Hey everyone, Megan here from MeganMinns.com.
And today, I'm going to share with you
nine easy ways to relieve stress.
(upbeat music)
A few months ago, I decided to meet with a nutritionist,
because I was feeling like I wasn't
taking good care of myself, I was gaining weight,
I was waking up feeling exhausted.
I was going to bed and not sleeping well,
I wasn't eating right, and I just felt like
I was in a chronic state of stress.
I remember my first meeting with my nutritionist,
she even asked me, on a scale of one to 10,
how stressed are you, and I, non-dramatically,
and very honestly said a nine or a 10 pretty consistently.
Now, that is not necessarily
due to the work I'm doing but how I'm managing stress,
how I'm taking care of my body,
and as a result, I was feeling stressed out constantly.
So one of the things we talked about was
stress management and how it was
the most important thing I could do for my well-being.
Besides eating well and you know,
all the healthy tips you know, that actively
targeting stress and managing it better
would transform my life.
And that was almost six months ago now
as of the date that I'm recording this video,
and I can saw that it's absolutely true.
And I'm not perfect at it, I definitely
still have days or weeks or months where,
I get out of the habit of managing my stress well,
and I can tell a really big difference.
So what I wanna share with you,
the nine easy ways to manage stress,
are exactly what I've been doing
and can tell a difference from when I do them.
So I am excited to share them with you
and let's go ahead and dig in right now.
So the first way to relieve stress and anxiety
is one that you probably don't wanna hear
and are probably already knowing you should do,
is get more sleep, now when my nutritionist
told me to get more sleep, I kind of like scoffed,
I have different beliefs on sleep,
I always thought I didn't really need that much sleep,
I never thought, I kinda thought
the eight hours of sleep thing was fake
and just a made-up number,
and I was a little resistant to it at first.
But we talked more about sleep and how important it was
and one thing she said that really
encouraged me to actually take getting more sleep seriously,
was the fact that my body has been
in a state of chronic stress for however long,
and the only way for my body to really recover
is sleep, and that that's the only time of the day
when I can recover, especially since
I'm not changing my job, my day-to-day
really can't change very much,
so that sleep is really essential for me,
as I'm in a state of high stress
to give myself time to recover.
So that I can keep going and not burn out.
So the only way for my to get more sleep
was by setting a bed time, which sounds very unglamorous,
but I really truly, sat down, and looked at,
okay if I wanna wake up at this time,
and I wanna get this many hours of sleep,
then this is when I need to go to bed.
And not only is this when I need to go to bed,
this is the time when I need to start
getting ready to go to bed.
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like
I'll be downstairs in the living room
and say, oh it's time for bed,
and it's probably not you know, an hour,
until I'm actually, head on the pillow asleep.
So knowing that, I actually have an alarm go off
on my phone at a certain time every night
that says, start getting ready for bed.
That's kinda my cue to stop whatever I'm doing,
get up, and start doing my routine
before it's time for bed.
As far as figuring out how many hours of sleep you need,
I don't think you should just assume
you need eight hours or six hours,
but really take the time to see,
how many hours of sleep are you getting right now,
and how you feel, and if you do add on
another 30 minutes or an hour of sleep,
do you feel better, do you feel the same, do you feel worse?
And I noticed for me, that even though I thought
I was good in that like six to seven hour range,
when I started paying attention
to how I felt in the morning,
I actually woke up feeling rested
when I did get eight hours, so for me,
that has become my new sweet spot,
eight hours really does work for me.
I can tell a difference, even if it's just
seven and a half hours when I wake up, I feel kinda crumby,
and I know that if I go back to sleep for 30 extra minutes,
I actually feel great.
And that brings me to the next part
about getting more sleep, one thing
my nutritionist told me was that
I actually had to make sleep a priority,
so I needed to choose sleep over
other activities that I might choose,
so even though working out is great for you,
I should choose sleeping in over working out.
So if I wake up, even if I got eight hours of sleep
and I feel terrible, instead of getting up
and working out and doing my morning routine,
I should compromise on a few of those items
so that I can get more sleep.
