Stress-Reducing Exercise and Activity

By Allen Elkin from Stress Management For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Did you know that exercise is one of the better ways of helping you cope with stress? You already know how

beneficial exercise can be as a way of keeping your weight down, your body buff, and your heart ticking for many

more years.

Exercise and sustained activity in whatever form can decrease your blood pressure, lower your heart rate,

and slow your breathing all signs of reduced arousal and stress. Exercise is a natural and effective way of

slowing and even reversing your bodys fight-or-flight response. This section shows you how you can make

exercise and activity your allies in winning the battle against stress.

Calm your brain naturally

When you exercise, you feel different; your mood changes for the better. This difference is not only a

psychological response to the fact that youre doing something good for your body. Its physiological as well.

When you exercise, you produce endorphins (literally, natural morphine from within your body), which can

produce feelings of well-being and calming relaxation. This positive feeling helps you cope more effectively with

stress and its effects.

Activity, not exercise for stress relief

The word exercise has never been a favorite word for most people. It connotes too much work with too little fun,

like taking out the garbage or making the bed. Exercise is something you endure and complete as quickly as

possible. The word exercise is associated with sweating, stretching, straining, pulling, lifting, more sweating, and

taking a long shower. At least the last part is fun.

You may think of exercise as something outside the range of your normal day-to-day activities. However, a better

way of thinking about the goal of staying fit is to replace the word exercise with the term activity.

The word exchange is more than semantic. Any increase in your level of bodily activity aerobically or non-

aerobically and any muscle-toning or stretching contributes positively to your state of physical well-being. And

who ever said activity has to be in a gym, on a court, or with a dumbbell? Many people mistakenly believe that to

exercise you must engage in rigorous sports, go to a health club, or find some other specialized facility. Not so.

After a hard day of work, the chances of your putting on a sweat suit and lifting weights or completing a 6K run

are slim. The good news is, you dont have to. The trick is to find naturally existing outlets for activity that are

readily available and easily integrated into your lifestyle and work style.

Exercise, cleverly camouflaged as daily physical activity, is all around you. The hard part is knowing it when you

see it.

Never jump abruptly into a new program of physical exercise. Your head may be ready for the change, but your

body may need more time to get used to the idea. This strategy becomes all the more important if youve led a
rather sedentary life in the past. Check with your doctor first for an official okay, and then begin slowly, gradually

adding more time and effort to your workout.

The following are some simple ways you can introduce small bits of activity into your day:

Park your car a little farther from your office and walk the rest of the way.

Use your TV time effectively. While youre watching TV, do some sit-ups, jumping jacks, push-ups, or

stretches.

Walk away from your stress. As an exercise, walking has always had wimp status. But if done

consistently and for a sustained period of time, it can be a terrific way of staying in shape. The nice thing

about walking is that it can be pleasantly camouflaged as strolling or sight-seeing both painless activities.

And if you crank up the pace and distance a bit, you have a wonderfully simple form of aerobic exercise that

can enhance your feeling of well-being, mentally and physically. Walking is a great way to clear your head

and calm your mind.

And remember to take a mini walk or two during your day. Your walks can be as short as down the block to

the corner store or a lap around your office or house.

Do something you like. If you dont like the exercise or activity youre doing, the chances of sustaining

it are small. Find something you really enjoy, like one of the following:

o A favorite sport. Golf, tennis, bowling, baseball, basketball, racquetball whatever.

o A favorite activity. Horseback-riding, dancing, trampolining, swimming, ice-skating, or rope-

jumping or anything that gets your body moving.

o Gardening. Yes, if done for a sustained period, gardening can be considered a form of exercise.

o Bicycling. Find a place where you can bike safely and enjoyably. If you dont know where those

places are, contact your local parks and recreation office. Or ask friends or people you see on bikes

what they suggest.

o In-line skating. In-line skating is here to stay, because its great exercise and one of the more

painless ways of getting a physical workout.

Be sure to wear a helmet and other protective gear when youre on your bike or on blades even on short

rides in your neighborhood. Accidents can happen anywhere.

Become a player. One of the better ways of staying in shape is playing at something you like.

Every big city has just about every conceivable kind of sports team, from Little League to pick-up games in

the park on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

You dont even have to be especially proficient at a sport to get on board. Check with your local

YMCA or community center for teams that are forming, and ask at work if teams already exist. Go online to

find a meet-up site that brings together like-minded weekend players for just about any activity.
 Climb your way out of stress. I have good news, and I have better news. The good news is,

research done at Johns Hopkins University shows that, by climbing stairs for a mere six minutes a day, you

can add up to two years to your life.

The better news is, if you live in a big city, you encounter lots and lots of stairs every day. With

land at a premium, most cities are designed with height, rather than width, in mind. Although some cities are

more vertical than others, all have more than their share of opportunities to climb stairs.

And, if you dont live in a big city, you can find climbing opportunities in other places. Ask at your

local high school to see whether you can climb the football stadium bleachers. Does your shopping mall

have stairs? If so, become a mall walker! Opportunities for stair-climbing arent limited to the big cities.

Consider it a challenge to find stairs wherever you live.

