Stress and How to Deal~

I have strange way of dealing with stress.. everybody does. Everyone gets stressed and everyone finds a way to deal. I'm going to go over different ways of relieving stress, why because finals are coming and I'm going a bit crazy.

So what are ways that you can relax focus properly on your finals?  how can you relieve al of the stress of work, school, home life, and anything else you might be freaked about?

1) Exercise:
   Exercising seems like something a bit difficult to do, especially when you are swamped with work. In reality it truly is, you come home tired, you wake up early, all you want to do is relax. Why bother?
First of all, it gives you energy. Wake up and do a small exercise routine, jog, stretch lift weights, whatever. After a few days on the routine it will be easier to wake up, and you'll look good. Also, it reduces the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that makes you fat.. literally, it stores body fat and makes it harder to lose weight.
It also helps you fight depression. Exercise will release endorphins, which act as a natural pain reliever and an antidepressant.  It also increases levels of serotonin in the body, which is a neurotransmitter that helps deal with anxiety, stress, and makes you feel generally happy. Exercise also helps regulate your sleep schedule, making it easier to fall asleep at night and get the rest you need to feel better.

It also makes you look sexy. 

2) Music
Music is a big stress reliever and an interesting tool that is available to all. Music has been proven to help reduce anxiety levels and help people focus. Softer music is generally used to reduce stress.
Take some instrumental music and lay down for fifteen minutes, breathing and letting the music take you away. Focus on the music and forget everything else. This exercise should help you relax your body enough to continue properly with your day. This is a good technique t use when you want to relax during the day, it only take five minutes and can help you keep stress down as you go along.  then there is music to help you focus on the task at hand.
This is a far more individual process. While instrumental music is generally relaxing the music that helps you focus can be varied. Everything from Heavy metal to smooth jazz can help you focus, you just have to find what you  prefer. Personally I use a writing program called Omm Writer which plays soothing music and removes all distractions from the screen, but whatever works for you is best.


3) People and Pets:

Take a night off to play with your dogs or kitties and relax with your friends! This is incredibly simple. Just enjoy the company of those that you love, whether they be human or animal. Cuddle, play, watch a movie, eat, whatever it takes, just have fun.

4) Yoga and meditation:
Meditation is a powerful tool. It is defined as a practice in which the practitioner trains his or her mind or self-induces a mode of consciousness in order to realize some benefit. In other words its training yourself to be able to leave the present situation and place yourself in another space. It helps you look at your situation from a space which is not affected by your surroundings. There are different meditation techniques that can help you do this, but the easiest to start with is simply learning to use breathing to induce a meditative state.

Yoga is another tool that is useful and quite common. There are many places (that are probably close by) that can teach you yoga, and once you know you can practice at home. You can relax and meditate using yoga and it is a powerful tool to train the body and mind.



5) Artistic expression:

Painting, drawing, sewing, writing, cooking, the creative process in general is quite wonderful AND relaxing.  To take something basic like paint, ingredients for a meal, charcoal, or anything, and work it and transform it into something you are proud of is a therapeutic process. there are two kinds of artistic processes that are good for relaxation. The ones that are mentally consuming, things like painting and drawing, which require all of your attention and focus. And things that are more repetitive and require less direct attention like knitting, amigurumi or sewing. these are more repetitive activities that let you focus on other things while you work or immerse yourself in the process. Art is an important tool for expression and stress relief, so go ahead, pick up a hobby.



GAH look at all this! Its so long! This, for me, is stress relief. I usually write about things that affect me, this way i can release some of my stress..  so why not make your own blog?

Sleep

Sleep, wikipedia tells me its: a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles.  I call it "that thing I do when I'm tired". Ive always had a few issues with sleep, but as of late I've been having more issues than usual, so, in honor of not being able to sleep tonight either here is a small list of things to do to help you sleep.

