Stress Relief Articles

Most of the children find homework a chore, an exercise that becomes extremely stressful for them. Often they are not motivated to do homework, because of the volume or difficulty associated with the tasks. Take these following questions to assess how comfortable, focused and relaxed your child is while doing homework or if the whole exercise seems like a battle or a struggle every night!

If that’s the case, how do you genuinely help your child to cope with the stress – Do you have to give homework help regularly? Have you talked about it to the teachers? Have you already tried some pep talk?

Nonetheless, pep talk and reprimands can even turn your child away from doing homework; they will simply build up resistance to school and homework. Only thing that you can do is re-program your child’s attitude and approach towards homework.

Explore Seven Easy Ways to Take the Stress Out of Homework:

1.    Rather than discussing doing homework with your child, discuss how your child will approach homework. This will help your child to step back and explore the way they approach their studies.

2.    There must be some pressure and undercut stress that worries your child and keep them away from the tasks. Tap the reasons of stress you child suffers from with regard to homework. It may be peer pressure in school; your child can find homework difficult for he/she can think they are not clever enough to deal with that. Learn if your children enjoy struggling with your homework, or they want to end this struggle, instead.

3.    While discussing the answers, don’t discourage your child if they’ve come up with the wrong answers. Study their feelings, because dismissing their opinions and feelings only reinforces them.

4.    Talk to your child and acknowledge that homework is not easy. Tell them that resisting it makes it even bigger and stops your children from enjoying the rest of their free time. Change their negative attitude to positive ones, so that they can work with more enthusiasm and less stress.

5.    You can offer assistance to your children as to how they approach the problems, but let them give the answers. Appreciate them for the level of work they’ve achieved, learn from them if you don’t know the answers. At times, acting foolish before your children can do the magic. They feel great deal motivated to see the work is difficult, and feel a greater sense of achievement.

6.    Implement ‘‘re-programming’’ when your child is doing the homework, not when they’re rushing to finish them. Try it at the weekend, and don’t introduce it as a special time. Let your child consider it as a normal homework session, while you talk to them and work on their resistance to homework. This is a continuous process of positive suggestions that will eventually reduce their resistance towards homework.

7.    Getting the work done is not the main focus of re-programming. You can start and stop several times, as you both will be exploring the best way to approach homework. Talk to your child and know what limits them to undertake the tasks and encourage them to find their own solutions.

Homework is a big issue in children, however tapping the real causes of resistance will lead them to a more positive attitude towards studies and better grades.

If you are living a high stress lifestyle, nothing you eat is about to change that. But, you can change how your body copes with stress by making careful food choices.

Stress is often thought of as a modern day illness but, in fact, the stress reaction has been fundamental to man’s survival throughout the ages. In prehistoric times, the stress reaction was a ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction, vital for survival in life-threatening situations. Today’s stresses are less likely to be of the life-threatening variety but the human body still responds by reacting as if they are!

“Stress is the trash of modern life – we all generate it but if you don’t dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life” – Danzae Pace

The stress reaction

The adrenal glands, situated just above the kidneys, release a hormone called adrenaline when the body is under stress. The release of adrenalin brings about a number of physical reactions designed to help the body deal with the current crisis.

1.    The liver releases sugar into the blood to supply the body with an extra surge of energy for the ‘fight-or flight’ response – fight the danger or run away from it!
2.    The breathing rate increases so that more oxygen can be taken in
3.    The heart rate speeds up so that the extra sugar and oxygen can be pumped quickly to the brain and the muscles
4.    Cholesterol levels rise to thicken the blood so it will clot more easily in the event of an injury
5.    Digestion slows down as it not an essential function in a crisis

All of the above reactions were once crucial when living with life or death situations, such as coming face-to-face with a man-eating beast, on a daily basis and they prepared the body to deal with an immediate danger. Today’s stresses are more likely to be along the lines of coming face-to-face with a disgruntled bank manager or trying to meet a looming dead-line with a million things still to be done. The ‘dangers’ are no longer so immediate and common sources of stress, such as financial worries, traffic jams, crowds and noise are much longer term in nature. However, the body still responds to each stressful situation as an immediate, short-term danger so it’s being subjected to the physical effects of the stress reaction over much longer periods of time. It is this prolonged stress response that leads to stress related illness.

Common symptoms of stress:

• Fatigue
• Insomnia
• Back and neck ache
• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Tearfulness
• High blood pressure
• Frequent colds and flu
• Digestive disorders: indigestion, heartburn, diarrhoea, constipation (sometimes ulcers)

These symptoms are the result of the body failing to cope with the excessive nutritional demands being placed upon it by the stress reaction. Ironically, individuals living with stress often eat nutritionally poor diets. A fast paced, high stress lifestyle tends to go hand-in-hand with fast food eating habits, high sugar foods and often a high caffeine intake.

Anti-stress nutrition

When the body is under stress, it has different nutritional needs. The B vitamins are important for converting protein, carbohydrates, and fats into energy in order to cope with increased needs during a stress reaction. Vitamin B5 is essential for the adrenal glands to function normally and it is considered to be the ‘anti-stress vitamin’ because it helps the body cope with stress.
Vitamin C is also key for adrenal gland function but it can quickly become depleted when the stress reaction places increased demands on the glands.

