7 Simple Tips to Help Reduce Your Stress Right Now

7 Simple Tips to Help Reduce Your Stress Right Now

“Stress Shows Up When You’re Not Taking Care of Yourself the Way You Should.” — Dianne Allen (02:46-02:49)

If we look at our human physiology, we are meant to be at rest and at peace, not stressed out all of the time. That's how our neurology and our biology designed peace and harmony. The problem with that idea is that's not how our life is right now in this century. So, our biology, our physiology, our emotions, our mind, everything, every part of us pays a price. It is a good idea to begin to get closer to the way our neurology and our biology are designed. In this episode, Dianne Allen talks about the 7 simple tips to help you reduce your stress right now.

Part One of ‘7 Simple Tips to Help You Reduce Your Stress Right Now’

There is such a thing as good stress. Then there's the stress that's not so hot. We could call it bad anxiety or toxic stress, but good stress does exist. It helps us get up off the couch instead of laying around all the time. It helps motivate us to get things done that we need to get done. So, not all stress is bad stress. We all know that pressure over a long period can turn the immune system against us. It can cause problems in the body. 

Why do you think so many people get stressed out or burned out or sick? It's because stress can also show up emotionally. It can show up with anger attacks, rage and frustration levels were high. Stress can also show up in poor digestion. It can show up in poor elimination. It can show up in poor sleep and poor diet — all those things where we're not taking care of ourselves the way we should. Autoimmune issues and arthritis are long term consequences of stress: inflammation and all kinds of toxic things in the body.

Stress is something that we want to learn how to understand. We want to learn how to work with it, not try to stop it, or deny it. Ask yourself, what are some things I can do to keep my stress level in a way that is okay for my body? For my mind? For now, I want to function? I've spent many years of my life, stressed out, tons of stress. My job has been essential. The work I do when it comes to saving the lives of many people is very intense. And pretty soon, my body starts feeling it. So, you might be feeling something similar to that if you have a big family or you're a supervisor or a CEO. I work with visionary leaders. And the visionary leaders I work with often have people that they're responsible for helping. There's a lot of potential stress points.

“Stress becomes a problem when it’s impairing our health, our emotional being and our lives in general.” – Dianne Allen (00:46-00:55)

Part Two of ‘7 Simple Tips to Help You Reduce Your Stress Right Now’

Air is your friend. I can always tell when somebody is moderating some type of pain, whether it's emotional or physical because they're breathing differently. They're breathing out of their chest, and it's barely moving. And if I look at their stomach, if I look at their belly, there's no movement. That means the person is moderating some type of pain. Known or unknown to them. Conscious or unconscious. That's what it means. For you to get the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system to calm down is to belly breathe.

Blow all the air out and then allow the air to come in. So that your inhale and your exhale are around the same length of time. And then, to reset the nervous system, we want to pause at the top. Pause at the bottom for a couple of seconds that's not sucking it in and holding it. That adds stress. It's a pause. It's a great way to help if you're feeling stressed out if you're feeling anxious if you're feeling pressure or if you're trying to decide. Give yourself the chance to breathe for a second and see what's going on. It's one of the most important things, and yet so many people miss it. I want you to practice breathing. Thus, a homework assignment might be to lay on your back at least once during the day. Before you go to bed, put a book on your belly right over your belly button and make that book go up and down. Now the inhale goes up, the exhale goes down. And I say that because many people, especially women, have learned to suck it in on your inhale. It doesn't work, and it adds stress to the system. People are stressing themselves out by not breathing properly. If I'm stressed while driving, I exhale and let my shoulders drop and let my body settle down. Then I can make better decisions, and the stress doesn't eat away at my joints and my muscles.

I use essential oils all the time. Lavender is an excellent essential oil to calm the system down. It's a therapeutic essential oil. I told one of my clients about it, and that person wondered why it didn't work. All because it's not an essential oil, it was a fragrance oil that was lavender scented. Those things are petroleum-based. I'm talking about an essential oil that comes from the plant because it's therapeutic for you. There are plenty of ones out there. But if there's an essential oil that you like that helps calm you down, use it. Sometimes people use essential oils only when it's the end of the line. 

Have a sweet, warm beverage where you can wrap your hands around. Often, I'll have a herbal tea that doesn't have caffeine in it because caffeine will set the adrenals off a little. So, I allow myself to have herbal tea that is peaceful and calm. Sometimes it will be red tea. Anything without caffeine in it that tastes good to you is fine. Some people like warm milk. I sometimes make some warm water, and I put squeezed lemon in it, and that's it. And it tastes good to me. Something warm helps take the stress out of the body. Sometimes if I'm under much pressure and I'm driving, I will have a warm beverage with me. A warm bath or long warm shower works well too.

“Our brains are wired to be connected to others.” – Dianne Allen (12:57-13:00)

Another thing to reduce your stress is to connect with somebody else. Our brains are wired to be connected to others of the same species. And sometimes when your stress level is high, you don't want to be around people, or you don't want to talk to people. Sometimes that's the very thing we could use to help decrease the stress level.

I have several people in my life that I use to help myself with my stress. We'll go out, and we'll do something fun and laugh together. It'll distract me from what's stressing me out. But more than that, I'm connecting to somebody important to me. It's amazing how great that works. Sometimes it'll be a big conversation, but it's a connection that matters. I prefer the human relationship to decrease stress to be in person because our brains harmonize within a few minutes of being connected. Connecting with another person is not through texting or email. Those aren't real connections. I'm referring to a face to face interaction. Hearing the voice of someone you want to talk to help reduce your stress. 

Another thing you can do is to commune with nature. Communing with nature is essential. What I'm talking about is stopping for a second and noticing what you see in life — noticing the wildflowers, noticing the glistening of the snow, noticing the sound of the birds. How does your skin feel? The breeze? Is there wind? Is it a gentle breeze? Is it warm? Is it cold? Is it raining? 

I love the full moon, the nighttime, and the stars. Those are beautiful to me. And that communing with nature takes the stress right out of my body. I can feel it melting right away. With some people, it's going to the beach touching their toes in the sand. What matters is that you do it. It matters that you go out there and you commune with nature. When you're connected to nature, that's what it is. You're allowing yourself to rest in the arms of life and the universe all around you. It's a fabulous experience, which you might want to try when you travel or go someplace that's not your home.

Lastly, focus your attention on gratitude and practice self-compassion. It's holding the awareness of gratitude. We know that appreciation changes our brain for the better. It relaxes our system and decreases our stress level. It allows for better, authentic communication and connection in all of our relationships, including the one with ourselves. It completely changes things for the better for all of us.

How to Connect with Dianne A. Allen

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