Archives for 2021

Foods to Reduce Anxiety

November 28, 2021 by Ricardo Vargas

When talking about anxiety, we are not talking about a rare disorder, but something that affects 85% of the world population, according to recent studies by Psychiatrist Augusto Cury.

Anxiety is a biological characteristic of human beings, which precedes moments of real or imagined danger. In this context, many unpleasant symptoms appear, such as:

Fatigue
Insomnia
Fainting sensation
Chest pain and palpitations
Dry mouth
Muscle tension and pain
Sensation of having a “knot” in the throat
Mental confusion
Feeling of helplessness

These symptoms are not rare, a large part of the population has suffered from anxiety. And most people have difficulties following simple advice on this matter. However, a large part of this difficulty is linked to the lifestyle we lead, especially when it comes to food.

Cortisol is your stress hormone; the same that triggers anxiety. This hormone needs to be in balance with serotonin, which is responsible for happiness. The ingested food plays a fundamental role in the amount of these hormones circulating in the bloodstream.

Our nutritional patterns has undergone many changes over the last few decades. Many are claiming lack of time as the main reason. Commuting time has increased, which forces many to leave their homes without having the first and most important meal of the day: breakfast. Many meals have been taken outside the home, forcing people to eat what they find and not what they often want.

Commitments beyond work have also increased, and often due to the difficulty of planning and managing time, the last meal is eaten late at night. The body is forced to work to complete digestion when it should be involved in regeneration processes. It is during the first sleep period that your body works to reduce cortisol. A late night meal rich in protein and fatty foods interferes with cortisol control. And, the only certainty we have is that the next day our anxiety level will be higher.

Our evening meal should be as close to sunset as possible, remembering that during summer the sunset is later and the last meal should be taken at least two hours before bedtime. At the last meal, we should prioritize the consumption of foods rich in carbohydrates, for example, fruits, oats or granola, toast and soups made from tubers or roots. Also be careful with the quantity.

Serotonin, the hormone that controls cortisol and consequently controls anxiety, is produced in the morning until 9 am. It is essential to eat foods that are rich in tryptophan at breakfast, as this is the raw material used by the body to produce this happiness hormone.

Include some of the following foods in your breakfast:

Oats or granola
Chickpeas, can be in the form of hummus
Soybeans in the form of milk or tofu (can be grilled or as a spread)
Peanuts (in natura, as milk or peanut butter)
Hazelnut
Cashew nut
Brazil nuts
Almonds (to be eaten fresh, as milk or as ricotta)
Brown rice (can be in the form of sweet rice)
Banana
Honey

Of those foods above, include two to three sources. Never eat more than one source of nuts at a meal so that there is no excess fat.

The inclusion of these foods will give the body the opportunity to produce serotonin, but it is essential to exclude foods that increase cortisol from the menu, or all the effort will be in vain.

Stop consuming the following foods, that include stimulants:

Coffee (even the decaf)
Green, black, red, yellow and white teas as well as mate tea (these are obtained from two plants called: Ilex paraguariensis and Camellia sinensis.)
Alcoholic beverages
Guarana
Cola soft drinks
Chocolate

These stimulants impair serotonin production and increase anxiety. Some may say that when they make use of these they feel better. Beware, this is a warning sign, as you may already be suffering from an addiction.

Some important considerations about serotonin production:

The intestine is the production site of serotonin, so it is important that it is working properly. Consume whole foods, fruits and vegetables. Increase your water intake. Remove refined foods from your table.

Sunbathing in the morning increases the stimulus for serotonin production, 20 minutes would be enough to bring this benefit.

The practice of physical exercise improves bowel function and even promotes greater production of serotonin when performed in the morning. Put on some sneakers and go out for a walk early in the morning. You will find that your day will be different.

A good night’s sleep helps control cortisol levels and prevents it from damaging the production of serotonin. Your efficiency will be better if you can sleep before 9:30 pm.

These recommendations are not intended to replace the use of medications or a consultation with a specialist, but they will help you to better deal with anxiety and the doctor will be responsible for reducing your medication or even taking you off, if he sees fit.

Food can have a powerful influence on our minds. Getting at least 15 minutes of exercise in the sun during the morning hours, going to bed early and adapting to the correct diet can help a lot in controlling anxiety. Help your brain and make the needed lifestyle changes today!

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Mastering the Art of Letting Go

November 7, 2021 by Martin Neumann

Sometimes letting go is hard – like breaking an old, addictive habit. There are so many obstacles to overcome and negativity to rethink. Being stuck in your past may be blocking your health, happiness, love, success and more.

Mastering the art of letting go takes courage and determination. Then, and only then, can healing occur and you get a new outlook on life. When you choose to hang on to negativity, it’s like you’re choosing to take poison every day. It’s time to take action and take the steps necessary to bring positivity back into your life.

Refusing to Let Go Is Like Poisoning Yourself Slowly

When you’re burdened by negativity in your life, it’s like a chain around your neck weighing you down and keeping you from success and happiness. Refusing to let go of the negativity can bring stress of such magnitude that it is like slowly poisoning yourself.

There are many things you can get hung up in your life. You could be disappointed in yourself or someone who has hurt you. You likely think about it every day – possibly every minute – and you’re constantly giving momentum to that negativity.

It may seem impossible to let go of those feelings, but like everything else, there are ways to let go and focus on building your energy rather than letting it slowly seep away. Fear of letting go zaps your energy and keeps you from having the inner peace you need to move forward.

Letting go is like every other bad habit that you want to rectify. In the beginning, it seems impossible, but the more you practice, the easier it will get to let go of things like toxic relationships, negative thoughts and grudges.

It may be easier if you identify one thing to let go of in the beginning. Working on one issue at a time and focusing on letting go makes it easier to go on to the next issue when you’re ready.

For example, you may be trying hard to forgive someone and still hold a grudge that’s stressing you out. Forgiveness of a wrong done to you can be one of the most difficult emotions to work through.

First, realize that forgiveness doesn’t mean you’re dismissing what was done to you. What it does mean is that you’re proposing resolution for the negative thoughts and emotions you’re having about the person.

Five Things You Should Let Go of for Stress Relief

Keeping things that bother you in the forefront of your mind can cause stress that never seems to go away. There are certain stressors that are more damaging than others and can make you feel so bad about yourself and other people in your life that you become paralyzed and unable to feel happiness.