So that has been a huge jiff for me,
because I was absolutely the type of person
that would just wake up and force myself
to get going and drink tons of caffeine to function,
and now, instead, I wake up and I just say,
if I feel great I'll get up,
and days when I feel like I need
another 15 minutes or 30 minutes,
I let myself sleep for another 15 or 30 minutes
without feeling guilty, so that has been
a huge priority shift for me,
and has really helped me to learn
just how much that extra 15 or 30 minutes
can make a difference for how I feel.
The second thing to do to relieve stress
is to do a brain dump.
I love to remind myself that stress starts in the head.
So any time I'm feeling stressed out,
I really have to address what's happening in my mind
in order to try to manage the stress
that may show itself physically.
So I like to do a brain dump
by doing stream of conscious journaling
which I actually have a video and blog post about
that I will link to below this video
if you wanna learn more, but basically,
you just grab a piece of paper or a journal
and you just start writing literally whatever comes to mind,
you can't second guess yourself
and you just see what comes out,
a lot of times it will surprise you,
and it really helps just get all of the feelings,
the thoughts, the doubts, the fears,
maybe you know, someone hurt your feelings
and you've kind of been burying that.
And anytime you sit down and journal,
even if it's just for five minutes,
and do that brain dump, you are going to find
a lot of clarity and I always feel relieved
after I've gone through that, so definitely
sit down and do a brain dump when you're feeling stressed
and see what comes from it, you might
talk yourself through something
that's been bothering you, you might actually
come out with a good idea on the other side
so you never know what's gonna happen
and that's part of the excitement.
When you're doing a brain dump
or stream of conscious journaling,
the key is definitely to just trust yourself,
trust the process and don't over-analyze it.
Just let it all flow.
The third thing you can do is take a break.
So, whether you're working from home
or in an office or no matter where you work,
if you're feeling stressed, if you can,
take a few minutes and actually leave
your workspace and take a break.
So whether that's going to cuddle with your dog,
or take a step outside to get some fresh air,
or get a coffee, do something to
take a break from just this stressful area that you are in.
And so, you know, I usually set a timer
for at least five minutes, if I'm feeling really crunched
I can always take five minutes,
if you can maybe take longer but,
definitely take a break when you're in
those moment of high stress in particular,
and I find that just taking a walk,
like just stepping away from my desk,
not even taking a walk but just
stepping away from my desk, sometimes
I'll even call someone, a friend or a family member,
and it really just helps you kind of reset
and not feel like you're in
the middle of that stressful moment.
I also like to schedule out breaks,
so I know if I'm doing a lot of focused work
at one time, I will get tired,
or I'll get stressed out and so I'll actually
even put breaks on my calendar,
especially on days where I have meetings.
I will schedule, lunch break,
little 30 minute breaks here and there,
just to protect that time and remind myself
that I need to proactively take breaks
instead of always just taking the reactively.
Tip number four is to take a bath or a shower,
now I never was one who grew up
taking bubble baths to relax,
and I'm admittedly, still not in the habit of doing that,
but whether you're a bath person or a shower person,
taking the time to go take a shower or bath
and not only just doing like a quick shower or bath,
actually taking a few minutes to like,
set the mood, so light some candles,
put on some good music, maybe dim the lights if you can,
maybe drop some essential oils in the shower or the bath,
any and all of that, it doesn't even have to be all of it,
just one of those things, I find that it just
transformed the experience into like,
a task for your well-being into
a luxurious experience that can really
help you just relax and de-stress so,
just take a few minutes if you can,
maybe it's the end of the day and you're just
feeling a little worn-down and stressed,
in order to just have a nice sleep
and not carry that stress with you into the next day,
go take a nice bath or shower.
The fifth thing you can do is go on a walk outside.
According to the Anxiety and Depression
Association of America, psychologists studying
how exercise relieves anxiety and depression
suggest that a 10-minute walk may be just as good
as a 45-minute workout, so on those days
where you're feeling really stressed out,
it might actually be more impactful
for you to not even workout, and instead,
go take a 10-minute walk outside.
I love taking a break and taking a walk outside
during my day because not only
does it help me feel good physically,
but it clears my mind.
It's also a great opportunity to listen to podcasts,
or audio books, and honestly, when I'm stressed out,
if I don't have time to go on a walk,
even just standing outside, being in the fresh air,
doing a little stretch makes the world of a difference.
So no matter how much time you have,
no matter where you are, how much outdoor space
you have access to, try to go outside
when you're feeling stressed because
that fresh air is just gonna really
help clear your mind and give you some perspective.
