Stress Management
About half-way through last semester I felt like I had hit the wall. I was so stressed! I was working two jobs, taking 5 credits of organic chemistry (14 credits total), and my parents had just started the divorce process. Needless to say, I have never felt so overwhelmed!
I went a saw a new specialist (because I was also feeling super sick) and he taught me about stress and pain and how they are closely knit together. I decided that I was going to make reducing my stress my new #1 priority to see if it would help my abdominal pain from my Endometriosis and PCOS go down. I am happy to announce that this is the best that I have felt in three years! I have been so much happier and way less stressed so I want to share all of this information with all of you!
Exercising: This is something that I thought I was already good at, but it turns out that I still had some room for improvement. I started running sprints with my friend Julia a couple of times a week. This was fun for us because it gave us an excuse to have some girl time, talk, and exercise! My doctor told me that I needed to exercise 7 days a week... I normally make it to the gym for 6 days of week so I am working on making it to 7 days a week as part of my New Year's goals! Fun facts, exercising helps balance your stress hormones and it improves your self-esteem! So if you are struggling with either one of those than I would recommend making daily exercise a high propriety in your life.
Do the hard things first: I have to be honest, I didn't used to think I was a huge procrastinator, but as it turns out, I am. One of the new things that I have been doing is to do the homework, making the phone calls, finishing that work project, or whatever I am dreading the first thing that I do in the morning. I am happy to say that I am already 4 days ahead on my homework! Then, I am able to enjoy the rest of my day and spend more time doing the things that I love instead of worrying about that one thing that I still haven't done and don't want to do.
Therapy: Like I mentioned earlier, I felt like I was at my breaking point just a couple of months ago so I signed myself up for therapy. Signing up for therapy is one of the nicest things that I have ever done for myself. I can go and cry, explode, and get everything off my chest in a safe, non-judgmental environment. We talk about things that I can work on and then I go home and work on them. My stress levels have gone way done and I have made a lot of self-improvements.
Mediation: One of the things that I am really good at is worrying about a bunch of things that I have no control over right before I fall asleep. Has anyone else struggled with this? I downloaded this mediation app called Headspace. It's great! I basically just listen to this guy talk me to sleep. It works almost every single night. I will say that I was super hesitant to try meditation; however, mediation is a great way to relax your body and your mind, which in turn helps you fall asleep. And lets be real, sleeping is wonderful and very stress relieving!
Cleaning: I went through my closet and got rid of half of my clothes that don't fit me that I have been hanging on to. I can see things in my closet now! I also made $50 selling my clothes online so it was an all-in-all win. Cleaning out the clutter in your life can help you focus more on what's really important and reduce stress. I truly believe that cleanliness is next to godliness.
That's all for now! Thank you for reading this post and supporting my blog. I really appreciate the encouragement and the love that I receive from all of you!