Ten Things You Can Do Today to Foster Happiness

By W. Doyle Gentry from Happiness For Dummies
1 of 3 in Series: The Essentials of Reducing Stress and Being Happy

You have to work to achieve happiness the greater and more consistent the effort, the greater the eventual

reward. Here are ten simple, effective strategies that, if you make them part of your daily routine, will help you

reach your goal of a life full of positive emotion.

Think of these important points as prescriptions, think of them as the ten secrets to a happy life, think of them as

the Ten Commandments of Happiness, think of them anyway you like just make sure you turn thinking into

action!

Establish and stick to a morning ritual: Your morning ritual could involve exercising, meditating,

praying, remembering all the things you have to be thankful for, or writing compassionate notes to family and

friends in need.

Eat a healthy diet: A healthy diet is a source of energy and nutrients, both of which contribute to

physical and emotional well-being.

Exercise: If you dont get enough physical exercise, you have less energy and stamina to work at

achieving happiness. The simple tasks of everyday life become chores, and no one looks forward to doing

chores! To reconnect with the joy of living, you have to get your body moving again in a way that goes

beyond your normal daily routine.

Get enough sleep: Sleep is essential to health and happiness. Yet, millions of people suffer from acute

and chronic sleep deprivation. Children need around ten hours per night. An adolescent needs eight to nine

hours. Adults require seven to eight hours.

Seniors can get by on roughly six hours unless theyre unusually active for example, doing a lot of

physical labor or continuing to work full-time into their retirement years. (Seniors often nap at least once

during the day, which means they can get by with a little less sleep at night.)
 Meditate: Meditation is the oldest technique known to man for producing a state of inner calm and

relaxation. All religions include meditation, in one form or another, as a primary way of achieving a spiritual

connection. It has a variety of medicinal benefits lower blood pressure, decreased muscular pain,

improved sleep in addition to leading to improved self-esteem and a general sense of well-being.

Make a spiritual connection: It doesnt matter which religion you practice, or whether you actually

consider yourself religious at all. (Plenty of people think of themselves as spiritual, but dont follow any

particular religious faith). What matters is how often you make that spiritual connection. Research has shown

that just showing up at a religious service of some sort once a week cuts your odds of developing heart

disease literally in half. Now theres something to be happy about!

Be thankful: Gratitude is one of the identifiable key ingredients to achieving happiness. First your needs

are satisfied and then youre grateful thats how its supposed to work. But for many unhappy people,

thats not the case. They find themselves neither satisfied nor thankful for what life has provided in the way

of material things or opportunities.

Think and feel with compassion: All world religions and all truly great figures in the history of mankind

have one thing in common: They teach, preach, and exemplify compassion. Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Jesus,

and Martin Luther King Jr. all were champions of compassion.

Lend a helping hand: What have you done lately to help someone else? You dont have to be a knight

in shining armor. The simplest things count, too.

Have a sense of humor: Lighten up! Try not to take life so seriously. Put a smile on your face. Dont just

read the sports page in the newspaper read the comics! End the day by listening to your favorite late-

night comedian. Spend some time with an irreverent friend, someone who has a healthy respect for the

absurdities of life. According to the Bible (or The Byrds), Theres a time to laugh and a time to cry. Make

sure you have the right balance between the two.

Express Gratitude and Reduce Stress

By Allen Elkin from Stress Management For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Research has shown that people who feel gratitude are happier, report more life satisfaction, and report less

stress. Grateful people are less likely to be depressed, anxious, lonely, and neurotic. But it also appears that

grateful people dont live in a world of denial. They dont ignore the negative parts of their lives.

Psychologist Robert Emmons defines gratitude as a felt sense of wonder, thankfulness, and appreciation for life.

Gratitude can mean different things to different people. In its simplest form, it can be saying thank you for a gift or

service. For you it may mean feeling thankful when you dodge a bullet or get over something bad that happens to

you.
The word may take on a religious meaning, thanking a higher power for bestowing goodness and counting your

blessings. For others it can mean feeling grateful when others are less well off than they are. (This may take a

less commendable form when a person compares downward, identifying others who have less money, less

success, less attractiveness, or less intelligence and feeling grateful to be better off.)

The connection between gratitude and stress may not be immediately obvious. After all, why should I feel less

distressed when I feel grateful for something? Heres how it works:

*Gratitude allows you to detach from a stressful period and savor a positive memory or

experience. This positive focus can create a positive sense of well-being. This can distract you from your

worries and upsets. Remember that its hard to think of two things at the same time. Feeling gratitude

probably means youre feeling less stress.

You can feel better about yourself. When you express gratitude, you recognize that people care about

you and have done a lot for you. This can enhance your positive sense of self, reducing levels of negative,

self-downing thinking.

When the gratitude is aimed at others, you feel better about yourself because youre recognizing

and emotionally giving to others. Giving to others more often than not makes you feel better about who

you are.

Gratitude pulls you out of your negative mindset. Much of your stressful thinking is automatic. By

focusing solely on your negative experiences, you can spiral downward. By expressing gratitude, you give

your thinking a more positive target. You feel better; you feel less stress.

Gratitude puts things into perspective. Gratitude provides you with a sense of balance that can help

you avert feelings of hopelessness and despair that can play a major role in creating stress.

Expressing gratitude to others can create and enhance relationships. You feel better about

yourself, and others in turn feel better about you.

The bonus is that you may get a thankful response of gratitude from the person to whom you

express gratitude. Most often that can make your day and lower your stress.