol levels which for us means compounded symptoms of menopause. Not so great. If you are feeling overwhelmed by stress, then it might be time make some small tweaks to your lifestyle. 

Luckily for us, there are many natural ways you can alleviate stress  that don’t cost us a thing to implement. These changes range from diet shifts, exercise and introducing new daily habits, all of which can be effective at relieving your stress naturally. 

A HEALTHY DIET REDUCES STRESS

For mature women, our health is of utmost importance and stress plays a big role in quickly deteriorating both our mental and physical state. If you want to relieve your stress levels in a natural way, it all starts with our lifestyle choices; changing your diet can make a big difference lessening our stress.

A really easy way to make sure you are eating a healthy diet that helps to reduce stress is not by focusing on specific food groups, but just making sure you have plenty of vitamins and minerals with your foods. This is going to ensure a well-balanced meal every time, and give you the nutrients that are important for reducing stress. Here are some you want to look for:

PROTEIN

The first nutrient that is great to have with your healthy diet for stress relief is protein. The protein helps give you essential amino acids that are wonderful for brain function, therefore helping you manage your stress as well.

OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS

While you want to be careful to avoid saturated fats, healthy fats are not only acceptable, but recommended. This is when you look for omega-3 fatty acids, such as what you get in tuna, salmon, and many nuts including walnuts and almonds. These fats are great for stabilizing your mood, which can help with stress.

B VITAMINS

Among the different vitamins you should have with your diet, you really want to make sure you have plenty of B vitamins. These provide more energy and can help reduce stress naturally. You will get B vitamins in foods like poultry, wild-caught fish, leafy greens, and eggs.

CALCIUM

Calcium is a great nutrient to have with your new stress-free diet, which helps with some of the side effects of stress, such as headaches and tense muscles. Get calcium from yogurt, cruciferous veggies, nuts, and beans.

MORE SUGAR=MORE STRESS

There are also some foods that can do damage to your diet, and increase stress. One food is a category, which is anything with added sugars. This isn’t natural sugars like what you find in fruits, but added and artificial sugars, such as what you find in fruit juice, baked goods, and sweet treats.

CAFFEINE RAISES STRESS LEVELS

Unfortunately, you may need to reduce how much caffeine you consume each day. Caffeine is not only bad for people with a lot of anxiety, but it can also add to your stress levels. This is because caffeine often keeps you a little too alert, keeping you from getting a good night’s sleep. Insomnia is a common precursor to stress, as it keeps you from being able to handle your stress effectively. You don’t need to give up all caffeine, but cut back on the coffee if you can.

REGULAR EXERCISE HELPS RELIEVE STRESS

As mature women, now more than ever, regular exercise is of vital importance. We don’t need to be athletes over 50, but we do need to do some form of physical exercise every single day. Getting a regular exercise schedule down and sticking to it can be one of the greatest things you can do to ensure healthy ageing and vitality over 50. Here are some ways getting more exercise can help relieve your stress.

EXERCISE BOOSTS VITALITY NATURALLY

Do you ever just feel sluggish? If you live a pretty sedentary lifestyle, then this might be due to not having enough energy in general. You body will only make energy available when it knows that it’s possible for it to need energy reserves. That’s why people who are used to being inactive have a very hard time getting back in shape. The body isn’t used to burning fats, and instead focuses on storing them. It will take some time, and possibly some dietary changes, but change is just a few steps away.

BONUS: EXERCISE REINFORCES BONE DENSITY

While not directly a stress relief tip, a major part of staying vital and healthy over 50 is maintaining healthy bones by having our weight put on them. When you aren’t on your feet a lot, your bones will actually lose important nutrients because they aren’t needing to be strengthened on a constant basis. This is really bad, because that means that bones will become brittle and break more easily over time. Getting exercise puts a positive stress on your bones, signaling them to get those fresh supplies of calcium that your body has stored from healthy meals. Remember that what you eat today could be your bones years from now, so it’s important to make the right choices.

JOURNALING FOR STRESS RELIEF

As we move through life, our circumstances are constantly changing. We may find ourselves in a position as an over 50’s women where we have more free time than every and not outlet to use that time and share our thoughts.  Journaling is a great way to get those thoughts out of your head and down on paper. You might be surprised to find that journaling has a lot of heavily documented benefits that can go a long way to making a range of personal improvements. Scientists have been studying the effect that journaling has on the human mind, and experts are saying that journaling has more benefits that are far reaching than you would expect.

JOURNALING GIVES YOU AN OUTLET TO RELIEVE STRESS

Self-expression is a huge part of mental health. Nearly everyone knows what it’s like to experience some form of frustration, and having a way to vent this frustration is essential to how you experience happiness. Without an outlet, feelings can easily become buried, and if unchecked can manifest in some kind of emotional outburst. Therefore, having an outlet is of utmost importance. When those pent-up feelings are out on paper, they’re less likely to become a save-point for negative emotions.