My sixth tip for how to relieve stress and anxiety
is to light a candle or diffuse essential oils.
Don't forget how important your nose is
to your mood and your mindset.
According to Psychology Today, scents can have
a positive effect on mood, stress reduction,
sleep enhancement, self confidence,
and physical and cognitive performance.
So not only does lighting candles,
or diffusing essential oils just make
everything seem lovelier, it really can
affect your mood, and help you feel less stressed.
Now if you can't light a candle where you're working,
maybe you're in a corporate office,
one trick that I did when I worked in an office
was to use a candle warmer and buy
specific candles, I think Target
used to sell them, I'm sure they still do,
that were meant for candle warmers,
so you could still get the benefit
of the fragrance and the relief
without necessarily burning a candle or lighting a candle.
And maybe you can use a diffuser where you are,
so I prefer to do diffusers,
so I actually have a diffuser in my office
and in my bedroom so that no matter where I am,
I can kind of get some stress relief.
Tip number seven is for those moments
where you are truly in a high stress moment.
And it is to take some deep breaths.
So this is one that you can whip out,
no matter how busy you are, what's going on,
whether you're around people or not,
but truly, when you're in a moment of
genuinely high stress, I want you to
just take a few seconds and literally,
I'm at my desk right now, but literally
push back, distance yourself,
close your eyes and then just take
three to five really deep breaths.
Now that takes just a few seconds,
maybe you even did it now as you
were watching as I was saying it,
but by doing this, it's gonna help you
to really calm down in the moment,
and not feel that like reactive building stress
that we can sometimes feel in those moments.
Now if you have more than just a few seconds,
you can also try breathing exercises through either
Apple Breathe App that they have, or I like Head Space,
or Calm, those are both guided meditation apps,
that also just have breathing exercises.
So even if you don't want someone
to guide you through meditating,
you can actually just do simple breathing exercises
that will still help you get that same relief.
So that's really up to you and your personal preference
but at the very least, in those high-stress moments,
intentionally push yourself away
and do a few deep breaths to really help recenter yourself.
The eighth way to relieve stress and anxiety
is probably not one you're gonna like,
and it is to stop drinking caffeine.
Now, I love coffee, used to have coffee
as a big part of my day, and in moments of stress
where I felt like I had to hunker down,
I was completely guilty of going to get
my second or third cup of coffee,
maybe even more depending on the day,
and relying on that caffeine to help me push through.
It wasn't until I read the book called Woman Code,
that I learned that as a woman,
this caffeine was having a pretty
terrible effect on my hormones.
And at the time I was reading the book,
I was experiencing severe acne
from hormones that I've never experienced before,
everything felt like it was all over the place with my body,
and so it came at a perfect time for me
to not only learn about hormones,
but to really learn about the impact
caffeine has on our overall health,
so I did the four-day reset, I had four days
where I didn't drink coffee,
or any caffeine, I didn't even do green tea,
black tea, nothing, it was no caffeine whatsoever.
And it was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be,
I expected to have caffeine withdrawals,
and I think the reason I didn't was because
I was really supporting my body,
eating tons of vegetables, drinking tons of water,
because of her plan so, just if you cut it cold turkey,
you might have caffeine withdrawal.
But I was shocked at how much better I felt,
even when I went back to some of my more
regular eating habits, just by cutting out caffeine,
my energy levels felt very stable throughout the day,
I didn't feel like I was having
as many ups and downs, I felt like,
just stable would probably be the best word for my energy,
and as a result, I never felt as anxious or stressed.
Stressful things would happen, and I felt
like I was able to process it and not let it affect me,
sorry I'm talking with my hands so much.
I felt like I was experiencing stress in a different way,
so the stressful situation would happen,
and instead of actually physically
or emotionally affecting me, I could
process it and move forward.
So that was a game-changer for me,
for gosh, four or five months, I actually
didn't drink a drop of coffee at all.
I was only doing herbal teas and it was great.
But I actually, very recently,
like the week I'm recording this,
have started to drink some coffee again.
And while I really enjoy having it back in my life,
I do feel a little bit like my energy fluctuates a bit more
so I'm not really sure, I might cut it back out
or maybe switch to just decaf,
but those months where I was doing just herbal tea,
really a game-changer for stress and anxiety,
so highly recommend it if you're really
looking for something to help alleviate some stress,
try cutting out caffeine, even if it's just
for a short period of time, and see
if you notice a positive difference.
