Three Ways to Reduce Stress

Headaches, back pain, upset stomach, loss of sleep. The implications of increased stress can affect all aspects of a person’s life, having an especially harsh impact on that individual’s work life. Performing your job at the highest level and tending to responsibilities is particularly important for those of us in the medical profession – when patients’ health and livelihood are at stake.

Stress in the workplace is going to happen, but the best way to lessen the blow is by discovering better ways to cope with it and ultimately reduce it.

Three ways to help reduce your stress and anxiety as a caregiver.

Breathing Exercises

A quick and easy way to lower your stress level. Just a minute or two of heavy, deep breathing can do wonders for your stress level – helping oxygenate the blood, wake up the brain and relax your muscles. What makes breathing exercises so advantageous in helping eliminate stress is that they can be done almost anywhere.

Exercise

From biking to dancing to even gardening, exercise and physical activity are fantastic stress relievers. As your physical activity increases, your brain creates additional feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. Endorphins interact with the opiate receptors in the brain to help reduce the body’s perception of pain – resulting in a decrease in the negative effects caused by stress. In addition to the physical advantages from the increased endorphins, exercise gives you an outlet for your frustrations and helps distract you from the areas of your life that may be causing stress.

Music Therapy

Did you know that music therapy is being used in hospitals all across the country for everything from alleviating pain to promoting movement for physical rehabilitation to helping elevate patients’ moods? Aside from its applications around medical offices, music therapy has been proven to lessen muscle tension and promote relaxation for just about anybody. Yes, that means you, caregivers. Overcome with anxiety while on the job? Pop in your headphones and listen to a few songs on a soothing playlist and feel the effects – slower breathing, reduced heart rate and an activation of the relaxation response (the counterpart to the fight-or-flight).

In conclusion, anxiety and stress on the job are commonplace, especially given the hefty responsibilities of a medical professional. Hopefully with the tips from this post you’ll become a little better equipped to handle any mental strain coming from your duties as a caregiver.