stress management Archives - Stress Free Mama

A New Tool to Change Your Life: My meQuilibrium Review

You climb in bed after a long day and can’t fall asleep.

You had a headache again. You were crabby and rushed. Your kids needed your attention and you just couldn’t focus on what they were saying. To be honest, you just didn’t care about the latest YouTube video.

Work was a wreck. You’re worried and distracted and feel like you’re only producing at 50% of your abilities.

And just as you promise yourself that tomorrow you’ll take better care of yourself and get your stress under control, you stop–

You realize that made the same promise last night.

Every night you promise that the next day will be different. And every day it’s the same.

You can’t break out of this cycle. You want your old life back. You want to be fresh and happy again. But how can you figure out how to do it?

Now there is a tool that can help.

[Read more…]

By Julia Rymut;

The Truth About Stress You Won’t Want to Hear

You do it to yourself.

That’s it.

That’s the truth.

You create your own stress.

Yes, there are challenging events and difficult circumstances and lots of demands. Yes, it’s tough. But stress… worry… In the end, the upset is entirely your creation.

But why do you do it? How do you stop?

These are the questions that we all Google, ask our Gurus, and journal for answers.

Why? If you know you create the stress in your life, why is it a daily challenge to cope?

One solution is to get help. Find some stress support. [Read more…]

By Julia Rymut;

What Would Help You Manage Stress?

It’s hard to manage stress.

There are lots of strategies.

Time management
Breathing techniques
Yoga, exercise and other physical activities
Biofeedback
Massage
Stress games
Journal, visualize, and use affirmations
Spend time in nature
Pet a dog
Engage in an enjoyable activity
Meditate

The list is long and this is just the beginning. But where do you start?

I would like to help but I don’t know what you need to make a plan to manage stress.

What is your biggest obstacle to managing your stress? What would be most helpful to you?

Do you know what you need to do but can’t fit it in? Or do you have no idea where to start? Do you need regular reminders?

Do you prefer to relax your body (like using yoga, massage or breathing)? Or do you prefer to manage your stress (like setting boundaries, managing your time, and saying no to stressful obligations)? Do you need to re-prioritize your life to include enjoyable, nourishing activities?

Leave a comment below with your ideas, worries and suggestions.

I’m developing some stress management solutions designed to help you. Your comments will help me.

Thank you.

And stay posted. I’ll have something new for you soon.

By Julia Rymut;

Online Yoga and Stress Management

Yoga and stress management go hand in hand.

Yoga relaxes the body, stretching the muscles, oxygenating the blood and relieving sore, tense knots. Having a relaxed body will automatically lift your mood.

And in addition, yoga helps train your mind to be quiet by focusing on your pose. You concentrate on one thing, and all the little worries of the day melt away. You become grounded and peaceful with yoga. Stress Management becomes automatic.

How to Begin with Yoga

Classically, the best way to learn to do yoga is with a teacher.

Teachers help to focus you on your pose. They give you corrections in your posture, but more importantly, a teacher can give you insight about your practice. Are you pushing too hard or are you too lax?

Sometimes yoga poses create an inner battle. A teacher can help you with this. Years ago, every time I sat in Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose), I would go nutty. My stomach would clench; I would tense my jaw; I felt like crawling out of my skin. Having a teacher helped me through the pose. In class I stayed in the pose longer, and gradually I learned how to cope with it. Without my teacher, yoga and stress management would have been contradictory.

Once you know how to do yoga, the next ideal yoga and stress management plan is to have a personal practice.

Practicing on your own allows you to go deeply and listen to your body and inner voice.

As ideal as classes and personal practices are, they are not always practical. The cost is high; the time commitment often impractical. Sometimes, you can’t find local classes. And we don’t always have the discipline to practice yoga entirely on our own.

The bridge between having a teacher and an active personal practice is an online yoga class.