An angry woman - Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

There are five top stressors that people have the most trouble letting go of:

Anger – Feelings of resentment, revenge and bitterness may accompany anger in your life. Unless you can work your way through the anger – whether you’re angry at a person or a situation, it can affect all areas of your life.
You can either hold on to that anger and face the many health and emotional consequences, or learn how to forgive and move on with your life.
Grief – Loss of a loved one, either in death, divorce, estrangement or other way, can cause grief that is difficult to let go of. Grief is a normal response to a loss and there are five stages that you need to deal with.
First is denial. Then, anger, bargaining, depression and, last – acceptance. You may go through only one or two of these stages, but the important thing is ending your grief by acceptance and letting it go.
Resentment – Resentment is similar to anger in that it can permeate every area of your life and keep you from enjoying people and experiences. Holding on to resentment zaps your happiness.
One popular quote about resentment likens it to taking poison and expecting the other person to die from it. With both anger and resentment, the cure involves acceptance, forgiveness and letting go.
Control – Those who have a need to control others are especially vulnerable to bringing unnecessary problems into their lives. When you let go of the need to control, you’re actually gaining.
You’re gaining the ability to accept people as they really are rather than being disappointed over and over again, because they’re not conforming to your wishes or expectations.
Past – Issues that happened in the past can haunt you until you die unless you learn how to let go of all the negativity.
It might be that you’re clinging to the past because it was a happy time for you. Because of situations you can’t control, those happy times are gone. But feeling sentimental about those old days is not going to bring them back.
At the other hand it could be that you cling to unhappiness from the past. Developing a more positive attitude and/or forgiveness may help you move on.

The urge to hang on to anger, grief, resentment, control and the past can be overpowering, but learning how to let go of these debilitating feelings can open doors to happiness you never thought possible.

Allow Yourself to Go Through Emotions

It’s difficult to let go of situations and people unless you go through an emotional process first – such as crying as much as you need to or expressing your thoughts or feelings in a way that gets it across to the other person.

A crying lady - Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

Studies have shown that bottling up such emotions as anger can increase your cancer risk, and in many other ways chip away years from your life. When you release those emotions, blood flow increases to the frontal area of the brain and helps you let more positive emotions in.

Negative and suppressed emotions play an enormous part in the future of your mental and physical health and well-being. Such emotions often lead to unhealthful coping mechanisms to try and relieve some of the pressure caused by bottling up the emotions inside of you.

Turning to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and junk food may all play a part in trying to deal with the bottled-up emotions, but it’s clear that coping with these feelings is much better for you than holding on to them.

You may be able to put up a facade for some time – both for others and yourself – and convince yourself that you don’t have a thing in the world that’s depressing you and stressing you out. Eventually, those bottled-up feelings will explode, just like a bottle of soda that’s been shaken and all of a sudden you take off the cap.

Rather than blowing up all at once and causing all types of consequences, it’s best to vent your emotions a bit at a time – much like slowly turning the cap of the soda bottle and letting some of the fizz happen a little at a time.

You may hide your true feelings in a relationship for being afraid to get hurt, or save up the anger inside of you and then explode all of a sudden. Or, you might vent your anger on someone else.

Rather than putting yourself at risk by bottling up your emotions, try healthy ways to vent such as exercise, talking to a therapist, controlling your thoughts, journaling or another of the many ways to deal with your emotions in a constructive way.

Learn That Forgiveness Doesn’t Mean They Got Away with Anything

Learning how to forgive can release you from some negativity in your life that are weighing you down and keeping you from the happiness you desire. Forgiving has different connotations for different people.

Resentment, anger and thoughts of revenge are generally involved in situations where you want to forgive someone. That makes it more difficult to navigate through your emotional turmoil.

If a person has hurt you seemingly beyond repair, that person has control over your feelings and emotions until you can forgive and let go. The hurt may take time to heal, but when you forgive, you’ll lessen the grip of control and set yourself free.

There are many ways to forgive. Looking for the positive in a person who once hurt you is one way, and journaling helps to find those good points. You may also try empathizing with the person.

Perhaps he or she has been going through trials in his or her life that caused the negativity toward you. Or, remember similar mistakes that you have made that hurt someone that you really didn’t mean to harm.

Forgiveness does not mean that you need to return into an unsustainable relationship. It does not mean everything is the same like before. It means that you can relief yourself from the anger and bad feelings against this person that has hurt you. But protecting yourself can mean you cut some ties with that person. Protecting yourself is part of the process of letting go.

The benefits of forgiving others are many. Your mental health and acuity will improve because you’re not always thinking about negatives. That can cause a positive change in relationships and any hostility and anxiety you may feel toward people.

A woman forgiving a man - Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

As for your health – letting go of anger and using the power of forgiveness can affect your blood pressure, immune system and heart. Depression is less likely to get you down and your self-esteem can be heightened.

When you forgive, a wonderful thing happens when your brain pathways aren’t trapped into letting in negative thoughts and emotions. You can choose what you want to think about and you’re not always obsessed with getting even or hating the person who hurt you.

Think about it. You owe it to yourself that the person who hurt you isn’t controlling you any longer – and that’s what the power of forgiveness can bring into your life.

Not forgiving can take away your joy in life and prevent you from moving on from paralyzed and hurt feelings to a happier and much more inspired life. Today, scientists and medical experts concur that holding on to a serious resentment can be toxic to your health – both mental and physical.

Rather than looking at forgiveness as a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength – that you’re in control of your own life. Maybe you say that you are not able to forgive the other person. If you are a Christian, ask God to give you strength to do that difficult step. You surely are not going to regret.

Channel Your Distress into Something Positive

Turning your hurt feelings and distress into a positive outcome is a challenge. But when you take action, everything changes. Remember the times when you had a work task that you kept procrastinating about.

If and when you took action to complete the task you gathered momentum and were successful. If you didn’t take action, you may have suffered consequences – maybe severe, such as losing your job or needing to pick up a broken relationship.

When you’re focusing on the past and all the ways you have been hurt from others, you’re not able to see all the positive things that are going on in your life. It’s a spiraling downturn of negativity that you may never get back if you don’t take steps to break this vicious cycle. Grudges, resentment and other types of pain limit what you can do and who you can be.

You may also be tolerating problems in your life that you think you can’t control. You have accepted it as a norm, but it drains your energy because you are unsatisfied with your status quo. More often though, you are able to make some kind of positive change. It may take some courage, but looking back after the fact, you will be thanking yourself for having done the right decision.

