Let’s all face it; stress can become a big part of our everyday lives from time to time. Between family, work, other commitments, things can get overwhelming and stressful. In this episode of The Whole Circle Podcast, we discuss tips and ways to keep your stress at bay because we all know the less-stressed, more relaxed and calm you are day in and day out — you find yourself eating healthier, life feels happier, and the people around you will notice that glow emanating from you. So to help manage your stress and take back that feeling of control here is our top 10 Stress Less Tips.

1. Get regular, good quality sleep

While most mums like you, consider night time as your “me” time by catching up with some Netflix shows past midnight, it is never nice for you the next day. Your alarm wakes you up in the morning, and you do not want to get out of bed, then you have this awful feeling of the need to get more sleep. Waking up tired with low energy will only contribute to your stress levels.

If you are having a hard time getting some quality sleep, try to: diffuse some essential oils in the bedroom, buy a new pillow, get a new mattress topper, or simply just adjust the temperature in the room. Go ahead and do anything that will make you sleep better. It’s worth a try. The more quality sleep you get, the less stressed you would become.

2. Get a little bit more organised

If your brain goes a million miles an hour and you feel like your not going to get things done, merely getting out everything that’s in your head and on to some paper — a todo list — will make you feel way less stressed.

Now when things get chaotic, and your to-do list gets a little longer than usual, try asking for help from a friend, your partner, or even your kids. Delegate or detail off a couple of items from your to-do list to them, thereby releasing the burden off your shoulders. The result? Things will get done, and your stress will go away too.

3. Look at your level of Exercise

Exercise has been proven to lower stress. But it doesn’t mean that you need to go and lift heavy weights and look buffed like an MMA fighter. Doing yoga or just simply taking a leisurely walk each day for 15 minutes around the neighbourhood or your office block during lunch time at work is enough to get your heart pumping and release those endorphins but also by exercising you will find that your mind becomes clearer.

4. Use Essential Oils

We can’t tell you enough about how much we love our essential oils and how it changed our lives forever. You can find out more about essential oils here in our blog post. But to tell you how essential oils help reduce our stress, this is what we do best:

  • If I’m having a hard time sleeping, I use the Lavender and Copaiba blend and roll it on the bottoms of my feet, big toes, inside of the wrist, and within 10 minutes, I’m sleeping like a baby. It’s made a massive difference in me.
  • Diffusing Balance in the morning at breakfast keeps my children calmer, fewer fights and arguments. One time, I forgot to turn on the diffuser, that morning got a bit crazier than usual.

5. Self-care time

Self-care time can mean getting that long awaiting massage to release the tension and tightness in your body or having a long bath relaxing at night. It’s literally: me time = alone time.

But self-care could also mean going out with friends for a movie or a drink. It really depends on you, as long as you’re doing things that you really enjoy doing. And make sure to schedule it in by writing it down in your diary too.

6. Talk about it

It’s essential to talk about any stress you may be under. So if you are overwhelmed, and you feel that the weight of the world is on your shoulders, and you don’t know what to do, find someone to talk about it with. Open up and share that stress with a partner, a friend or a counsellor.

It has been proven that when you have that support system around you, you will feel happier and healthier.

7. Start a gratitude diary

When I first started a gratitude diary, I wasn’t in a great place. I wanted to write how I’m really feeling like: “My life sucks”, “My life is crap”, “My life is busy, stressful and chaotic”.
But I turned it around and just wrote in the opposite. And now, whenever I write in my gratitude journal in the morning — it’s all positive. I didn’t have to make up stuff anymore.
Now I write: “My life is amazing”, “I’m grateful”, “I’m wonderful”, “I’m strong”. Then your whole world just changes when you can write this positive stuff down.

8. Meditate or yoga

I’ve been doing yoga for most mornings for 15-30 minutes and it feels really good. You don’t need to leave home to take a yoga class as there are lots of great yoga videos you can watch online. I have stumbled upon a yoga instructor on YouTube her name is Adriene, you can check her youtube link here to help you start your yoga exercises too!

Meanwhile, meditation doesn’t always have to be done sitting down like what we usually think, there’s what they call meditation walks and there’s an app called Active Meditation that allows you to do that. There are tons of great apps, blogs, and free stuff that you can learn from when it comes to meditation. But if your mind quickly wanders off, our tip is to start with just 1-2 minutes and then build your way up there.

9. Detox from technology

This is especially hard for us because we are running an online business and we need to have our devices with us all the time. What you don’t know is that it does play on your stress levels. That constant voice in your head — I need to check what’s on facebook, I need to check my email, I need to check my messages — is really hard to stop and it’s such a time waster which then leaves you no time to do everything else and then you start stressing out about what you haven’t done but yet you’ve actually just wasted it on your phone.

What you can do is to try to minimise your screen time, detox off your phone, off your emails or your computer for a day or over a weekend. Try doing physical activities or go on holidays, enjoy your time out of the modern technology then see how it goes. You will notice how much it can reduce your stress and improves the quality of your life.

10. Laugh more

Definitely full-on belly laugh. Watch a funny flick, a comedy show or those stupid cat videos and make sure it makes you “wee-in-your pants” laugh. Heck, you can even google someone laughing and you’ll be finding yourself rolling on the floor laughing with that person in that video. Laughing is just as contagious as yawning.

Doing a belly laugh is much like exercising with that rush of endorphin, goodness, fun, entertainment, and joy, but way better! Come on, laugh out loud with us now!

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