Stress… it’s a powerful thing. Although there were a lot of factors that contributed to my physical downfall in 2012, I feel that stress was not only the straw that broke the camel’s back but also the driving force of my gradual decline. For the past week I’ve had a prolonged and constant feeling of stress due to certain life events. Whenever I feel this way now, I am alarmed. I don’t ever want to do anything that will jeopardize the good health that I’ve worked so hard to achieve. It seems no matter what I try to tell myself, the stress is persistent.
So, I am curious. What can we do to protect our health during times like this? Here are some things I’m finding to be effective:
– Setting aside time every day to pray and hand over my cares to the Lord
– Sitting in a darkened room with candles and worship music with a cup of hot, decaffeinated tea
– Getting a massage
– Spending time alone and writing a letter or a journal to process and express my feelings
– Escaping the seriousness by playing a game with my kids
What stress reduction techniques do you find helpful? Do you practice them when you should or do you just keep pushing yourself? How does this effect your health?
Photo Credit: bottled_void via Compfight cc