A woman happy for having done the right decision

Pursue greatness in your life rather than bend to controlling or distressful situations or people. When you’re caught in a web of feelings of revenge, toleration, grief and resentment, you may not realize the toll it’s taking. You better get over this and try to become the very best that you can be.

At the end of the day, you have a choice to make. You can decide to continue in something that is toxic to your health, your mind and your future. Or you can decide to let things go. Simply open your hands and drop this anger, hurt feelings, emotions of discontent and feelings of worthlessness of the past. Once your hands are empty, grab for something better, something that will bring you peace and happiness in your life.

Jesus says:

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 10,10 NKJV

God has some plans for your life. He wants to give you a new purpose, a new destination. He wants you to live your life to the fullest potential that you can possibly be. Are you ready to let things go?

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How to Deal With Your Inner Stress

October 10, 2021 by Martin Neumann

Somewhere on the way to the rest of your life, you realize that things aren’t going as planned. You might suffer from money woes or realize your marriage is in turmoil. It’s the kind of thing that makes you sit up and take notice – and seek help before it gets the best of you.

Some things you can work on making better. If you need to stop spending money, you can develop a savings plan. But some stress is derived form the inside-out. It’s the kind of anxiety you have about who you are as a person compared to who you always hoped you’d be.

As time passes, you’ll be facing your fair share of obstacles. You may have to repair relationships, tweak your career, or learn some new coping skills to help you deal with being a parent.

But if you take this step first – the step to becoming the kind of person you want to be – it’ll make facing those stress factors a whole lot easier. In fact, when you devote time to making your own self better, many of the things you’re stressed about now will dissipate.

You don’t need an expensive therapist or rock climbing with an encounter group. You aren’t in denial about what’s bothering you. You just need a little help analyzing yourself and taking action to become a new you.

Becoming Your Best Self

The Army is right with their slogan, “be all you can be.” Of course, you don’t have to go to boot camp to make that happen. You can create a self-care boot camp at home, which is gentler than the soldier’s version.

One aspect of boot camp that you want to copy is the intense personal training regimen, which focuses on building a better you.

Daydream on Paper

Take a page of lined notebook paper and fold it in half. Using the right side only, write a description of your ideal self. Don’t stop to be critical or analyze anything you write.

Be specific. Instead of saying, “I would weigh less,” say, “I would weigh 30 pounds less.” Rather than, “I would have a better job,” say, “I would like to manage the sales department.”

When you’ve listed everything possible on the Ideal Self side, turn to the left side and title it, Real Self. Again, without being critical, describe who you are today. What is your career? Where do you live? What motivates you to keep going every day? Describe yourself physically and emotionally.

Then open both sides and compare. With a bold pen or highlighter, draw lines between the items that are similar as if you were playing a matching game. Then look seriously at how far your Real Self is from your Ideal Self.

In some instances, the distance between Real and Ideal isn’t very far. In others, it’s a big stretch. Choose two Real/Ideal comparisons as your self-help priorities. Save the list for later.

After completing one transformation, you can choose another goal. These priorities become self-improvement goals. You may be able to learn a new computer skill in a few weeks by attending a class because that skill will be important to earn a promotion to get a career that will provide less stress for you in life.

Losing weight takes more time. What’s important is that you have a goal and can plot a direction. Before you know it, your Real Self comes closer to your Ideal Self. As you become the person you always wanted to be, you won’t have the stress of being dissatisfied with how your life’s unfolding.

Make a Future Timeline

Timelines are a great way to look back over your life and your career. Start by making a timeline of your personal life or career life, whichever is most pressing for you now and whichever causes more stress in your life.

One way to really see where you came from is to make the timeline on a poster board and add photos or other graphic images that reflect the events. You might be surprised as you recall strengths and abilities that you forgot you had from past experiences.

A picture timeline with major life accomplishments

Get another poster board and create a future timeline. Here’s where you plan the life you want – the life that provides deep satisfaction instead of extreme stress. Mark increments on the line for one to five years, then in five-year increments.

Go ahead and dream. If money wasn’t an obstacle, what kind of career would you have in five years? If the funds were magically available for you to return to college or graduate school, what would you study? What degree would you earn? What job would you have after earning that degree?

Once finished, set up the past timeline on the left and the future timeline on the right. Prop them up against a wall in your home where you can just look at them for a week.

As you mull over these ideas, you’ll find yourself focusing on a few areas over and over. Maybe one day you realize, “Hey, this is really what you want, so go for it!”

Save your future timeline and mark off the changes you choose to make in your life. In five years, you may be where you projected or even beyond that point. As long as you focus on being your best self and reaching your goals, you’ll make some progress in your future timeline. And if you are better aligned with the purpose for your life, then inner conflicts and stress because of your dissatisfaction with life will fade away.

Improving Your Body

When you’re trying to lessen the stress you feel, it’s important for your body to be able to help your mind relax. Our modern lifestyles are so busy and crowded that fitness often takes a back seat to everything else on the daily to-do list.

If nothing else will bolster your goal to exercise, think of it as the best all-natural stress reliever, which it is! You may be used to working forty hours plus overtime – then rushing home to cook dinner and, if you have children, driving them to sports and activities.

A ten-minute uninterrupted shower may be the only relaxation time you get in a day before falling exhausted into the bed at night.

1. Take an honest look at your fitness

Most gyms are glad to give you a free week or month to try it out. During that trial period, ask for a fitness evaluation. Are you winded after ten minutes on the treadmill?

A man exercising on a treadmill - Photo by William Choquette from Pexels

Did the calipers measure more body fat than you realized was there? Are you stretched to the limit with work but unable to do muscle relaxing stretches? Another fast-track approach to fitness is to hire a personal trainer for a series of personal workouts. Once you learn which exercises are right for your fitness goals and practice the right way to do those exercises, you can work out on your own.

2. Curb harmful habits

If you think that going outside to smoke or chugging cans of highly caffeinated drinks are ways to deal with stress, you’re fooling yourself. These are likely to create more health problems and more stress.

Take an honest look at the ways you cope with stress. Smoking, drinking, drugs, caffeine and food binges are reckless choices with long-term health consequences. You’re setting out to reach new goals and dreams and you need to be in prime health to enjoy those positive life changes.

Start with learning all you can about your harmful coping method. Knowledge is power. While researching, look for local support groups. If you can’t find one, join an online support group. Your closest Seventh-day Adventist Church may be able to help you with materials or supportive courses for smoking cessation.

