How to Stress LESS and Be Happy
Posted: April 1, 2022 | By: Rocio Ramos
Minimize Stress & Focus on mental health
Your happiness is directly correlated to your level of stress. Likewise, your mental health reflects how you perceive the world and your daily life. People who are constantly stressed, often have a hard time focusing on the present. This can mean that instead of focusing your energy on things that actually matter, you can spend a lot of time focusing on things that don’t – in turn affecting your happiness.
Here are a few ways you can revamp your mental health this month and minimize stress:
Spend Time in Nature
It might seem like an Instagram inspirational post but, spending time outdoors really does support your overall health. There have been many studies done on the impact that nature has on your mental health and beyond. Specifically, a study conducted at the University of Washington by Assistant Professor Gregory Bratman, PhD, and colleagues found that contact with nature is associated with increases in happiness, subjective well-being, positive affect, positive social interaction,s and a sense of meaning and purpose in life, as well as decreases in mental distress. So the first step in supporting your happiness is spending more time outdoors.
Minimize Social Media
While social media posts can help inspire you and motivate you for a variety of things, they can also have a negative impact on your mental health. Sometimes too much information can become overwhelming to your mental health. So, finding a healthy balance of time you spend on social media can help minimize stress. If you find that you are mindlessly scrolling, put your phone down and set a social media alarm. This means you set an alarm for 2 hours (or whatever time you feel appropriate) and stay off social media until then.
Practice Being More Present
You may have heard this a dozen times, and here it is one more time. There is nothing that you can do about the past or the future. Worrying about things that have not yet happened and likewise, things that have already happened does nothing for you. Focus on what’s happening here and now and let the past be the past. Additionally, don’t stress about things in the future that you can’t control.
Wind Down Before Bedtime
When you are stressed about something, it’s really hard to shut your mind off at night. This means that you have a hard time falling asleep and/or staying asleep. Learn to quiet your thoughts with meditation. Meditating is an incredible practice that has many benefits but it’s especially beneficial when trying to quiet your thoughts. There are some great meditation apps out there to help guide you through this practice. A few favorites are Calm, the One Peloton App, and the Chopra App.
Additionally, many nutrients can help support healthy stress levels. Youngevity’s Ultimate D-Stress contains vitamins, minerals, and botanicals, to help combat stress naturally. It supports healthy adrenal glands which are in charge of producing the stress hormone.
So, let’s start improving our days by stressing less and supporting our overall mental health. Prevention is the key!
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