11 Simple Ways To De-Stress Your Life

“Stress is the trash of modern life – we all generate it but if you don’t dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.” – Terri Guillmets

In cave man times, stress meant being stalked by sabre tooth tigers and outwitting or fleeing them to survive.

Today, we don’t have these physical threat, rather stress generated through our thoughts, perceptions and stories that we continuously replay in our heads.

Most days in my naturopathic clinic at Mt Martha, the number one hormone disruptor of your thyroid, blood sugar, adrenals, sex hormones is STRESS. Chronic, unrelenting, destructive and disempowering.

I’ve always said you can’t medicate out of a bad lifestyle long term. Lasting results are based on changing your patterns of how you show up every day.

Here’s 11 simple ways to de-stress your life and balance your hormones –

1. Spot the Magic

Many of us seem to have endless to do lists.

But does all the rushing around stop us from seeing the big picture?

Taking a moment to step back from our day to day schedules can help us simply our lives…..and maybe even help us identify what we are missing to keep us energised and fulfilled.

“The essential question is not, ‘How busy are you? But ‘what are you busy at?” – Oprah Winfrey

Ask yourself-

What’s missing in my life?
Are you spending too much time on things that don’t really matter?
What’s the ‘magic’ you need to focus on, that will keep you energised and fulfilled?

2. Know what’s most important.

I’ve learned over the years we can do most things, but not everything….not at the same time anyway.

So, think of your priorities not in terms of activities, but when you do them.

Timing is everything.

First block off time for who and what is most important in your life, it frees you up to then focus on the rest.

“The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey

Ask yourself –

Who’s your top priority?
Is he/she on your calendar before all the ‘to-dos’?
Do you have a sequence for your competing priorities?

3. Declutter

In this world of instant gratification and unlimited choices, we often find ourselves surrounded by mountains of things – furniture, toys (adults & children), tools, clothes and so on.

Are all these things bringing us real joy and happiness or prohibiting us from seeing what really matters?

In the end, it’s not the material things that are remembered, rather how something made us feel. Hence feeling appreciated, loved, cherished and supported…..can be the true gifts that will be remembered over a lifetime.

“You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.” – Vernon Howard

Ask yourself-

How much is enough?
Where and what can you declutter in your life?

4. Go Forward By Going Backwards

Best way to plan is to experience your future right now. See it, feel it, be in it.

Then go backwards to the present.

You can now make an action plan for how to get there from the present.

“When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.” – John Richardson Jr

Ask yourself-

What future did you once dream for your life?
Where are you now?
What words represent what needs to be done?

5. Stop Holding onto the Past

Experiment today by listening to people and noting if their conversations take place in the past, present or future?

In my world, it was the past.

Without realising it, we often carry baggage around with us everywhere we go.

We bring it out in our conversations and it shows up in our attitudes. It never really existed, yet its power lives among us and keeps us from moving forward.

“For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” – John F Kennedy

Ask yourself –

How has holding onto your past put limits on your future?
What do you need to let go or leave behind, in order to move forward in the future?
Is there a situation or conversation from the past that you need to deal with in the present, in order to move on to your future?

6. Choices – Make Them

One of the most powerful medicines in life is ‘choice.’ We can choose our attitude, how we react to situations, and with whom we want to share our lives.

“The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.” – Victor Frankel

Ask yourself –

What challenges are you facing today?
Is your attitude a powerful match for them?

7. Law of Attraction

We are like magnets that attract people and things into our lives, by unleashing the power to choose who and what we truly want to draw into our lives.

“Plant the seed of desire in your mind and it forms a nucleus with power to attract to itself everything needed for its fulfillment.” – Robert Collier

Ask yourself-

Who or what are you attracting in your life?
As new people enter your life, how are they the same or different than others?
Are your thoughts and conversations drawing powerful, positive influencers to you?

8. Get Outdoors

In our challenging world, nature provides us with an opportunity for healing and calm when you take your cares outdoors, breathe in fresh air, walk among tall trees and lift your eyes upward.

When we’re outdoors we can draw on the riches it offers to guide us through whatever comes our way.

“Climb up on some hill at sunrise. Everybody needs perspective once in a while, and you’ll find it there.” – Robb Sagendorph

Ask yourself –

How much time each day do you spend enjoying the outdoors?
While you’re outside are you tuning in to hear the birds singing?
Do you have rooms with a view? Are you bringing nature inside your home or office (plants, rocks, water…) to create a serene environment?

9. Be Less If-fy

Life is lived here and now. Often, we already have what we need, yet we look right past it hoping for something else to come our way.

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell

Ask yourself –

Who and what are you most grateful for in your life?
What have you accomplished, or what have you attained that you never imagined you would ever have or achieve?
Are you missing out on enjoying what’s happening in the present by wishing ‘if only’ somebody or something else would come your way?

10. Make it a Purpose to Know Your Purpose

Before you know it, we’re often flowing aimlessly down the river of life. We’ve left home without a map and our boat has no rudder. Consider where that journey may ultimately lead us if we choose to live our lives “on purpose….”

“The way to get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” – Mitch Albom

Ask yourself-

If you were designed for a reason, what do you think your unique role is?
What are you truly passionate about? What lights you up?
Do you a mentor that helps guide you in your work or personal life?

11. Slow Down to Go Faster

Sometimes, you have to slow down in order to go fast. In this complicated, fast-paced electronics focused world, do you find it hard to slow down?

Sometimes life intervenes and does the slowing down for us – job loss, illness, marriage breakdown.

We often don’t slow down by choice.

“Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you.” – John De Paola

Ask yourself –

Have you scheduled slow time into your day?
What are your favourite slow time activities?

Feel like your hormones are out of balance? Need help finding out where it’s all going wrong? Is it your thyroid, adrenals, pancreas or sex hormones? Or is it everything? It can be!

CLICK HERE to book an appointment to get it sorted ASAP. Or CLICK HERE for FREE Thyroid Screening (valued at $140) with an initial consult until 28th February 2017.