For some complex issues, self-help begins when you admit that you need help and seek others who can support your changes. An important way to avoid negative coping methods is to nourish and train your body for optimal health.

Improving Your Mental Outlook

The most physically fit body goes nowhere if your mental outlook is bleak. You have to believe in yourself to turn your goals into new realities. Even positive people are hit with difficulties that are hard to manage. That’s when you need stress busting approaches to bolster your mood.

Face your fears

Do your hands get clammy, your throat dry and your mind take you back to your worst day in sixth grade each time you have to speak in front of a group? You might suffer from stress surrounding certain events.

People at work or in the civic group want to hear what you have to say. Sign up for a local Toastmasters group and take the first step to conquer your fear of public speaking.

A public speaking appointment - Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels

Did you turn down a great job because the office was on the 25^th floor and you’re scared to ride elevators in tall buildings? Climbing the stairs daily might be good for your legs, but it takes time and just isn’t practical.

You can work with a therapist to face this fear and get over irrational stress. Or you can do your own version of “systematic desensitization.” That’s a therapy technique in which you gradually face a fear a little bit at time until you finally overcome it.

Ask a trusted friend to go with you as you work on this. Think about what the real fear is – that you’ll get stuck or that it will plummet to the ground floor when the cable suddenly snaps?

You’re feeling what you expected to feel based on past experience. Once you have your “fear-feeling pattern” worked out, you know what to expect. Ask your friend to ride with you in an elevator to the second floor then back down again.

Repeat that trip. Then go up to the fourth floor. If you’re seriously in a stress-filled panic, take the stairs back down. Or if riding down is easier than riding up, start by walking to the fourth floor and riding down.

Little by little, increase your ability to handle the stress by pushing yourself a little farther each time. You can conquer your fears when you name them, examine them, research them and set a plan to meet them. Over time, you’ll notice your stress level doesn’t rise as high when you’re faced with this particular obstacle.

Learn to forgive

Sometimes we carry our baggage that makes us all emotionally wrapped up with something that has happened in the past. We cannot change what has happened, but we can choose to change our attitude towards the people who were involved in it. If you keep anger and bitterness in your heart, it is like drinking a poison, and expecting that the other person will die from it. You will do yourself a favor if you learn how to forgive, to let things go.

Forgiveness - Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

Forgiveness does not always mean that things will be just as before, it does not always mean that you need to reconcile a broken relationship. But what you need is to let go of the feelings of resentment, the angry emotions that eat you up from within, just let it go! Do not allow yourself to continue to suffer about the things that happened to you in the past.

You may say that you are unable to forgive somebody, since they did something terrible to you. If you have no force to do it on your own, pray to God that he is giving you strength. Look to Jesus at the moment they were nailing him at the cross. He was able to say to his prosecutors: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” He can give you the force to do the same. Do whatever is needed to get over the feelings of anger and resentment, in order to experience the liberating power that forgiveness can give to you.

Conclusion

Improvements in our lives involve change. We may dread these changes first, but after we see the improvements, we are glad that we did it. Sometimes we need to step back and analyze the changes necessary in order to get us on the right track. When we are wrapped up in our stress, we often get short-sighted and do not see the obvious changes we need to make to resolve the obstacles that are in our way.

Take courage, see what you need to change in your goals, your health habits and your mental outlook of your life. Never settle for a life filled with stress when there’s something better waiting for you.

When you working on improving yourself, you will probably come closer to the purpose that was given to you in this world by your Creator. And when you know you are fulfilling not only your goals, but also your purpose, you will feel a satisfaction that will help a lot to melt your stress away.

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Seven Foods to Reduce Stress

September 10, 2021 by Martin Neumann

Just thinking about all the chores that are building up, the errands you have to run, the looming work deadlines and the social demands on your overbooked calendar can run you ragged. Talk about stress!

If left unchecked, stress can lead to many health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure. Not to mention stress can also take a toll on your thoughts and behavior.

When life gets hectic and we’re feeling stressed, we tend to put healthy eating on the back burner. But heading to the vending machine or grabbing a meal at the drive-thru won’t alleviate the stress in your day.

To combat stress levels, take a look at what you eat. It may actually help relieve your tension. In fact, certain foods can help stabilize your blood sugar levels, can lower your cortisol and change your emotional response to stress.

Here are seven foods you can eat to reduce stress.

1. Oatmeal

This slow burning breakfast food is the perfect comfort food. It stimulates your brain to produce the feel-good chemical serotonin, which is antagonic to the stress hormone cortisol. Increasing serotonin will help you keep your cortisol level low.

A bowl of oatmeal wit fruits - Photo by Thiea Alhoz from Pexels

The soluble fiber in oatmeal keeps you fuller for longer as it provides a slow burn, maintaining your glucose level more stable throughout the morning. It’s sure to help you stave off stress and stay focused throughout your morning.

When we’re stressed our blood pressure can become elevated. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a diet which includes whole grains such as oats can lower blood pressure. Actually, all forms of whole grains like whole wheat bread, brown rice or whole wheat pasta will give you the same kind of benefits.

2. Brazil Nuts

This nut from the Amazon Rainforest is one of the best food sources of selenium. This mineral is an essential element to calm your nerves, alleviate fears, improve your mood and increase your energy levels. Besides that, selenium can help to improve your immune system. It is also important for proper thyroid function, cancer prevention and protects the body in many other ways. A consumption of 3 or 4 nuts will give you an adequate amount of selenium for the day.

3. Flax Seeds

This superfood is an excellent source of magnesium which may help regulate emotions, alleviate depression, combat fatigue and minimize irritability. Magnesium can also help fight PMS!

Flax seeds contain Omega 3, which is helpful for inhibiting inflammation and is great for cortisol reduction. Furthermore, it may improve mood by helping neurons to communicate with one another. Studies also showed a reduction of anxiety with the consumption of Omega 3.

Flaxseed is absorbed best, if you grind the seeds shortly before consumption. It is good to grind only what you consume in 2-3 days. Use a tablespoon daily in your food, over your salad, and in bakeries like bread and cakes. Mix 8 parts of toasted and ground flaxseed with one part of salt, and you have an excellent spicing for your salad plate.

A bowl of flaxseed - Photo by Vie Studio from Pexels

You can also include other omega-3 rich foods in your daily diet such as chia seeds, walnuts, wheat germs, tofu and cauliflower.

