If pandemic stress is taking a weighty toll on you, it’s time to get serious and rise to the ranks of the Brain Warrior’s Special Forces Unit. This involves pulling out all the stops and attacking stress from every angle. Here are 12 research-proven tips that work to lower stress and boost your level of happiness and overall mental health. Try them all to combat PSD (Pandemic Stress Disorder)
- Start on a high note. Begin every day with the words, “Today is going to be a great day.” Your mind makes happen what it visualizes. When you start the day by saying these words, your brain will look for the reasons it will be a great day rather than looking for reasons why it will be stressful.
- Avoid “breaking news stress disorder.” Stay informed, but don’t let fear-inducing headlines and news programs ramp up your stress. A 2012 study shows that women are more likely to experience stress-related to negative news than men. Limit your exposure to news to no more than 15 minutes a day.
- Focus on what you can control. Decades of research show that feeling a lack of control over a threatening situation causes more stress. Training your brain to think about the things you can control helps alleviate stress.
- Exercise. It’s the fastest way to feel better. And remember, more isn’t necessarily better. Studies show that going for a brisk 20-30-minute walk several times a week can provide stress-reduction benefits.
- Do a Loving Kindness Meditation. This meditation, which is directed at showing kindness to yourself and others, is a proven way to relieve stress and improve your mood.
- Write down 3 things you’re grateful for every day. Researchers found that people who did this significantly increased their sense of happiness in just 3 weeks. When you feel happier, you feel less stressed.
- Enjoy some dark chocolate. In one study, people who rated themselves as highly stressed lowered their levels of the stress hormones cortisol and catecholamines after eating dark chocolate every day for 2 weeks.
- Listen to music. Just 25 minutes of Mozart or Strauss has been shown to lower blood pressure and stress, according to a 2016 study. Listening to ABBA has also been shown to lower stress hormones— “Mamma Mia!”
- Drink green tea. It contains l-theanine, an ingredient that research shows help you feel more relaxed and more focused.
- Take a walk in nature. It’s associated with reducing worry, according to a 2015 study.
- Journal your feelings. Journaling helps to get your stressful thoughts out of your head and helps you gain perspective.
- Learn to kill the ANTs (automatic negative thoughts). Whenever you feel stressed, sad, mad, nervous, or out of control, write down your negative thoughts. Next, ask yourself if they are really true, or if they are a bit distorted to make you feel worse. Focusing your mind on positive, rational thoughts will help you feel much better.
Taken from The Brain Warrior's Way of Coping with Anything
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