Stress. The lowdown. The remedies.

Stress is a funny thing. For many of us, it's a daily occurrence. We all know the signs – a weight on our shoulders, a tightness in our chests, an uneasy feeling in our stomachs...

But how does it really affect us and what can we do about it?

Causes

• Work
• Finances
• Busy schedules
• Family
• Relationships
• Bereavement
• Big life changes
• Anxiety disorders
• Chronic illness

Symptoms

• Muscular tension – particularly jaw, neck and shoulders
• Breathing difficulties – shallow breathing, panic attacks
• Excessive perspiration
• Digestive troubles – bloating, heartburn, knotted stomach, cramps, IBS
• Skin breakouts
• Disturbed sleep
• Fatigue

Repercussions

• Persistent insomnia
• Adrenal exhaustion – 'fight or flight' becomes a knee-jerk reaction
• Reduced energy levels – 'wired but tired' feeling (see above)
• Chronic illnesses – often involving the nervous or digestive system
• Poor absorption of nutrients, leading to fatigue
• Weight loss or gain
• Mood disorders

Solutions

• Live in the NOW. Most stress can be relieved if you stop judging an event through the eyes of the past, in fear of the future. Approach the event in isolation, without sub-text, and focus on the moment with your whole mind and body.

• Let yourself experience the full range of emotions, good and bad. Repressing a feeling buries it deep into your mind and body, and negative emotions have a tendency to rear their ugly heads further down the track. If you feel sad or angry, let the feeling have its place, sit with it for a while. It will pass a lot quicker.

• Don't let your thoughts dictate your happiness. We all do it – wage analytical warfare on our decisions, reasoning through every possible outcome or option until we don't know if we're Arthur or Martha. Next time, go with your gut. You can't always make the 'perfect' decision, just make a decision, and roll with it! Your heart and gut have just as much validity as your thoughts. Give them a chance.

• When you feel your body tensing up, take notice. Pause for a second. Listen. Take a few deep breaths, drink some water, shut your eyes for a minute, then restart.

• Be kind to yourself. You don't need to perform miracles and you can't do everything or be everything to everyone.

• Laugh. It's important to maintain perspective, and see the fun in things.

• Sleep. This one's a no-brainer. Sleep helps. It really is that simple. If you can't get enough shut-eye, try a herbal calmative or, if you have exhausted all natural remedies, speak to your doctor. Nothing you do will heal your mind and body the way sleep will.

How to detox your mind

We may have told you already (a hundred times) but we LOVE lists at UR. So this week, we're dishing up another one. It's a quickie but it may just change the way you look at things, dare we say live.

5 simple ways to feel happier:

1. Don't worry. If a worry pops into your head, ask yourself this question: will worrying about this change the outcome? We're 99.9% sure the answer to this is no. In that case, the conclusion is simple: stop worrying, it's not going to fix the problem. What it will do is waste valuable time and energy.

2. Be happy. Be happy in the guide to 'being happy'. You're probably either a) thinking of shutting down the email at this point or b) thinking we've had one too many green juice. But hang on, there is some logic behind this statement. Have you ever noticed that when you smile and radiate happiness, you get it back, tenfold? It's not rocket science. We all gravitate towards happy people. Sometimes, putting a smile on your face when you aren't feeling so chirpy can draw others towards you and in turn improve your own mood.

3. Less do, more be. You have an 'action list' at work but when it comes to your personal life, do you really have to treat each day like a set of 'tasks' to accomplish? If you're racing from one 'to do' item to the next, you sometimes forget to experience what you're actually doing. Sure, there are some things that don't really require experiencing (like paying your gas bill for instance) but others would be far more memorable (and meaningful) if you actually let yourself exist in the moment whilst they were happening. That phone call to your mum would go a whole lot better if it wasn't just a 'ticked box'. That lunch you gulped down would be digested far more comfortably if you took the time to eat it, mouthful by mouthful. You might even have a more productive afternoon back at the office!

4. Listen. To the person talking, not to your inner chatter. We're all guilty of it – listening to our own thoughts instead of giving the person in front of us our full, undivided attention. The art of really listening is endangered. Nurturing it is the key to good personal and business relationships.

5. Let it be. Let them be to be precise. We're talking about your negative emotions – anger, resentment, fear, jealousy... These toxic emotions clutter the mind, preventing you from moving forward with your life. We all have them however the key is to let yourself experience them fully and then let them fall to the side of their own accord. The more you try to repress them, the more power they hold.

The 5 easy guidelines above will help you to cleanse your mind. Detoxing is not just physical after all.