It’s the 5 letter word that plagues almost half the nation; stress. A recent article in The Huffington Post stated that 40.6 percent of American’s polled in 2012 reported they experienced stress “yesterday.”1 This data comes from a report published by the Gallup-Healthways Well Being Index, who interviewed over 350,000 Americans; this report also reveals that stress levels seem to be relatively unchanged over the last few years. You may think, well who doesn’t experience a little stress now and again? However, too much stress can lead to several health problems including head and stomach disorders and may also increase your risk of stroke and heart disease.
The month of April is not only known for welcoming warm weather and maybe some spring showers, but it is also Stress Awareness Month. This is usually the time when we find ourselves worried about school finals, summer vacations, and pending deadlines, which may be why it’s also the perfect time to raise awareness to those of us who experience high levels of stress. While this is not to say that 40% of us are constantly feeling overwhelmed and not enjoying life, we should take time to make sure we are doing things to relax and unwind from our busy lives.
By living a healthy lifestyle, you are already combating stress, but there are a few things you may also want to do to help minimize stress levels.
- Spend some time with friends and family. Just a simple friendly conversation can bring a smile to your face and smiles make the world a happier place.
- Stay active. Whether it’s a walk, bike ride, or boot camp class, regular physical activity helps to relive tension and gives you a good dose of endorphins.
- Make rest a priority. Sleep is a key factor in living a healthy lifestyle and adults should try to get 6 to 8hrs of sleep each night.
- Don’t’ sweat the small stuff. Sometimes we like to worry about things that don’t really matter and this makes living a healthy, stress-free life hard, so remember to let things go.
- Stay organized. Something as easy as planning ahead can make the world of a difference when a deadline or event is approaching and will make it easier to stay on track.
- Meditate. You can learn to meditate by taking a class or even reading a book, but it’s a great way to relax and let go of your daily stresses.
I realize that many of us live busy, full lives and taking 30 minutes a day to meditate or go on a walk seems impossible, but we need to be able to relax and enjoy life! Youngevity offers many healthy lifestyle supplements to help with your nutritional needs, but we also offer products such as Livinity’s StressESE Plus that contains powerful adaptogens, which help combat stress and fatigue and SupraLife’s D-Stress which provides nutrients known to be involved in a healthy stress response cycle. So relax and don’t sweat the small stuff.
Remember prevention is the key!
Rocio RamosContributing Writer
Youngevity Marketing Team
