Stress Prevention Tips
Help yourself relax
It all starts with breathing and posture
Breathing exercises. Sit or lie down and uncross your legs and arms. Take in a deep breath. Then push out as much air as you can. Breathe in and out again, this time relaxing your muscles on purpose while breathing out. Keep breathing and relaxing for 5 to 20 minutes at a time. Do the breathing exercises at least once a day.
"If you get stressful and your muscles tighten up, you are not taking deep breaths," said James Rossiter, M.D., an otolaryngologist with Columbia St. Mary's. He advises breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth and expanding your chest.
Progressive relaxation therapy. In this technique, which you can learn in a clinic or from an audio tape, you tense muscles, then relax them.
Exercise. Another way to relax your body is by moving it through a wide range of motion. Three ways to loosen up through movement are circling, stretching, and shaking parts of your body. To make this exercise more fun, move with music.
Replace bad thoughts with good ones . Each time you notice a bad thought, purposefully think of something that makes you happy or proud. Or memorize a poem, prayer, or quote and use it to replace a bad thought.
Whatever method you choose to relax, practice it. Just as it takes weeks or months of practice to learn a new sport, it takes practice to learn relaxation.
Ways to reduce mental stress
You may be able to get rid of some stresses of life. If traffic upsets you, for example, maybe you can find a new route to work or leave home early enough to miss the traffic jams. If your job drives you crazy, apply for a transfer if you can, or possibly discuss with your boss how to improve things. As a last resort, you can look for another job. If you are at odds with a friend or relative, you can make the first move to patch things up. For such problems, feeling stressed may be a sign that changes are needed.
There are other ways to fight stress as well. Sometimes adding positive things to your life can help. You can start an exercise program or join a sports team. You can take dance lessons or join a dancing club. You can start a new hobby or learn a new craft. You can volunteer at a hospital or charity.
Chronic illness stress
Some sources of stress are never going to go away, no matter what you do. Having diabetes is one of those. Still, there are ways to reduce the stresses of living with diabetes. Support groups can help. Knowing other people in the same situation helps you feel less alone. You can also learn other people's hints for coping with problems. Making friends in a support group can lighten the burden of
diabetes-related stresses.