4. Citrus Fruits

Instead of reaching for sugary treats during stressful times, why not choose oranges, kiwis, some berries or any citrus fruit? Vitamin C can help slow down your body’s production of cortisol while also quickly clearing it from your bloodstream.

Vitamin C is also beneficial for the prevention of blood pressure spikes that usually occur as part of your body’s response to stress.

Get a good amount of citrus fruits in your diet. Citrus reduces levels of the stress hormone norepinephrine, thus making us feel much better.

5. Garlic

A Japanese study discovered that garlic is effective in reducing cortisol levels. Garlic is also a good source of antioxidants, strengthens the immune system and helps to lower blood pressure.

Garlic has lots of protective phytochemicals. Photo by Nick Collins from Pexels.

6. Microgreens

Microgreens are salad greens picked very young, usually soon after the first leaves have formed. The great thing about microgreens is that they contain higher concentrations of stress-busting vitamin C. Young cilantro and baby red cabbages contain up to six times more vitamin C than their mature versions.

If you have the time and space, growing your own microgreens is a good way of bringing nature into your home and of making nutrition just a hand-pick away. If not, they are usually readily available in the produce section of the supermarket, as they are highly sought for their nutritive, taste and garnishing qualities.

Microgreens in a bowl - Photo by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels

7. Cashews

These kidney-shaped nuts are a good source of zinc which is a critical mineral that can help reduce anxiety symptoms such as irritability and lack of focus. Other good sources of zinc are sesame, flax seeds, Brazil nuts, chickpeas and lentils. Cashews are also a source of magnesium which is good for your emotions. You can easily add a few nuts for breakfast, or use them to decorate your salad at lunch.

Conclusion

In recent years science has discovered more and more links between the foods we eat and the way we feel. We have given you seven examples of foods you can add to your diet, that can help you relieve stress and improve your health and wellbeing. Actually, using plenty of plant-based food sources, the way that God has created them, will give you a lot of benefits for your health and mental well-being. Try it out for yourself!

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What food do you turn to in times of stress? Share it with us in the comments.

Are You Stressed Out about Having no Time?

August 14, 2021 by Martin Neumann

You surely heard the phrase: Time is Money. We may agree, but in practical terms, are you one of those people who turn around any penny you spend, but you do not think much about how you are spending your time? Do you try to do everything at the same time, but at the end you are frustrated that there are not enough hours in the day, and you catch yourself saying: I have no time? I think it is on the time to think about budgeting our time.

Are You Stressed Out about Having no Time?

If you are successful, you are able to earn more money, but there is something that not even a millionaire has more than you, and this is time. Everybody has 24 hours a day. Time is a finite resource. If you think about your time, you need to think how you want to invest it the most effective way. Are you smart in investing your money? Now think about the return of investment you will get from your time. Where are you going to invest it the most sensible way? This phrase gets it to the point:

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.
William Penn

Set Priorities

President Eisenhower had an interesting approach to time management. He organized all his tasks in four quadrants: urgent or not urgent, important or not important. The urgent and important quadrant is the one you should give your priority.

There are some tasks that are important but not urgent, like your continual education for example. They will be coming right next in the priority list, and you should schedule a regular time for them each week, so that you make continual progress on something that will give you a better position in the future.

Now the urgent but not important category, you need to evaluate carefully if they are worth your time. Some tasks you may be able to delegate. Others you may drop from your list. You need to learn to focus on items that make the biggest difference at the end. The list of neither urgent nor not important items, you better store away for a day that you have really nothing else to do, but do not let your mind dwell on them.

I have heard another approach that can be quite interesting as well. You define 2 or 3 projects that you want to work on for this week or the near future. Those are the things that need your full attention at this moment. Then you have 3 or 4 projects that you target as next on the list. You may do a little bit of preparation to get the ball rolling, or you may start to work on them if you have some time left, but they are not your top priority for now. Everything else will go into the Maybe Later list, and you do not need to even think about them. Whatever method you use, you need to have a clear criteria, what is the priority for you to tackle at this exact moment.

Invest your Time Wisely

Think about your time as an investment. You need to think, what investment will give you the best returns. Think about sleep for example. If you sleep the hours you need, you will be energized the next day to tackle the tasks at hand with efficiency. If your cut your corners on sleep, your performance will suffer.

Sleeping man - Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

It is actually a wise move to go to bed early and rise early, in order to start your most important tasks when your mind is fresh in the early morning hours. We know that one hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours of sleep after midnight. So it is a wise investment to go to bed with the chicken and get the greatest benefit from your sleep time.

Be sure to start your day right. When you wake up, spend some time in the presence with God, so He can give you some insights for the day. You will see that things will flow differently when you are doing that. Be sure to get a good breakfast without any rush, because a substantial meal in the morning will give you the energy you need to start the day right.

Exercise is another time investment that will pay you high dividends. If you put in half an hour of vigorous exercise every day, it will surely safe you an hour or two while you work with more efficiency, plus you will put some time in your savings account, since it can prolong your live for several years. Talk about a wise investment!

Automation can be another investment that can pay you high dividends. Why do you need to tackle your payments every month, when you can automate them? It takes you once to set it up, but then you will never need to think about it again!

Budget Your Time

Like you have a budget for your expenses, you should have a budget on your time. When making a purchase, many people will be out to search for the best deal, instead of reflecting first: Do I really need this?

The same is true for time management. Most people will teach you how you can do your tasks the most effective way in order to save a minute here and get done more in your day. Instead of this, you should look at your schedule fist and reflect if you should not simply stop many of the activities you are doing.

Any commitment you make, think first if it is really worth your investment. What are your fist priorities? Your family? Your friends? Making a difference in your community? And at your work, what can make the biggest impact? Cut out some activities that are not essential and do not contribute to the advancement of your priorities.

Every activity you are planning to do, you need to estimate how much time it will take you. If it is something you have done in the past, you will have a good indicator how long it will take you. If it is something you never did before, you need to break it down in different steps, and estimate every step how long it will take you. Your estimate will be more accurate this way.

After having quantified your time investment, you need to evaluate if it is worth it, the same way you look at a product in the store to think if it is worth that price. Next you need to schedule the time in your calendar. If you do not have the time available, you need to either decline the commitment, or you need to drop off some low priority activities you have already scheduled in your calendar. Doing your proper planning can help to avoid a lot of surprises on the way, and will maximize the impact you can achieve with your limited time.