The ninth easy way to reduce stress and anxiety
is a bigger one, it is to set boundaries and stick to them.
To set effective boundaries, you really
need to take some time to observe
how things are making you feel.
And don't just think about it and make
a not of it in your head, I really
would recommend you have a piece of paper
and you actually have a list where you can go to
and jot things down when they make you feel stressed
or anxious or uncomfortable or anything like that.
You know, there are those moments
where you could just feel that a boundary was crossed.
Anytime you feel reactive, any of that,
have a piece of paper that maybe
for one to several days, you are jotting down
what makes you feel uncomfortable or stressed
and do something about it, so,
you know it's okay if you can't do it the same day,
and maybe you can't control everything
but I bet you there are things on that list
that you can change, so whether you delegate it
to someone else, you stop doing it entirely,
or you change the way you do it and draw these boundaries,
that is where you're gonna see some big differences.
So here's some examples of what boundaries might look like.
Working only from eight a.m. to five p.m.,
no work-related apps getting opened
before eight a.m. or after five p.m.,
maybe checking email only at two different times a day,
and knowing what times those are.
Getting off your phone at eight p.m. every night.
Maybe having no meetings on Tuesdays or Thursdays,
maybe having no more than three meetings on any given day.
No working on the weekends, no social media on the weekends,
maybe just no more than 30 minutes of social media day,
or maybe you have focused work time
where you have no interruptions and no meetings
from nine a.m. to 11 a.m.,
so those are just some ideas,
they're all pretty much work-related
or social media related, but those are some ideas
of boundaries that you could set.
But again, the key here that I mentioned
is not only setting effective boundaries,
but it's really sticking to them.
And the only way to do that is to really
make a commitment to yourself
that you are gonna hold to these boundaries,
and doing what you can to make it easier.
Whether it's setting reminders and alarms on your phone,
or maybe if it's one of the app-related boundaries,
you can use, I don't know what Android has,
but Apple has a feature called screen time,
where it automatically block certain apps
after certain times, or if you've
been on them for a certain period of time.
Or maybe you need to set, you know,
maybe you're visual and you need actual reminders
around you in your space, or maybe
you need to tell someone, your partner or your friend,
or a family member about this boundary
so they can help hold you to it.
Or maybe you need to tell your community.
So there are a lot of different options here
but ultimately, to stick to a boundary,
you have to remember the boundary,
and remember it in the moment
so that you can do something different
and you have to just make the commitment
to yourself to do it, and it's okay
to not be perfect, sometimes you will break a boundary.
But the idea is that when you break a boundary,
you know you've broken it, and it doesn't just,
get you know, swept under the rug.
You know you've broken it, you feel how uncomfortable
or stressed out or anxious it makes you feel,
and you don't wanna feel that again and so,
you break this boundary less and less over time.
So now you know nine easy ways
to relieve stress and anxiety,
but if you wanna take better care of yourself,
you really need a self-care plan.
Now that isn't as intense as it may sound,
but it is just taking a few minutes to work through
an exercise to have a game plan
for how you're gonna support your body
and your mind and your emotions throughout a week.
And I actually have a free self-care planning workbook
that guides you through the entire process
of how I create a self-care plan
and it has examples, it's got blank sheets for you,
and it's completely free so if you wanna download
the self-care planner and learn
how to take your self care to the next level,
then click the link below this video
and you can get that right to your inbox
and I hope you enjoy it.
So now I wanna hear from you,
how do you manage and relieve
stress and anxiety in your life?
Have you tried one of these tips?
Did it work for you, did it not work for you?
Do you have your own little tips and tricks?
I would love to hear from you,
be sure to leave a comment below this video,
and I can't wait to chat with you in there.
Don't forget to download that free
self-care planner if you're interested in that.
And if you enjoy this video, please hit the like button,
subscribe, and share it with your friends,
and I will see you in the next video.
My hair looks crazy, first time
recording in a brand new room!
And you know what, I forgot the wine.
I'm back, with my wine.
Knocked my lamp over.
A few month-- (laughs)
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Did you hear that?
I'm sweating. (upbeat music)
Do I have wine teeth?
Probably have wine lips, probably a mistake.