Online Yoga and Stress Management

Online yoga classes offer an excellent way to practice yoga, have instructions and do it at your own pace and convenience. You are both alone and supported. Yoga and stress management both become possible.

Online yoga reduces the stress of getting to class. No longer do you rush to class after work, fighting traffic and then try to sit calmly on your mat. If you are uncomfortable in a class setting, from body issues to shyness, online yoga avoids those problems.
Online yoga gives more detailed instruction than a book, and you can tailor it to a more personal program than a TV show. By choosing your class, starting and stopping the video, and repeating sections or entire classes, you can make sure you really understand an instruction before you go on.
Many online yoga programs offer a forum and other community interaction, so you have a ready source of help, support and information. You are not alone, wondering why your back hurts in Ustrasana (Camel Pose). You can ask a question and get feedback.

Online yoga gives you training wheels to start your own personal practice. By using videos or audio instructions, you practice practicing on your own. You have guidance and independence.

I have an online yoga program that I highly recommend.

My Yoga Online

My Yoga (affiliate link) is a robust online yoga program.

Here you have many different instructors with many different backgrounds. You can see videos of many yoga practices, and choose a practice that fits your time and health needs. You view the videos as you wish, in any order, at any time. It is a huge library of yoga videos.

Typically, the videos are a voice over while one or two people do the pose. Many of the videos are yoga sequences–one yoga pose flowing to the next and the next.

My Yoga has a wealth of information, from yoga philosophy to healthy living, from pilates to T’ai Chi. If you want to learn about yoga, you can help here. The site is like yoga and natural health course.

Combine Yoga and Stress Management

Yoga is a great gift to quiet your mind. Stopping the blah, blah is one of the first steps to stress management. Yoga and stress management are truly two great sisters for your health.

My Yoga Review

By Julia Rymut;

Multitasking – The Stressful Truth

A recent study published in the December 2011 issue of the American Sociological Review and described in USA Today shows that women do a lot of multitasking. Working moms multitask more than working dads (48 hours vs. 39) and when they are home, they multitask more housework than working fathers (53% vs. 42%). When multitasking involving childcare is calculated, working mothers beat working fathers once again (36% vs. 28%).

In fact, working moms spend two-fifths of their waking hours multitasking.

As a mother, this is not news to you. You do the dishes as you help the kids with homework. You play a game with the kids as you pay the bills.

But do you come out ahead?

Ann Bookman, from Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management, doesn’t think so.

As more and more women work full work schedules, they continue to do the bulk of childcare and housework. Of course the work loads are more equal than they were years ago, but women still do the lion’s share.

This creates stress.

“This incredible focus on maximizing productivity at every moment has tremendous social and public health costs,” Bookman said. “…If you take a sample and very carefully analyze the numbers, you can begin to see in very graphic terms that women are still the primary caregivers and we are asking them to do just as much in the workforce.”

Women think they have it all figured out. We just keep doing more. To make this possible, we multitask.

But there is a price.

Stress takes a toll on your health, your relationships and your productivity. You may think you’re getting more done, but eventually, you will crash.

The best way to relieve multitasking stress is to just do one thing at a time. One thing.

Just do homework with your child.

Just do the dishes.

Just pay the bills.

Focus on being completely present with one task.

Of course you won’t get everything done but that is the point. If you have to do two things at once, you’re doing too much. When you do one thing at a time, you must prioritize the most important tasks and let the rest go undone.

This is not easy. Many busy mothers believe that if they do less, they will let their families down.

How to End Multitasking

Ask for help. Get spouses, friends, even your children to help out.
Simplify. Prioritize your tasks and if something isn’t absolutely essential to your core values, let it go.
Say no. Reduce your obligations to other people.
Take care of yourself first. If you eat right, rest and exercise, you’ll be more productive when you do need to work.

When you multitask, you have the false impression that you are very productive.

Making the transition from multitasking to focusing on one task can be hard. Start by making a commitment to spend 15 minutes tonight doing one thing.

How have you reduced your multitasking?