Price tag for fruits - Photo by Wendy Wei from Pexels

Track your Time

There are many ways you can track your time. Some apps can track your activities you do on the computer. Some people like a Fitbit watch that will track their sleep, their exercise and various other activities during the day. Some do a simple feedback on the end of your day, while others like to use an app to do a more sophisticated evaluations of their time. Tracking style can vary, but you should be conscious on how you are using your time.

It happens so often that we are just quickly looking something up on the internet, and before we realize, we have spent an hour surfing around without any purpose. Multitasking is another thing that was increasing greatly in the digital era. On average we are checking every 6 minutes on emails and instant messaging. That is draining your productivity. You need to get into the habit of being focused on one task, and when you are done, you can have a look whether somebody was writing you on messenger.

According to studies, an internet user is spending on average 2:25 hours a day on social media.((Daily time spent on social networking by internet users worldwide from 2012 to 2020. Statistica)) You add to that almost 3 hours of TV time per day, and you see quickly why we have no time left.((Average daily time spent watching TV in the United States from 2014 to 2023. Statistica))

Start to reflect on your habits. Are the 2 hours of scrolling the infinite feed of Facebook really well spent? And when you watch a video on YouTube, how many suggested videos you end up binge watching afterwards? Is this time really well invested, or are there other activities that would be really worth your time?

Do you have no time to play with your kids? Are you wanting to start a hobby for a long time? You are thinking to learn a new language? You want to learn an instrument that you desired to play since you were a kid? I have just freed you up 5 hours a day to do all of that if you want.

Be Realistic in Your Expectations

It is interesting to see how times have changed. When a hundred years ago, a farmer was plowing a field, it may have taken him a day or two, and another week for planting, but at the end he was looking back at his work and he was satisfied with his accomplishments.

A traditional farmer after plowing the field - Photo by Archie Binamira from Pexels

Nowadays things are going faster. A tractor will plow the field within an hour, and an email can go around the globe within seconds. Things are moving much faster. But with that we have also different expectations. If we have no time, because we have overcommitted ourselves.

Our changed expectations will also show up in our homes. While the farmer’s wife was not worried about the dirty kitchen floor while cooking lunch, our kitchen today needs to be sparkling clean. The house got bigger, consuming more time for cleaning and maintenance, and the yard needs to be perfectly cared as well. Think about this statement:

Life is a disappointment and a weariness to many persons because of the unnecessary labor with which they burden themselves in meeting the claims of custom. Their minds are continually harassed with anxiety as to supplying wants which are the offspring of pride and fashion…
The sweet word “Home” is perverted to mean “something with four walls, filled with elegant furniture and adornments,” while its inmates are on a continual strain to meet the requirements of custom in the different departments of life.((Ellen White, The Adventist Home p. 150))

I think it is time to make some adjustment on our expectations. Not everything needs to be perfect, and normally simpler is better.

Better Done than Perfect

We can roughly divide people in two groups: Maximisers and Satisficers. Maximizers are a tribe of perfectionists. If they buy a new phone, they will study all the available reviews for a week, and try to purchase the very best. And even then, they are still concerned whether they have made the right choice.

A satisficer at the other hand will walk into the store, look for the first phone that looks right, asks the dealer if it does what he is looking for and purchase it on the spot.

When it comes to answer an email, the maximiser will investigate the question he was asked, try to write a lengthy response, rewrite it three times to formulate it better, getting all the punctuation right and sending it out when he thinks it is perfect. The satisficer will simply throw in a quick response, maybe not even write a complete phrase, and hoping that it answers the question he was asked for, because if not, they will ask back anyways.

It is easy to see that the satisficer will get much more done in a shorter time, and he will feel more satisfaction on the end of the day. I guess it is important to find a healthy balance between the two. We need to learn to invest our time where it matters most. If my work can really have an impact, it is worthwhile to invest some more time, but when it comes to writing an email, we better get it over, so we can make time for things that really count. And even on the impactful projects, sometimes it is better to get it out and improve later, then to try to make it perfect and never get done.

Plan Your Week

When you are planning your week, you want to look at the bigger picture. You think about maybe 2 or 3 major projects to tackle and schedule their time. You also want to block out some time for essential goals that are not in the urgent category.

A Calendar - Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

Then you look at your last week. You have scheduled anything that was left undone? Next look at the upcoming meetings and commitments that you have scheduled. Are they still your priorities? If not, you can decline or reschedule some of them.

And do not fill up your schedule to the maximum. Some tasks may take you longer than planned, and unexpected surprises are coming up all the time. Maybe keep some time open on Friday to catch up with things you could not get done during the week. This way you can get into the weekend with a satisfaction that you have accomplished your goals.

Daily Planning

When starting out in the morning, you need to spend a few minutes to get on track with your operating plan of the day. Is there anything left undone from the day before? What meetings do you have scheduled? Was there anything new coming up that needs to be treated with urgency? What are your top priorities?

Plans are important, but they are not set in stone, so you need to always recalibrate to reach your goals. But having something sketched out on paper, helps you to be more efficient in order to accomplish your priorities.

Get in Alignment with Your Passions

In a study of more than 3000 working people, researchers found out that those who were passionate about what they were doing, did feel less of a time pressure.((Jachimowicz J et.al. Why Passionate Employees Can Have It All: Passion Lowers Time Stress by Enhancing Goal Integration. https://psyarxiv.com/qd2zf/)) It is not so much about how long the activity takes, but more of how much you enjoy it. A sense of accomplishment did mean that they did not feel that their time was wasted.

A satisfied man - Photo by Jonathan Borba from Pexels

Researchers found also that some people perceived activities as competing for their time. For example, they felt that engaging themselves in the company was conflicting with coming home in time for dinner. Passionate workers on the other hand felt that activities were complementing, since a healthy meal at home with family was giving them more energy for the next day’s work.

Get Divine Wisdom

You have done everything and you are still struggling to make ends meet in your schedule? Is there an emergency coming up and you don’t know how to handle it? James was giving us an interesting counsel many years ago:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.((The Bible, James 1:5, NKJV))

James 1:5

If you are on a tight spot, you can always turn to God, and He will give you wisdom on how to deal with your situation. So often He is able to show us the right priorities, or what to do to avoid being stressed out about our day. And He has promised to be on your side as your Heavenly Father. Jesus gave us another wonderful promise:

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.((The Bible, Matthew 11:28.29))

Matthew 11:28.29

We do not need to resolve everything on our own. If there is something burdening you, then you can bring it to Jesus and he promised to help you. When you do not know whether you should take up a commitment, have a conversation with Jesus and ask him if he wants you to do this, or pass it on. Understand the purpose that God has for your life. Then you will have a clearer picture on how you can make really the best of every hour that God has given to you.

