Wellness strategies to help you deal with stress and anxiety

As we celebrate Mental Health Awareness month in South Africa, it would be fitting to share a clear definition of what mental health is, as defined by the World Health Organization. “Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well, work well and contribute to their community.”

A happy and balanced life is the goal for most people and a healthy mental health status is the key to improve the quality of life. To obtain a happy and balanced life, we need to understand that it is important to identify stress, anxiety and overwhelm as soon as possible because it directly affects your body’s energy distribution.

Your body splits its energy for two processes, these include physical activity and intellectual activity. Stress, overwhelm and anxiety produce a negative expression of energy, that means that your body’s physical and intellectual processes and activities will be running on negative energy if your levels of stress, anxiety and overwhelm are high. It sounds as bad as it is. As a result of the negative energy expression being processed by your body, you will experience the following: Eating or sleeping too much or too little, mood swings and tantrums, lower or no energy, having unexpected aches and pains, brain fog and forgetfulness, feeling helpless or hopeless etc.

These are signs that you need to focus on ways to achieve a happy and balanced life. Wellness strategies can produce a positive energy expression to create balance or even supersede the negative energy expression produced by stress, anxiety and feeling overwhelmed.

1. Clean up your diet. There are countless studies that prove that our guts are directly linked to our minds. Focusing on getting good fiber and quality protein sources into your daily meals will promote a healthy gut and fuel your body with good energy. Drinking enough water is also key to flushing out toxins and improving the overall health of your body.
2. Move your body. Whether it’s going for a walk around the block, going for a swim or rekindling your love for your childhood sport, getting active is key to expelling the negative energy build-up and releasing endorphins which are your feel-good hormones.
3. Meditate. There are several meditation practices that are trending right now, but it’s about more than just following trends. Studies have shown that there are a few benefits to meditation such as improved focus, improved mood, and mental clarity. There are guided meditation apps such as Calm and Headspace that work very well.
4. Connect with nature. Grounding is the act of walking barefoot on the earth. Studies have shown that when sand or grass touches your feet, you enhance your blood flow and improve your brain's electrical activity. Feeling the sun on your skin, and getting your daily dose of Vitamin D, can lower stress levels and enhance your immune system. The change in environment will also stimulate better breathing.

Incorporate these four wellness strategies daily, and even though the lack of these may not be the cause of your stress or anxiety, they will surely be an important starting point to working through it.