- Getting ready for sleep . Try to go to bed when you're sleepy. this sounds odd, but lets say you are tired, its late you dont feel all that sleepy but you go to bed anyway. You are tired right? Surely you'll fall asleep, right? Wrong.  Your body secretes a hormone called melatonin, it has the cool title of  "hormone of darkness",  it s only secreted when your body is ready to sleep, and it promotes sleep in the person.
So really its best only to fall asleep when your body is ready What do you do then? 
1) Hot baths. The sleep cycle has been found to be linked with body temperature, so why not try a warm relaxing bath. Fill the tub, turn off the lights and relax in the tub for about half an hour before bed time. Once you're done you should bb primed and ready for a nice sleep.
2) Guided imagery. This is a form of meditation that helps (at least helps me)  one fall asleep. When you are in bed first imagine counting down from 24 to 1 in bright neon colours. Once you reach zero imagine the nicest most calming place in the world, it has everything you want. A waterfall, a meadow, an odd yet adorable furry pony.  And just imagine resting there. Alternatively, you can imagine designing something. A dress, a house, an overly complex mansion, something to keep your mind occupied until you drift to sleep.
3) Music. Another nice thing to do is to play soft or relaxing music. I usually have a playlist that plays when Im going to sleep. A collection of songs that calm me... there is one track, track 11 that I always play when I',m falling asleep, to the point that when I hear it now, it just puts me to sleep.
4) Milk and honey. Cant sleep? try a bit of milk and honey to get you warm and ready for bed again.
5) that one thing, everyone has that one thing that just immediately puts them to sleep, for me its a full belly or paranormal tv shows.  When I watch paranormal tv shows I knock out, completely. Not just that, but i have a tendency to have lucid dreams, btu this works better for naps.

Dealing with problems/What to do when you Freak out

Here's the thing with anxiety, no matter where you are it can find you... Like today, during my Biochemistry test... I was sitting there, reading through the test, realizing I wasn't going to do well, when suddenly I realized my nervousness and confusion wasn't just test jitters, as usual I began to feel dizzy and i called the professor over, he tried to calm me down, but as these things usually go once I realized that I was having a panic attack during a test... i had another one. 

We all learn to deal with anxiety, but today was something else, I had to leave the test, call my boyfriend to get some of my medicine from my apartment, and sat in the chemistry office until it had passed...  Dizzyness, vomiting, shivers, all of these things come hand in hand with a panic attack. The inability to focus on anything, the  sudden spinning of the world, what can one do? 

Though I failed today at calming myself down, ill write a few things here that help me.. and hopefully may help you:

1) remember, nothing can happen to you. As you are sitting there nervous just think about this, nothing can happen to you at that moment, its just you and your head. In the grand scheme of things, one panic attack is nothing, it will pass. Focus not on what you have to do, but on what you want to do, take the first step by calming down.

2) Breathe. This is the first advice you're given, and it is the stupidest. "Of course breathe!" you say, "what, do I stop? No!" Its not so much about stopping your breathing, its not that you suffocate, generally its more that you are breathing abnormally. Too quickly, not deep enough for your body to get the oxygen it needs. The right advice should be Breathe rhythmically, breathe in time with something, usually what helps me the most is to sing. What you are singing you are forced to take breaths at a certain point and at a certain depth, so you can keep singing, I usually go for This Too Shall Pass by the Band Ok Go. Not only does it have a positive message, but it is a nice song!

3) Think about those that make you smile. Right now, make a mental picture, a list of everyone and everything you love and then take the good times that make you smile. Got them?  Good. Create a mental file where you store alll those things that make you smile, those nice moments when you feel loved and secure, keep something around that reminds you of that. A picture, a necklace, a toy, anything. For me its the thought of my boyfriend hugging me and being silly, my best friend singing me to sleep, or analyzing poetry at obnoxious hours, another friend whose music is my sleepytime playlist, and my cat stepping on my computer as he decides I've had enough computer time and not enough kitty time. Those images remind me there is good in the world and that I have people who love me, armed with these thoughts, I focus less on the problem and more on them.

4) Keep busy. Panic attack over? Keep busy, don't let yourself think about what happened, talk about anything, the rain, cats, sunshine and rainbow, whatever. There is a bit of time after a panic attack where you realize what just happened, if you keep busy you can put that off until you are ready to handle it, once you feel like you can deal with what happened, then go ahead. Another good thing is that after any form of anxiety you feel drained, sleepy. Sleep after, rest, but make sure you have something to do after, don't let yourself fall into a pattern in which you cannot function and become tired and depressed. Its too easy. 

5) Keep a security blanket! I hate pills, I hate them like the plague, I have some that I can take if I'm having an attack, but I usually avoid them, I was once talking to someone else who has anxiety issues and for him just having the bottle of pills was enough to calm him if he was nervous. Not for me. What do i have? The book Good Omens By Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. It is my favorite book, I can pick it up and start reading wherever and BAM instant distraction. Now you may have noticed that today I did not do that. Sometimes I find that my stress level is high enough to take the medicine for panic attacks, ill still use my book to calm me down, but I sometimes need help. Now don't get me wrong, if you need medicine take it. I myself take one every day, the one I dislike is the one for when I get panic attacks specifically, It puts me to sleep for hours and I don't feel that great after (which is why I might change it soon) 

Now remember, these are just some things you can do to deal with anxiety, but really the most important thing is to get help. From an expert. A friend can only help you so much, its once you start seeing people who have studied and understand what you are going through that you really begin to learn and get better.