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9 Rules for Improving Sleep to Reduce Stress

July 17, 2021 by Martin Neumann

There’s a strong correlation between how much sleep you get and how stressed you are. It’s a vicious cycle that can cause mental distress and even wreak havoc on your physical well-being.

9 Rules for Improving Sleep to Reduce Stress

It’s a well-known fact that people who don’t get enough sleep are lethargic and constantly experiencing an energy slump. This causes irritability, which also makes it hard to fall asleep. The reverse is also true. When you experience an exorbitant amount of stress during the day, it causes you to lie there awake – and that piles on more stress for the upcoming day. In many cases, this is leading to a vicious cycle that is complicating your stress more and more.

The Huffington Post conducted a poll where they asked people what their #1 stressor was. Lack of sleep was one thing that dominated the results. Stress and a lack of sleep combined can cause you to lose mental clarity and they can put more pressure on your body to perform at less than optimal standards.

For this reason it’s vital that you learn how to implement stress relief measures that also work to lull you to sleep at night. When you wake up fully refreshed, you’ll be able to tackle the world and anything it throws at you!

Rule #1 – Implement a Bedtime Technology Ban

If you want to toss and turn and have trouble to wake up in the morning, just keep your cell phone right by your bed. For some of you, that won’t be a problem – but for many people, it’s become an addiction that disrupts their sleep routine and causes a lack of sleep.

Some people have their computer right beside the bed and the glow of it lights up the room at night. The same is true for notifications that come in on cell phones – sometimes with lights and sometimes with the inclusion of sounds.

Not only is it a physical factor, but it causes a certain amount of mental unrest when you’re constantly checking emails or looking to see who posted what on Facebook.

Man using cellphone in bed - Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

The physical distraction of the computer glow tricks your body into thinking it’s time for you to be awake. Your body won’t produce the melatonin it needs and help you get (and stay) asleep, so you toss and turn all night.

Technology doesn’t just have to be left out of the bedroom – it needs to be shut down quite awhile before you go to bed. Your mind needs time to disconnect and wind down itself, and it can’t do that if you’re constantly feeding it information. If you go to bed at 10 PM, try disconnecting around 8:30 PM. Let your stress melt away and your mind relax. By the time you go to bed, all technology should be switched off or transferred to a different room. This isn’t an easy habit to break, but by having a plan you’ll be able to implement it.

Rule #2 – Create an Environment Conducive for Sleep

Your bedroom can do a lot to improve your sleep quality. First of all, it should be completely dark at night. Our sleep cycles are influenced by the dark light cycle, and a good night’s rest requires a completely dark bedroom. No lights on, and no electronic gadgets that are emitting light. If you have street lights out of your window, invest in a good curtain to block them off. Your sleep quality will appreciate it.

Next, your bedroom should be quiet. Some people got used to sleeping with radio or TV at night, and it seems to give them a certain sense of security. Just the sleep quality suffers from that, and in the long run, it might be better to find ways to overcome this habit. If you are impacted by street noise right outside your bedroom window, you may want to invest in double or triple glass sound blocking windows for your home. Your mind needs to be able to fully relax overnight and refresh your energies for the next day.

Be sure to also avoid any distractions inside your bedroom. This room should be designed for sleep, and not for continuing the frenzy you are suffering already all day long. The TV can stay in the living room where it belongs. And the less clutter you have in the room, the more your mind will feel at rest.

What can help a lot in the quality of your sleep is a good mattress. At the end of the day, you are spending one-third of your time in bed, and you should make sure that this time will be comfortable. A good mattress will be comfortable, but still firm, in order to give proper support to your spine. A pillow that is right for you can complement the comfort of your bed.

If you have trouble falling asleep, you can use a branch of lavender and put it below your pillow. As an alternative, you can purchase a lavender extract and sprinkle a few drops on your bed, just enough that you can smell it, but does not annoy you. For more severe sleep deficiencies you can try out to take some capsules of Valerian or Passion Flower, which are good options to induce you to sleep, giving you better conditions to resolve the underlying stress that may have caused your sleep deficiency.

Rule #3 – Wind Down Your Day With Exercise

It sounds almost backwards – putting forth extra exertion when you really need to be relaxing and calming down. But that’s just what exercise does for you! Exercise is a great stress reliever because it helps you release endorphins.

That’s why you sometimes hear of athlete’s bragging about their “runner’s high” – because although they may start out fatigued, they hit a point in their regimen where the endorphins are released and they feel good.

Feeling good is one of the first steps to you being able to sleep well tonight! Your body has probably been tensed and knotted up all day while you were at work. Allowing it to exercise gives you some relief – somewhere to pour all of that tension into. If you were sitting down all day long, this is exactly what your body needs.

Exercise also helps you sleep better at night. We joke as parents about letting our kids wear themselves out so they’re ready for a good, long nap – but the same goes for us as adults!

When the Huffington Post conducted a poll for people who exercise in terms of how they sleep, they discovered that people who exercise don’t just get more sleep – they get better sleep.

As you might suspect, the better your work out, the better you snooze each night! If you’re not used to exercising, start out slow and work your way up. You can start off with a simple 10-minute-a-day plan and increase it a bit each week.

Another good side effect of exercising is that you might shed some extra pounds! Poor sleep makes people gain weight according to recent studies – and stress definitely leads you to consume extra calories.

Try to exercise after work – but still plenty of time before going to bed. Making a strenuous workout just before bedtime will hype up your hormones. But if you do half an hour walk around 2 hours before going to bed, it will have a relaxing effect. If you exercise too close to bedtime and you discover that you still feel restless, just move your exercise up to an earlier time.

Rule #4 – Get a Soothing Bath

For some people, bath time is their only time of the day when they unwind and kick stress to the curb. There are no clocks ticking, no technology vying for your attention, and nobody talking to you.

It’s just you, your warm, soothing water, and whatever environment you’ve created to help you relax. The environment for your bath is just as important as the sleeping environment you create.

If it’s off, then you can’t relax. A cold, sterile bathroom won’t lend itself to a calming environment. Some people like to invest in a bubble bath or a lavender smell, while others put up candles to create a relaxing ambiance. Soft and relaxing music might be another option to get you into a tranquil mode.

