Is Stress Keeping You Up At Night?Posted by Nick Niesen on October 26th, 2010 What keeps Americans awake at night? While for some it may have been too much pizza, for most business people today, especially entrepreneurs, managers, and executives, it?s stress. There?s just too much to do, and not enough time to do it. The result of the hyped-up business climate we live in today is a population that?s dependent on medication and drugs to sleep and get through the day. These only serve to increase the devastating effects of stress on our lives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 60% to 70% of all disease and illness is stress-related. Add to that the fact that an estimated 75% to 90% of visits to physicians are stress-related, and there?s good reason the drug companies are having a field day. This really isn?t necessary. There is so much good information and knowledge about stress and stress reduction to get all stressed out over stress! These are the top nine stress busters that I teach all my clients which help them dramatically reduce stress and improve the quality of their sleep. 1. Mindful Awareness of Thoughts and Beliefs - Become aware of what you are thinking and feeling during the day. Are your thoughts negative, fearful or limiting? Do you worry about everything: money, health, and relationships? If you are thinking negative thoughts, you are attracting into your life negative people and unhelpful situations. You are doing the very thing you do not want to do. Try to ?let go? of the thought and replace it with a positive belief or image. 4.Purchase The Best Of Stress Management Kit -A ten-week multimedia course to help reduce stress, anxiety, promote relaxation, improve mood, lower blood pressure and much more. This course is based on the Center for Mind-Body Medicine?s world-renowned professional training program. It features James Gordon, Joan Borysenko, and other leading experts in mind-body relaxation and stress-reduction techniques. 5. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise 6. Laugher and Fun 7. Diaphragmatic Breathing - The following exercises make use of the breath and can enhance the ability to fall asleep due to their calming effect. 8. Take Action - Rather than worry, re-live the situation over and over or spend sleepless nights thinking about the consequences, take some action to move the issue forward. Talk to a friend, get a therapist, journal? just do something. Procrastination weakens productivity, compounds your anxiety and causes the stressful side-effects of guilt, anger and low self-esteem. 9. Get Serious- Hire a coach who specializes in stress reduction and mind-body coaching. Develop a blueprint for lifestyle change, set goals, have accountability and make the health lifestyle changes you have always wanted. Like it? Share it!More by this author |