A number of minerals are equally important in anti-stress nutrition. Extra potassium is needed. When extra stress is placed on the body, the increased energy production causes potassium to be excreted but replacing it is important as it plays a role in nerve cell function. Magnesium is needed for efficient nerve transmission but levels can also become depleted during periods of stress. A deficiency can cause fatigue, mental confusion, and insomnia. Calcium is also important in maintaining healthy nerve function and works with magnesium to combat irritability and insomnia.

• B vitamins

Found in liver and brewer’s yeast

• Vitamin B5 – the anti-stress vitamin

Found in mushrooms and avocado

• Vitamin C

Found in blackcurrants, green pepper, mango, and papaya

• Iron

Transports oxygen to the brain and found in liver, wholemeal bread, eggs, and meat

• Magnesium

Found in green leafy vegetables

• Calcium

Found in dairy products and green leafy vegetables

Periods of prolonged stress can lead to the body becoming deficient in the above listed vitamins and minerals so the nervous system begins to function less efficiently. During stress the body also digests and absorbs food less efficiently so it becomes difficult to replace these key anti-stress nutrients. A vicious circle begins: the body needs the nutrients to combat the effects of the stress reaction but the effects of the stress reaction make it difficult for the body to get them!

Not so anti-stress nutrients

When you feel under stress it’s tempting to turn to comforts such as chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine if you’re a smoker. Unfortunately, they only compound the problem. Alcohol and tobacco will increase adrenal output – already a physical response in the stress reaction – and they can interfere with normal sleep patterns. A lack of sleep will only add to the body’s burden. Caffeine can also disrupt sleep and in some people it can induce irritability, anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. Contrary to popular belief, alcohol does not have a ‘calming’ effect on the body and research has shown that individuals with a dependency on alcohol are four times more likely to develop an anxiety disorder than those who don’t.

Tips to help you eat your way to less stress

• Eat lots of fruit and vegetables to boost essential vitamin and mineral levels

• Eat in a relaxed environment to give your body the best chance of digesting and absorbing essential vitamins and minerals

• Avoid junk foods – they use up valuable nutrients to digest empty calories, cause imbalances in blood sugar levels and can result in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and irritability

• Avoid foods that may cause an allergic reaction – they may lead to a stress reaction

• Reduce your caffeine intake – try replacing coffee and tea with herbal and fruit teas

• When under stress, do not drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, or take recreational drugs

Finding ways to incorporate anti-stress nutrients into your daily diet is very much a case of personal choice but here’s a sample daily menu created by nutritionist Oona van den Berg for the book Brain Food.

Stress-busting menu for a day

Breakfast:
Molasses with muesli and thick yoghurt
Unsweetened fruit juice
Lunch:
Mango and avocado salad with smoked chicken
Mushroom soup
Walnut and sunflower seed snacks
Dinner:
Griddled liver and bacon with grilled potatoes
Steamed spinach
Poached guava with yoghurt
Snacks:
Fresh fruits, especially papaya
Herbal and fruit teas

Not all stress is a bad thing. In small doses it can tone up the body’s reaction times, increase motivation, and add a bit of excitement to life. It’s the continued exposure to the effects of the stress reaction that can be detrimental to health. Eating well will clearly help your body to cope with the excessive nutritional demands the stress reaction creates but it will also be of great benefit to your body to allow it some ‘time off’ now and again. There are no sabre-toothed tigers chasing you – take a break!

“The mark of a successful man is one that has spent an entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it” – Author Unknown

It seems mothers are made out of some secret elements – they have ample hearts, stout shoulders, a minimum of 3 hands, all the answers and many more talents to go in this list! Surprising enough, what mothers forget is that they are not born with super hero powers to handle all of those things at once, and that as well speak of the amount of stress mothers have to go through. Mom-stress is a fact of life, more so in a fast paced world, where they juggle careers and family life. Everybody would like to get rid of their stress levels – why not mothers think of doing something positive about it!

Stress can have severe implications like depression, heart disease, and an unhealthy mom. If you are a stressed mom, do you know how to reduce stress? If not handled correctly, can have a negative impact on your children too?

You know a mother’s world revolve round her children. They are the most important and most influential things in any mother’s life. Children like to imitate and everything a mom does they will, at some point in time in their lives, will replicate. If your children see you in a constant stress, they will be more inclined to follow those negative behavioral patterns. What you do today creates a watermark for your children. Your child will lead a tomorrow, as per the suggestions they gather from today’s reality – how better you reduce stressful situations in your home.

As a mother, don’t overload yourself that will in turn overload your children. Children are not so adept to handle more works in less time, and they are not physically capable of handling stresses like you.  That may as well lead to developmental and behavior problems in the long run, if they constantly try to keep a quicker pace.

