At CBHS we help you manage your health challenges. We believe in offering you the services, support and tools you need to live your best life.
Our Better Living Programs are available to support eligible members towards a healthier lifestyle. Each Better Living Program is subject to its own eligibility criteria.
Contact us for more information and to confirm your eligibility for a program.
Top ten easy ways to reduce stress and improve health
If you feel busy, stressed, and overwhelmed you need real-life solutions. Here are ten ways to help you improve your stress levels immediately:
1. Aim to gain health with nutritious food. Strive for plenty of fresh, colourful and unprocessed foods. Ideally, we should be aiming to eat:
- two serves of fruit
- five serves of vegetables
- 4-6 serves of wholegrains
- 2.5 to 4 serves of dairy and alternatives
- lean protein
- healthy fats, and
- limited or reduced highly processed foods.
Eat a variety of nutritious foods every day, to stay healthy and function with energy and improved mood.
2. Get more sleep. For busy people with not enough hours in the day – sleep can seem overrated. However, without enough sleep both our physical and mental function is impaired. Most adults need between 7 – 9 hours of sleep a night.
How should your bedroom look?
3. Exercise. Hands down the best thing you can do right now to help yourself settle! Not only does exercise fire off its own set of physiological processes that promote relaxation and positive feelings, but it also enables us to get rid of that unwanted tension and the build-up of adrenaline pumping through our body. Simply start with small steps of something you enjoy.
4. Learn to say no. Accept that you are never going to be all things to all people. Ask yourself, is this something I want to do, something I need to do or something I must do? If you can’t answer “yes” to any of these questions, your answer should be a definite “no”.
5. Breathe. Breathing engages our relaxation response which turns off our reaction to stress. Try breathing in slowly for four counts and exhaling slowly for four counts. Repeat this five times and notice how much calmer and present you feel. You can also try CBHS Wellness Consultant Belle’s nose breathing exercise..
6. Clear the clutter. It’s much easier to have a calm, clear mind when you live in a calm, clear environment. Try not to hold onto things you don’t need.
7. Practise gratitude. Taking some time out to be mindful of things we are grateful for (big or small) can really help us appreciate what we have. Start a new ritual of writing down or saying out loud each day, three things you are grateful for. Watch your perspective change. If you don’t know how to start, you can try CBHS’ 21 days of gratitude challenge!
8. Make ‘me’ time a priority. Self-renewal leads to a more balanced, happy and satisfied life. Book personal time in like you would for a meeting and do things that make you feel rested, cared for and peaceful.
9. Watch the coffee and grog. Warming up with coffee and cooling down with a glass of wine…everyday? Make sure you control ‘it’ and ‘it’ doesn’t control you. Try to aim for at least two days a week alcohol free and a small breakfast before your first sip of coffee.
10. Spend time with the people you love. At the end of the day, it won’t matter if you had the big job, got the promotion or had a tidy house. What will matter is that you lived a life with connection, meaning and had real relationships filled with laughter and joy.
All information contained in this article is intended for general information purposes only. The information provided should not be relied upon as medical advice and does not supersede or replace a consultation with a suitably qualified healthcare professional.
Sources:
https://www.cbhs.com.au/mind-and-body/blog/why-does-fitness-matter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xc67pzHA1Q
https://www.cbhs.com.au/mind-and-body/blog/the-a-zzzzzs-of-sleep-your-guide-to-sleeping-soundly
https://www.cbhs.com.au/mind-and-body/blog/new-alcohol-guidelines-due-later-this-year