Calming your Stress Monsters

What are your stress monsters? Stress monsters are anything that can cause you stress throughout your day. Examples would be your spouse yelling at you, your boss expecting more from you, anything that will increase your stress level.

So how do you deal with these stress inducers? One of the first steps in addressing any aspect of your life is to acknowledge the problem.

*    Problem = “There are people and situations that arise on a daily basis causing me stress”.

Now that we know what the problem is we need a solution.
We all know that we can’t control anyone but ourselves. So trying to control others or situations will just add more stress to our lives.

*    We need to change the way we react to others and situations in our life. How do we do that?

Try the following for 30 days:

First assess you daily stress level. On a scale from 1 – 10 one being the least and ten being the most, rate your daily stress level. Record the date and your stress level. “Do This Step First”

In the morning when you wake, set your intention that you are not going to stress out today. Intend that your day will go smoothly, and you will be in a constant state of joy & peace.
Throughout your day be aware of everything in your life to be grateful for. Such as the beautiful sunny day, the fact that you are 10min ahead of schedule, how everyone is going out of there way to help you and so on. This is very powerful.

When you feel your self getting stressed just take a deep breath assess the problem and come up with a solution to solve the problem. For example in the case of a yelling spouse you can take a deep breath and say “I can tell this is really bothering you and I’m sorry” you can then present a solution or a compromise.

I know this sound too simple but most solutions are. If you do this for 30 days and then take an assessment of your stress level you will find that you have lowered your stress level just by implementing the above easy steps.

Dr. Wayne Dyer said it best when he said “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”

Depression, What is it?

By Ty

 The definition of Depression is a mental state, characterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy, and a despondent lack of activity.

 Research has shown that depression is caused by an imbalance of naturally occurring substances in the brain. Neurotransmitters, one of which are called Serotonin. These Neurotransmitters are central to behaviour, mood, memory, sleep, pain perception, learning, and sexual urge. These are all symptoms of Depression. This is why Doctors perscribe Prozac, Lexapro and many more which are a class of drug called SSRI’s (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). These drugs increase the level of Serotoninin the brain but they also have a lot of side affects.

 I feel one of the most important things you can do when living with Depression is to learn to pickup signs of when depression is about to come on. The earlier you catch it, the more of a chance you have to prevent it. The following are some ways to reduce the affects of depression.

• Get 6 to 8 hours of sleep a night
• Well balanced diet
• Daily exercise
• Become active in activities you enjoy
• Socialize
• Support Groups
• Avoid negative situations
• Meditation

Send me your comments on how you are dealing with your depression.

Feelings of Depression & Anxiety

When you are feeling like there is no tomorrow and everything looks bleak, are you feeling depressed and/or anxious? Are you feeling embarrassed and don’t want to talk to your friends, parents or even a doctor because they may not understand?

Depression is very common and everyone suffers from depression at sometime in their lives. The feelings of sadness become stronger and have a significant impact on life. There are a number of factors that occur to create the feelings of anxiety that happen when under a lot of stress, then depression take control of your life.

For example, moving at the same time as going through a divorce can lead to feelings of inadequacy and failure. Self confidence and self esteem can go crashing through the floor.

Having very negative thoughts and feeling very low (or numb) can lead to guilt and frustration as well as a sensation of being overwhelmed. Being tired and fatigued with no energy to do anything can lead to no motivation to want to do anything.

Sometimes, sleep patterns can become disturbed so that sleeping too much or not at all happens. Wanting to stay in bed is common. Avoiding friends, family and doing activities that are normally enjoyed together makes it difficult for someone with depression to take control.

Normal behavior changes and people experiencing depression start to rely on mood elevators such as drugs and alcohol to make them feel better, and improve their frame of mind.

Gaining a better understanding on how to deal with and overcome depression can start by learning different coping strategies. Life will slowly start to change. It’s not an instant fix and the treatment of depression can take some time. It’s time to take control and put a practical action plan to regain control of your life again. Begin by developing a healthier approach to life. This can take time and effort from you. It may be about retraining your thought processes and there are many different strategies and techniques that will work differently for each individual.

Evaluate how you are thinking and then start to develop a more realistic thought process. Remember that it’s going to take time, and practice. How good will it feel when you can be happy, and in control of your life once more. There are many challenges to finding happiness and it all starts with you. Don’t give up!