Stress!! I use to not think I was stressed, but my body (and my mom) continued to tell me otherwise. My stress manifests itself via canker sores, forehead acne, stomach pains, headaches, and morphs me into a not nice person.
Although the short term effects (listed above) are not pretty, the long term health effects of stress are uglier. The constant release of cortisol, the stress hormone, has long lasting and negative effects on the body. The book, Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life, really helped me to understand hormones, how they work, and the impact they have on our body long term- cancers and attacks amongst other diseases and hormonal imbalance as we get older (particularly menopause age).
Chronic stress is constantly wearing down your body. I felt a huge shift in my stress levels after moving to Chicago and I didn't really know why. Yes, I am in grad school, but I had just finished a long stretch where I was moving, planning a wedding, applying to grad-school, running a student council, starting a dance team, and working while training for a 1/2 marathon. It seemed to me that the number of stressors in my life had decreased, yet my anxiety and in-ability to deal with the stress completely increased-- it was a really rough time and my husband was really worried about my lack of coping techniques, I knew something had to change.
In New Orleans I had formed habits that I hadn't realized helped me deal with all the stress, when we moved to Chicago I unconsciously abandoned those habits and now I am more aware of how to deal with stress via my training this summer and working with a therapist last semester, I realized the importance of those habits and am currently working on re-incorporating them into my life.
Dealing with and reducing stress in a healthy way-
Working out- I really believe that my running during that last crazy year in New Orleans helped me get through all the changes and obligations. Once Chicago winter hit my running took a massive nose dive and so did my overall cardio workouts. As soon as I started running again I felt better. Get a trainer, go to a cardio class, go for a short run-- getting the heart rate up and releasing endorphins (insert Legally Blonde quote) is so important to your body physiologically dealing with the stress. Even if sometimes making the time to workout is stressful just suck it up and go for a 20 minute run--you will never regret it afterwards.
Routines- one thing I learned through Ayurvedic lessons at my training this summer is that by doing things at the same time each day / week allows your nervous system to relax. When I lived in NOLA I worked at a school where I woke up at the same time each day, ate the same thing for breakfast each day, went to work and had a schedule, and had a set T/TH apt. at the gym, and a set time Saturday morning for cleaning and running errands. My grad school schedule does not allow for such consistency, but I do try to wake up / eat at similar times. Likewise, I have a calendar with a cleaning schedule on it, however I am still trying to figure out my workout schedule.
*** This may seem redundant and boring, but trust me, as a person who thrives on spontaneity and suffers from ruts and funks from too much routine this basic daily skeleton is what holds me up so that I can have that spontaneity.
De-Clutter and Organize- One of the worst feelings I get is when I am overwhelmed by school, so I ignore housework, then as I am trying to do the schoolwork I all the clutter and mess closing in on me.
Solution: I now have a cleaning calendar, it will take about 10 minutes at most each day to do the chore on the list. I did extensive research on how to keep a house clean--I am not a naturally neat person so this is hard and I needed all the advice I could get.
So far the house has stayed clean and I did not have to spend my entire Friday undoing the mess I made M-TH. It is getting in the habit of doing the little things along the way and cleaning as I go.
Organizing is so important. I am one of those people who look unorganized to others but I tend to know where things are, that is until I get stressed then FORGET ABOUT IT! I will lose my keys and phone about 5 times a day, which then stresses me out more and usually results in tears. I don't want to add to the stress I already have- I spent days this summer organizing and de-cluttering the office and closets so that when I look for something I know where it is and can find it.
I am still working on getting rid of stuff, but honestly getting rid of a bag of clothes or things you don't need feels so good, you feel lighter.
Get rid of things you don't use- we did not need 15 blankets. Clothes you don't wear, get rid of them
Friends- Moving is hard and making new friends when you aren't living in a dorm or starting a new job is hard. I really missed my friendly get-togethers and the social style of living in New Orleans. Lately I have been skyping friends from New Orleans, and no it's not the same but it feels so much better than not skyping them. I continue to put myself out there and in situations to meet new people.
New Habits that I am trying to implement:
Meditating- this is key! Every place that offers advice for reducing stress encourages meditation, I am working this into my new routine. For me a great yoga class is right up there with mediation.
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