Studies reveal that mothers with more stressful routines will hand out harsher punishments than one who is not. With piling up stresses, mothers can fly off their handle frequently and won’t stop to think before handing down discipline. This will give a wrong signal to the children, who will treat mood swings as the controller of things.

As a mother, you have the responsibility to impart your children the sense of security and let them know that you’re there whenever they need you the most. Teach them about stress and how it can affect daily schedules. Show empathy while they’re going through stressful times in their lives. In a way, teach them how to counter stress and live happier lives.  Give them the tools early about how to deal with stress. You definitely want your children to be better equipped to handle stressful situations in their future.

As a mother, you must teach your children how to take control of stress before it takes you in control.  Avoid the tendency of over-managing and ‘Do it all’ sort of schedules. Focus on the reasons of stress and try to move towards reducing stress, each day. If you can eliminate just one stressful situation, it can make a huge difference for you and your kids. Your children will learn your way of managing stress.

When you look at the clock, it gives you a time well past midnight. You have been struggling to have sleep since the last two hours and you are still at the square one, you are wide awake. Does that sound alarming! When you push your nerves to the edges of sleep, your mind starts to race, your muscles get tensed. You think you’ll never get any rest. You are suffering from a scary sleep disorder, none other than insomnia. You are not alone; there are million people in the U.S. who struggle to have sleep and end up with stressed feeling and restless tempers.

According to a recent survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, there are more than fifty percent of adults in America who experience insomnia at least a few nights a week. You know the bouts of insomnia gets bigger with age and it affects the sleeping cycle of approximately thirty percent of men and forty percent of women. Don’t just press the alarm yet.

People cannot sleep, because they are too stressed out. Stress is one of the major contributors to all sorts of health hazards, starting from weight gain to heart problems. Stress is almost invincible in today’s fast-moving world. Is there nothing you can do about stress and sleepless nights? There are stress relief techniques using which you can reduce or eliminate stress from your life, minimize the stressful situations and get better sleep cycles.

Consider Strategies to Combat Stress and Regain Sleep -

1)    Make ‘to do’ Lists: You can make an exhaustive list and organize your next day’s activities into three categories: ‘To Call’, ‘To Buy’, and ‘To Do’. Remember to attach specific time schedules to each of these activities. Now you are less likely to mess with the things and won’t wake up to chaos.

2)    Get Away: Before you hit the pillows, think of some get away. Take your time out and listen to your kind of music. If you feel like, read a book, as you drink a cup of herbal tea or warm milk. Interpose your busy and unnerving day and your bedtime with this ‘unwind’ regime.

3)   Relax Your Body. When we are stressed, our muscles get the worst blow, especially those of the neck and lower back. You can do stretching exercises to ease out the muscular tension. When you get into bed, lie flat on your back for a few minutes. Flex your muscles as you work your way up from your toes to your temples. You can even try some sleep aids to help you ease into a deep sleep.

Think of a holiday and all those pleasant things come to your mind – sharing carefree and happy hours with your loved ones. However, holidays can be stressful, because of underlying tensions you have in your family. You don’t want your holiday to turn out to be a dreaded time, do you! After all, holidays come around once a year and we cope with family tension all the year round.

Holiday sojourns are all about spending days with family members who don’t usually get much time together because of work-load, school commitments, or spatial distances. People fall back into their old behavioral pattern, old arguments crop up and long-buried issues come to the surface. They can belch out their pent up grudges and that causes more tension. Besides, there may be people in the group who are exhausted from weeks of shopping, planning and decorating, teenagers who are opposed to intrusion of their space and time, and young children who are unsure about what it’s like to have company. The stress cycle begins.

If you are a host of a family holiday event, you may discover that the stress of arranging for a perfect holiday begins many weeks before the holiday actually arrives. It requires an attitudinal change and a lifestyle change that few people are comfortable to make. With honest try, you can create a perfect family holiday season and make things more manageable.

•    Learn to accept that holidays are inevitable and to accommodate holidays you have to keep your mind and heart open, so that things can fall in place.

•    The notion of perfect holiday is different for everyone – accept it! Holiday is just a part of a real-world scenario, and you can’t expect people to change just because it is a holiday. Tensions may chip in, but in the grand scheme of things it does not matter, keep it in perspective.

•    Think of your budget while you’re on a holiday spree. Make a list of the things you need to buy and try to be faithful to that. Holiday spending can easily get out of control and leave you enough financial worries for the New Year ahead. Calculate your budget in advance and don’t just step over those estimates.

•    If you don’t have a heart to go to a holiday excursion, don’t let guilt or a misplaced sense of obligation force you to attend those gatherings. Pick events you know you will enjoy and that means something to you and you will have a great time.

•    Think of what you exactly want from your children or spouse to behave in such holiday outings. Do you want them to be the smiling faces in all family photos, functions, holiday activities! Don’t invite stress just because they are not behaving the way you think they should. Value their expectations too and talk about it.

When you are planning a holiday bash, try to think in real terms, focus on the people you love, don’t squander, flaunt your sense of humor and that will keep stress away. Life is short. Celebrate every precious time you get to spend with your loved ones, and of all things, enjoy to the brim.