CREATIVITY GIVES STRESS A RELEASE

When you write in a journal, you have an opportunity to get to the root of how you feel about things around you and in your everyday life. You can easily say, “I saw a man” but when you write down how you felt when you saw the man, you are getting much closer to the root of what the man represents, and how you are affected. With every word, new thoughts and ideas may begin to take shape. You may find yourself looking to expand your vocabulary, or getting caught up in writing to the point that you write longer than you have planned. Get lost in it. You won’t regret that time.

JOURNALING IS COMPLETELY PERSONAL AND COMPLETELY SAFE

One of the best things about writing a journal is that it allows you to have an exact fresh accounting of events that happen to or around you. Now that you have become expressive, you can use that to write down your initial reactions to stimuli. How does that stack against how you feel now? You may find that some of your view change over time.

JOURNALING HELPS PUT YOUR STRESS INTO PERSPECTIVE

This is one of the hidden blessings of write. As you write, your mind will begin to learn how to prioritize certain pieces of information to make your statements more cohesive. This means that your thoughts and ideas will even become more enjoyable to read!

PRACTICE MEDITATION FOR STRESS RELIEF

Over the last 20 years, massive achievement has been made in the world of mental health regarding mindfulness. Maintaining a healthy state of mind is crucial to healthy ageing. How well we treat our bodies works in tandem with how well we treat our minds. Currently, mindfulness is one of the most reliable sources of mental healing, with prescription drugs being the more mainstream approach on the spectrum. Doctors have documented measurable successes and progress in patients who attended those types of programs.

MEDITATION KEEPS OUR STRESS LOW

Simply put, mindfulness meditation can be used to help you reduce stress. Even just the simple act of going through your day and recounting positive moments can help put you into a peaceful frame of mind. As you sit there, relaxed and free from physical stress, you open yourself up to the possibility that more of your life can be that way. These moments to reflect on where you are, and how truly free you really are can be the beginning of an entirely new way of looking at the world that leads you to a more successful path.

MEDITATION HELPS KEEP YOU GROUNDED

When shocking and upsetting things happen, it can be easy to get caught up in the chaos that follows any major event, but there’s a wisdom in working towards controlling your feeling and managing your stress in a more collected way. Mindfulness meditation can help you to center your thoughts during trying times and give you the poise that you need to get through those tough times. If you are trying to function while frazzled, you are always more likely to make mistakes and overlook important facts about the situation.

MEDITATION AIDS RECOVERY

When you mind is under a lot of stress, your physical body can end up feeling run down and weak. If you’ve sustained a lot of physical trauma, your mind needs to be in a healthier state. Studies have proven that people with a more upbeat outlook after a serious injury tend to heal more completely. Stress can produce toxins that make it more difficult for your body to heal itself.

NO BETTER TIME TO MAKE SOME LIFESTYLE CHANGES

As mature women, it’s all too easy to become stagnant. When was the last time that you felt truly excited about doing something?

Do you feel like there are obstacles that are holding back from reaching your full potential? Sometimes it’s hard to get back on track. As a collective, we are also facing higher levels of stress than seen in previous generations. Sometimes the best cure for facing these issues is to counteract the bad with doing something nice for yourself. It’s possible to make small adjustments to your life that raise the quality a few notches. 

REST DAMPENS STRESS

It’s easy to get caught in a bad cycle of staying up late. A lot of people do it, but the toll that it takes on your body over time is immeasurable. Being sure to get the proper amount of rest can be life changing on its own. While this aspect is due to habit and general lifestyle, there are tons of little habits that you can work on. For example, practice going to bed at a good time of the night, and when you need to wake up, stop relying on your snooze button, because you can make yourself more tired if you’re waking up several times in a row.

AVOID YOUR STRESS TRIGGERS

We all have certain things, people, or situations that can cause stress. If you are keeping a journal, you will notice the days when your stress seems to be higher. Regardless of what it is, the first important thing to do is figure out what your triggers are, then work on avoiding them the best you can. This might mean avoiding certain people, waking up early so you’re not constantly getting to work late, or reducing your caffeine and alcohol consumption.

FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE

Do you find that you tend to assume the worst or constantly have negative thoughts in your mind? Believe it or not, this can be reversed with practice. Try to focus more on positive things, instead of letting those negative emotions consume you. It is just a matter of looking on the bright side. Don’t ignore negative things that happen but learn to accept them and move on.

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I’m so excited to share the Fabulous50s 30-day Mindfulness Challenge!!

Over the next month, you will be engaging in one activity every day designed to bring you back to a state of positivity and mindfulness.

 

To begin our 30-day challenge, we’re going to tap in to our subtle body so that we can be present in the now. This technique helps to take us away from the past and the wild, meandering thoughts that may distract us and into the present.

To sign up for the challenge now, click here!

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