When we’re sick, sometimes it’s accompanied by stress. And when we’re stressed, sometimes (read: all the time?) it makes us feel even more sick. When we have surgery coming up, no matter how prepared we think we are, there’s always fear, anger, and stress about the situation hiding in our minds. And when we’re recovering from surgery, every extra, new pain results in a pang of anxiety and stress. So many scenarios in our lives have one common denominator…

Stress.

Stress is everywhere. I used to think I didn’t stress very much, but it turns out I that while I didn’t feel stressed emotionally, my body channeled it by wreaking havoc inside. Since my colectomy, I have been way more in touch with my stress level, mostly because I’ve been paying better attention to how my body is responding to situations.  This greater awareness has forced me to acknowledge when I’m stressed. I have surprised myself with the amount of stress I manage to keep in my life and allow myself to carry. I overfill my days and consistently overcommit myself. I find myself legitimizing my chaotic life because it is filled with things I enjoy, but a part of me is coming to accept that life is more fun if stress is not a part of it – even if all of the things you’re doing are things you enjoy.

“You can do anything, but not everything” – David Allen

Going into my second surgery, I was lucky to be able to take a hiatus from most of my commitments so that I could commit most of my time to a quick, smooth recovery. Incredibly, I managed to stress myself out about when I could go back to work before I even had the surgery. I was worrying that while I was recovering I would not be productive. It’s kind of sad, to not be able to just sit back and chill out for more than a short while without getting anxious about productivity. Two years later, this is something I continue to work on.

I mentioned that I often push my stress out of the emotional realm and channel stress physically without even being aware of it cognitively. Sometimes, though, all of the stress I’m carrying finds a way to break out, overwhelming me with a massive amount of emotions that I just can’t figure out how to channel appropriately. Throwing a tantrum in your 20s is silly, but sometimes it happens, I’m human. During or after an emotional explosion, I realize how silly I am acting and it fuels the fire with frustration. Vicious cycle. Inspired by a number of emotional explosions and physical expressions of stress, I’ve started practicing different HEALTHY ways to channel my stress and thought I’d share.

BODY MOVEMENT

Smile

Ever noticed how it’s hard to feel upset when you walk into a room of smiling people? Their positive energy radiates off them and starts to consume you. What’s even cooler is that you can smile by yourself and feel the same effects. Smiling tricks your brain into happiness.  Read more here.

Exercise

Getting your body moving is good all around. In addition to helping lower stress levels, it helps you sleep better and people who exercise more have lowered risk for a number of common diseases. Read more here and here.

Walk

Technically this is exercise, but I’m making it it’s own category because this is my go-to self-soother. I always come back from a walk feeling better.

Take notice of where you’re tense and make a conscious effort to relax those areas. – Easier said than done, practice makes it easier though. I combine this with breathing. Deep breath in, focus on a tense area, and relax it on exhale. Repeat. Wonderful.

LOOK INSIDE YOUR HEAD

Identify Stressors

If you know what your stressors are, you can work to avoid them, alter them, adapt to them, and accept them. Also, identifying and labeling emotions can help reduce their intensity, immediately reducing the overwhelming stress you’re experiencing.

Look at the big picture

Will whatever is stressing you out matter in a month or year? Is it worth the energy you’re spending being stressed about it? Likely not. Once you put it into perspective, the little things really do seem little and are easier to let go of.

Notice your thoughts

When you catch yourself thinking negatively, acknowledge it and make a conscious effort to think of a positive outlook for the same situation. Negative thoughts are like sugar. The more sugar you have, the more you crave it. Likewise, the more negativity you harbor, the harder it is to get out of that habit.

TAKE A BREAK

“You” Time

Make time for yourself to relax. It’s best if you can set aside some time each day for this. Trust me, I know it’s hard, but it’s worth the effort. Take some time to do something you want to do, watch a funny movie, listen to music, read, play with your pet, take a bath, get a massage, do something just for you.

Sleep

We try to stuff so much into our days, often compromising the amount of sleep we get. Sleep is important. It’s restorative on so many levels, make time to get more sleep and somehow you’ll find that you’re getting even more done
than before.

Surround yourself with friends

Happiness is infectious. Spend time around people you genuinely enjoy being around and try to limit your time around people who stress you out.

COMMUNICATION

Use a stress journal

Track the cause of your stress, how it made you feel emotionally and physically, your reactions, and how you made yourself feel better. If you track your stress daily, then you can analyze your data and look for themes so you can assess ways to make positive changes.

Talk to someone

This is one of my favorites. Not only does it let you vent, it forces you to acknowledge what you’re feeling and hopefully the person/people you choose to talk to will give you a different perspective to consider. Knowledge is power.