A friend of mine gained 30 lbs when he moved out of town for a new job.
His job was a nightmare. His income crashed. And then his health.
Stress kills your metabolism, pours gasoline on your cortisol levels, and wrecks your sleep.
Here’s 5 simple ways to reduce stress and re-energize your life:
#1 Binaural Beats
Binaural beats are magic in your ears…Literally.
Here’s how it works: one tone is played in one ear, a different one in the second, and your brain hears a third one. You can find these on Youtube. Just put in your headphones and play one that promotes relaxation or sleep.
Stay away from the ones that talk about taking you into a different astral plane (that’s just creepy).
#2 Breathing
What, you thought this was going to be difficult?
Get up early and find a comfortable place to sit. Now close your eyes and breathe. Try and think about nothing but every breath that goes in and out. If your mind starts to wander, just bring it back to breathing.
Just do this as long as you can. Eventually, aim for 20 minutes.
#3 Take Back Control
Okay, so you’re a bit anxious and feel a little helpless.
And probably the fact that you’re a speck of dust sitting on a rock that’s spinning around the Solar System’s largest atomic reactor at 67,100 miles per hour, isn’t helping anything.
But don’t give up just yet. There’s still something you can do.
Find any little thing in your life that you’ve let slip and get a hold of it. This could be as simple as cleaning out a junk drawer or it might be as complicated as calling some friends you haven’t seen in a while and setting up a lunch.
The idea is…
Start with something small that might seem unimportant in the grand scheme of things but that you can do. Then do the damn thing.
You’d be surprised by how much a little momentum can make a huge impact in your life.
#4 Get a Kitten
I was going to say something clever here like: start journaling or practice gratitude but nah….
Kittens are God’s gift to the anxious soul. If living with 8 cats, 4 dogs, 4 kids, and one wife as taught me anything it’s this: The more animals the better!
Oh, and it’s also taught me sarcasm.
#5 100 Push Ups Every Day
Your brain needs something to focus on other than its anxiety.
Set some type of goal that’s beneficial, a little difficult, but not too far out of reach. This could be: Read 5 Psalms every day, eat 50 blueberries every day, do 50 push ups every day, or whatever else you want to try. Just pick something and go for it.
Challenging yourself in a way that’s fun is a great way to train your brain that it works for you and not the other way around.
It’s kind of like the great philosopher Homer Simpson once said….
Alright brain. You don’t like me and I don’t like you. But let’s just do this and I can get back to killing you with beer
Homer Simpson
Getting a kitten really helps with stress especially when they play and act crazy