The #1 Mistake Women Make When Trying To Decrease Stress
We all have regular stressors in our life. Sometimes constant stressors and sometimes stress ebbs and flows. However, the main mistake I see women make is this:
We WAIT:
We wait until we have reached high levels of stress and overwhelm before we take action to calm it down. When we do this, our bodies are reaching high levels of stress (cortisol) more often than is necessary. Most of the strategies we are using when we’re stressed are actually PREVENTATIVE strategies. So, although they kind of work to feel better, they are not actually decreasing our stress long-term. It’s a quick fix. Instead we should be using REACTIVE STRATEGIES during our stressed out moments.
Preventative Strategies are strategies we should be implementing DAILY and sometimes throughout our day to keep stress, feelings of overwhelm, and anxiety FAR away. These strategies include things like better time management, regular exercise, a healthy diet, meditation, yoga, clearing our lymphatic system regularly, journaling, etc. instead, many women implement these practices DURING times of stress. Although we should always be implementing these practices, we shouldn’t ONLY implement them during stressful times.
Instead, during times of high stress, we should be implementing REACTIVE STRATEGIES. Reactive strategies are tools to do IN THE MOMENT of a crisis or times of MAJOR overwhelm. These practices include breath work, practiced self-talk, CBT strategies, boxed breathing, etc. Additionally, RESTORATIVE and HEALING strategies should be implemented during and after times of stress to decrease the amount of occasions symptoms of stress and overwhelm sneak into your life. Healing strategies often include shadow work, ego work, tapping methods, among different variations of meditation and yoga.
Something to think about: What strategies are you currently implementing during times of high stress? What kind of strategy is it categorized as? Do you need to switch things up?
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