1) Bad Food: Junk food, sugar, meat and highly processed foods can cause your body a great deal of stress. You may find your body uses up more energy digesting bad food, than it actually gives your body. Coffee, tea and alcohol also over stimulate the body and add to tension.
2) Difficult People: Your friends can end up being the cause of your stress. The best way to tell if someone is doing this to you is to check how you feel when you leave them. Do you feel worse than before, frustrated or anxious? If so, minimise the amount of time you spend with them, and if you have to see them, bring along another more joyful friend as a buffer.
3) Your Job: It’s an obvious one, but many of us just accept it as a stress in our lives. Don’t! Life is too precious to waste most of your day doing something you don’t like. Either learn to do your job without absorbing the stress, or change jobs immediately.
4) Technology: We think we need it, but often we feel like a slave to it because its always there, flashing at us to do something. Remember YOU are in control of your technology. Put your phone down, limit yourself to only a couple of TV shows a week (if that), give yourself limited time for social media, and only use your computer when you absolutely have to. Instead, spend time just breathing, observe people, focus on the sounds around you and just sit still.
5) Your Mind: No matter what is going on with the first four stresses, if your mind is not in the right place you will feel stressed no matter what. Meditate for at least 20 minutes a day to give yourself time to reflect, calm your mind, clear your thoughts and relax.
Once you can learn to live with minimal stress life will seem easier and happier.
