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Wellness Blog
7 Ways To Keep Calm While Preparing For Vacation
Now that summer is officially here, it’s that time of year again…VACATION! You’ve worked hard all year so it’s time for a break and time to relax. Time off is essential to personal wellbeing, professional success, business performance, and more, but Americans don't use 662 million vacation days each year! Research has even demonstrated that taking a vacation can have similar biological benefits to your health as meditating. In short, vacations are good for your health. So why don’t more people take vacations? Often the reason is that planning and preparing for a vacation is too stressful an experience. It sounds like extra work, having to prepare for vacation. It can be easy to get caught up in the stress of everyday life, even in the summer. How do you transition from a stress-inducing life to relaxation mode? It’s difficult to get into the right mindset, but you can more calmly prepare yourself for vacation if you follow a few simple steps: 7 of the Best Ways to Keep Your Vacation Prep Stress-free 1. Have Realistic Expectations Resist the urge to plan every minute of your vacation and maintain realistic expectations about your trip. Your flight could be delayed. It might rain the afternoon you plan to go jet skiing. Mishaps and meltdowns happen, but they don’t have to ruin a trip. If you expect that things will go less than perfectly, you will be better prepared to handle whatever does happen. 2. Focus On The Positive This can feel "easier said than done," but it's very effective. As mentioned above, a lot can go wrong when you travel. However, as with life in general, negative things won't feel like they have as much power when you notice the silver lining of the situation. For example, if your flight is delayed, focus on how you have extra time to catch up on reading a novel you enjoy. 3. Plan Ahead There is nothing more stressful than realizing the day before you leave that you still haven’t checked the oil level of your car, gone to the bank, bought the extra socks you needed, set up the timer for your house lights, or had your mail held. There are countless vacation preparation checklists available online – download one ahead of time and check items off to reduce your preparation stress. 4. Pack In Advance This might sound overwhelming, since you’re already stressed and still trying to get into the vacation mindset. However, it’s important to remember to work toward your goal of relaxation in advance or you might never get there! Make or download a packing list and begin to assemble necessary items with plenty of time to spare. That way you won’t find yourself running around like crazy the night before trying to get everything together. 5. Get Plenty Of Rest Speaking of the night before your vacation, make sure to get plenty of sleep so that you do NOT travel tired. Certainly, rushing to get everything done before your vacation can leave you worn out. However, navigating unfamiliar roads or airports will be much more difficult and stressful when you are sleep deprived. 6. Know What Works For You You may have heard the tip to clean your house while you’re packing for a vacation so that you aren’t stressed about a mess when you return. While some people might benefit from a little prep work beforehand, it won’t necessarily make re-entry easier for everyone. For others, the prep only adds more stress. The same goes for work. Many folks stress about doing extra work before leaving in hopes of cutting down on the amount they have when they come back. But it seems like there’s always a lot of work when you get back, no matter how you prep. Prioritize and focus on those tasks that have a deadline while you’re gone and put non-pressing items on the back burner. 7. Supplement To Manage Stress Natural relaxation substances can be incredibly effective in helping you manage your stress and feel more calm. Drink some spearmint or chamomile teas. Put dried lavender in a vase near your bed. Use calming essential oil aromas such as clary sage, bergamot, or ylang ylang. Try BrainMD’s Everyday Stress Relief – a nutritional supplement that can help promote a tranquil mind and body while supporting healthy adrenal and cortisol levels. It includes well-studied herbs and nutrients to support your body’s response to stress on multiple levels.
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The Difference Between Stress And Anxiety
It’s that time of year again…tax season! For many, this is the most dreaded and hated time of year. Financial pressures can mount and add to the already full plate of stressors that you may feel. Whether it’s taxes, a deadline at work, a family conflict, dealing with an illness, school exams, or needing to make an important decision, it is safe to say that all of us have experienced stress in one form or another. In today’s fast-paced world, it is virtually impossible to avoid. What is Stress? Contrary to popular belief, not all stress is bad. It is a part of normal living that helps us be productive and is reported by folks at all ages. And in fact, stress can actually be a positive that helps us learn things like: Resilience Problem solving How to adapt to everyday challenges Stress becomes a problem when it is intense, recurring, or remains unresolved over a period of time. At that point, stress takes a toll and can be very damaging. It can affect the way we learn, our behavior, peace of mind, and ultimately, our health. By some estimates, as much as 80% of all disease and illness is initiated and aggravated by stress. Over the long term, it can increase your chances of developing diseases like diabetes, heart disease, substance abuse, and anxiety. What is Anxiety? Speaking of anxiety, many people use the terms “stress” and “anxiety” interchangeably in everyday conversation. But there is a difference. Stress, unlike anxiety, is a response to the pressures we feel in life. These pressures, in turn, cause adrenaline to be released. Too much adrenaline sticking around for too long can lead to depression, a rise in blood pressure, and other negative effects. One of these negative effects is anxiety. It is the process during which a person becomes scared and apprehensive of what lays ahead, and often manifests itself in physical problems like dizziness, pain, shortness of breath, and panic attacks. In other words, stress is a response to an existing stress-causing factor (stressor). Anxiety is the continued experience of stress that is out of proportion to the stressor or that continues well after the stressor is gone. Though they are closely related, not all people who experience stress will experience anxiety. Properly managing your stress is a critical factor in preventing anxiety and the host of other problems that it can lead to. Make sure you educate yourself on the strategies to manage stress.
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