Beat stress without Valium!

Are you feeling stressed?  Try these simple tips before reaching for the Valium

·         Identify what it is that causing the problem.  Is it your job, a relationship, money or something else?  Does it have a practical solution (eg change your job?), will it simply get better with time and is it totally outside your control (Brexit!)?  Concentrate on what you can influence.

·         Make a list.  You will instantly feel more in control if the apparently unmanageable amount of things you have to achieve in one day is written down and you don’t have to keep trying to remember them.  And the satisfaction of crossing things off is amazing!

·         Leave your phone alone – as part of your night time routine this can work really well.  Tell yourself that it can wait until the morning.  Your sleep is important. Messages and emails can wait.  I give my land line number to friends and family who are in crisis and might need me – everything else can wait.

·         Eat healthily and drink water we know that high sugar foods and the rush and fall of these is stressful, so is caffeine and alcohol – be kind to your mind and body, give them a break.  And drink plenty of water.  Our bodies our 50% to 65% water – we need to keep that topped up, dry bodies don’t work well.  Aim for 2 to 3 litres of water a day.

·         Talk it through, those thoughts that go round and round in your head can often be dealt with if you have to say them in some sort of coherent order so that someone else can understand them.  Try it – just saying it out loud can make you think of your own solution.

·         Be mindful, live in the moment.  Worry is a real waste of time, it doesn’t help.  You’ve heard it before, its like a rocking chair, ‘comforting at the time but it doesn’t get you anywhere’.  There are many apps that help with this ‘Headspace’ being one of the best.

·         Exercise, you just knew I’d say this!  Belt it out in the gym, go for a run or just get outside for a walk.  Move your body, it will shift your mind.  You might even find that you have solde the problem by the time you’ve finished!