Too much stress is bad for you. It can age you, turn your hair gray and lead to all sorts of health and emotional problems. If you feel frazzled, anxious and just want to be alone for a few minutes, you are probably stressed out. You have to get a grip and take care of yourself if you are going to be an effective mom and woman in general.
Control Your Life
Sure, you have plenty of responsibilities, but you have to control them, not the other way around. The first tenet to managing stress is to take charge, according to HelpGuide.org. You can choose how to deal with your problems and how you manage your time. Your goal should be a life in balance, ideally between relationships, work, relaxation and fun.
Figure Out Why
You can’t manage your stress until you figure out what is causing the stress in the first place. This includes how you cope, think and feel about your life. For example, if your home life is "always crazy," take a look at why your home life is this way and make adjustments. Until you can control your situation, you won’t be able to manage your stress. One way to accomplish this is to keep a journal to help you identify all the stressors in your life and how you deal with them. If your dog is constantly chewing the furniture and your kids’ toys, for example, causing you to yell at the dog, you and your kids can exercise the dog more and train it to stop the bad behaviors. You have taken control of the situation.
Yoga
Everyone finds a different method to deal with stress. MayoClinic.com suggests yoga because this art combines breathing, meditation and relaxation. Yoga’s mission is to bring you peace, which can help you manage stress. The more advanced you become with yoga positions, the more fit you can become by improving your balance, your range of motion and your flexibility.
The "Four A’s"
HealthGuide.org recommends you practice the "four A’s" to manage your stress — avoid, alter, adapt to and accept the stressor. Avoiding and altering require you to change the stressful situation; adapting and accepting require you to change your reaction to the stressor. You can avoid some stressors by just saying "no" to any more responsibilities and avoiding people who cause you stress. Altering could mean that you learn to manage your time better. Adapting can mean that you listen to a book on tape when you know you are going to be stuck in traffic. Some stress you just have to accept, such as taking care of an aging parent. Realize that you can’t change the situation, but you can change the way you react to problems. It helps to share your feelings with someone if you have to live with some stress.
What Not to Do
The bad ways to manage stress are to drink too much, smoke, zone out in front of the TV for hours, withdraw from activities, take pills, fill up every minute of your day and allow yourself to have angry outbursts. You can do better and find healthy ways instead.
Make Time for You
No matter how busy you are, it’s important for your health to take time for yourself. Schedule a walk into your day, a good workout or any activity that makes you happy and relaxed. Don’t forget about your own needs. You’ll also feel better if you eat a healthy diet, get some exercise and get enough sleep.