Just as you’ve made the commitment to turn off technology at bedtime, do the same for your bath time, too. You can’t really relax if your smartphone is ringing off the hook. Just enjoy the moment, and forget about everything that was stressing you out during the day.

Rule #5 – Take a Light Supper

Eating a heavy meal late at night is a surefire recipe for troubled sleep. There is an old saying that we all know: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and supper like a pauper. There is much truth in that.

Think for supper on something that is lightweight. This applies not only for quantity, but also the quality of our foods. What you should cut out as much as possible are fats, since they are very difficult to digest. So keep your fries for lunch and your nuts for breakfast. You should also go easy on proteins and focus more on carbohydrates for supper. So fruits together with a toast bread is a really good option, that will digest in a snap.

If you work all day long with your mind, you may even find that skipping supper altogether will improve your sleep. At night your body does not need this energy, and skipping supper helps you to wake up the next morning with appetite to face a substantial breakfast. Besides improving your sleep, this habit will help you a lot in your weight control, and controls your excessive sugar levels if you are diabetic. It may take you a few weeks to get used to it, but after that, you will feel the full benefit in your sleep quality.

For those who do not want to skip supper altogether, it should be lightweight and early enough to be completely digested before going to bed. A light supper should still be placed 2-3 hours before bedtime, to guarantee that digestion is done before you hit the bed. You do not want your stomach to work extra hours while you are at sleep. This will impact not only your health, but also sleep quality and your mood the next day you get up.

Rule #6 – Sleep at Regular Times

An alarm clock - Photo by Aphiwat from Pexels

Have a regular time for going to bed and a regular time to rise that allows you 8-9 hours of good sleep. Cutting corners on sleep does not help your productivity. You will be running around like crazy, thinking you cannot afford to go to bed on time and let your work be undone. The truth is, that the next morning you will be irritated and with a foggy mind, not being able to think straight on what your next step should be to get you to the goal you are looking for. More than often you will realize that you will work more hours and accomplish less.

If you are really on a tight deadline, you may be better off to go to bed an hour earlier than normal, but wake up two hours earlier and get some undistracted work time early morning, while everyone else is still asleep.

Our body is adjusting its daily hormonal cycle according to the light and dark cycle of the sun. For this reason, one hour of sleep before midnight is just as refreshing as two hours of sleep after midnight.

Getting into the habit of going to bed before 9:30 PM will help you a lot to wake up refreshed and full of energy the next day. If you have created the habit of burning the midnight candle, it may take you some time to adjust to the new schedule, but after a few weeks you surely will start to feel the benefits.

Many people created the habit to get by on a minimal sleep time during the week, but at the weekends they sleep in as much as they can. This is detrimental in two ways. First, there is no way that you can make up for sleep that you have lost during the week. You cannot recuperate the lost productivity you had during the week, nor can you make up the toll that sleep deficiency had on your health.

Second, the body gets used to a regular rhythm of activities you do during the day. If you totally change your sleeping routine on the weekend, your body gets out of sync and you cannot enjoy completely the free time you have. So if you have the habit of getting up at 6 o clock during the week, and on the weekends you can’t get out of bed before 10, this is a sure sign that you were sleep deficient on your weekday schedule. If you aim for a regular time to go to bed and a regular time to wake up, ideally even on the weekends, you help your body a lot to optimize the circadian rhythm for peak productivity.

Rule #7 – Become a Master at Time Management

During the Huffington Post surveys about sleep and stress, they noticed that most people started with phrases like, “Not enough time to…” Time is one thing we need more of and have less of in this day and age.

We have no time to relax. We push ourselves from the time our feet hit the floor in the morning right up until we go to bed – and we never get to bed on time. Instead, we give ourselves a minimal amount of sleep hours – and much of that is spent tossing and turning due to the stress of what all we couldn’t accomplish this day.

If you’ll get firm with yourself and look at how much time you waste during the day, or how much time you’re not as productive as you should be, then you’ll free up more time for sleep.

Notice that didn’t say, “free up more time to get tasks done.” Many of you will learn new time management skills and forget to learn your lesson about sleep. Instead, you’ll pack in more on your to-do list.

Make the exercise to journal for a week your daily routine. Notice all the times when you’re surfing the web or standing around chatting with co-workers. That’s time that you could be spending really accomplishing things so that once your day is done, you are rewarded with free time – “me time” – to pamper and nurture your body and mind.

A blank journal - Photo by Jessica Lewis from Pexels

You might also find that when you implement the other rules here to accomplish proper sleep hygiene, you’ll be able to get more done throughout the day. That’s because your mental clarity improves and you tend to have more energy to tackle whatever the day may bring for you.

Rule #8 – Allow Deep Breathing to Replace Naps

There are some people who get in the habit of taking a daily nap – primarily because they’ve heard that power napping can help them achieve their goals for the day.

This might be true for many people. But if sleep eludes you, then naps could be causing the problem. A 10-minute power nap where you’re basically just shutting your eyes and deep breathing is beneficial. Going to bed for 2-4 hours in the middle of the day is a recipe for disaster. You’ll never be able to go to bed at a regular bedtime and you’ll lie there frustrated and annoyed that you can’t go to sleep. It’s a hard habit to break.

Try using deep breathing to energize yourself whenever you’re in an afternoon slump. Breathe from your diaphragm and try to watch how often you’re using shallow breaths throughout the day.

Rule #9 – Resolve Your Worries Before Going to Bed

If you find yourself troubled or upset make an effort to solve the problem as best you can before bedtime. If you had an argument with your spouse, or whether you were getting wrapped up with your coworker, if you are able to resolve it before bedtime, sleep will be so much sweeter. The Apostle Paul was saying already many years ago: “Do not let the sun go down on your wrath.”((The Bible, Ephesians 4:26 NKJV))

Sometimes you find that worries are wanting to creep up on you and be your companion at bed in order to rob your sleep. Some worries are good in order to get us into action. But more often we are worried about things that we can do nothing to resolve. At this moment, we need to turn our worries over to your Heavenly Father, trusting that He is well able to take care of your needs. This experience of peace can do much more for a sweet night of rest than anything else. This is exactly what Solomon was speaking about:

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
Proverbs 3:24

I wish you can make this experience for yourself. Because if you are able to turn over your troubles into the Hand of God, then your sleep with a peace of mind that you maybe did not now for a long time. You want to try this out in your life?

Do you need a guide to help you understand how to cope with Stress in an all inclusive approach? Learn how to combat stress, mentally, physically, emotionally and strategically in your life.

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