It's hard to maintain a normal routine when you feel overwhelmed. Since this affects us at least twice a year (Fashion Week is total chaos), we decided to seek some advice from a pro. Stress counsellor Natalie Shay, helps us deal with the side effects of stress.
Whenever we feel stressed, it seems to affect our eating and sleeping routines. Is this normal? How can we avoid it?
This is a very common response; over 80 percent of my clients have faced these two issues. It is your mind and body telling you that they want you to start taking better care of them. The first question to ask yourself is if you have work-life balance. If the answer is no (which in most cases it would be) you should be sure you are creating it. Be realistic; if you are a workaholic, chances are you are not going to start going home everyday at five! It's all about creating a system that works for you and is not an extreme change. Let’s start out with the basics. Your mind and body need to feel good in order to help improve your eating and sleeping. Make sure you are eating something every morning. It doesn't matter if it's as little as a granola bar or a piece of fruit. Start slowly. If you are not accustomed to eating in the morning, do so two to three times a week. If you are overeating, I would start by having a pad of paper in your purse or office desk and before you eat, write down what you are feeling in a sentence, then go ahead and eat what you were intending on eating. The first step is becoming aware of your habits.
When we look specifically at sleep there are usually two types of issues; falling asleep and staying asleep. The little trick of getting thoughts out of your mind and onto paper is crucial. It is common to have about ten thoughts that circle in your mind all the time. When you are able to get them out of your head and onto paper, it stops becoming an automatic negative thought. The next step is to reduce some of the physical symptoms that come with the frustration of not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep. I am sure most of you have heard of meditation, but it's usually something people try once or twice and cannot keep up. So we want to simplify it; start by putting your hands on your stomach and breathe in and out 15-20 times. This will help your mind relax, lower your heart rate and take your mind off of whatever you are thinking about. This will get you started. You can also try to force your body to relax by taking a bath before bed and using some relaxing lavender scents or going for a 20 minute walk to try to clear your mind. If you enjoy yoga, try to get to one or two classes a week.
Natalie Shay is a National Stress Management Coach and Career Counsellor. She has experience working with hundreds of large Canadian Organizations. Natalie has helped her clients improve their life and learn how to be happy in their career by learning and implementing new stress coping skills. For more information feel free to contact her at natalieshay@gmail.com.
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