#43- 5 ways to Decrease your Stress and 5 ways to Decrease your Anxiety!

We ALL experience Stress and Anxiety at some point in our lives. In this episode I break down a few ways you can help decrease that daily stress and manage anxiety.

We all go through hard seasons in our lives, here are some tips to help you get through those tough days.

If you're ever feeling like you may not be able to get through these tough days, please consult your doctor to get the help you need.

XO- Jennie

Transcript

 Hello. Hello my friends. I am Jenny Lynn and this is my show. I am a wife and mom of two crazy kiddos. I have struggled many years with chronic illness and pain. I have a passion to find out as much as I can while navigating through life, not always feeling 100%. I have realized that having a positive mindset is a must in today's crazy.

You deserve to live this life showing up as your best self, and I can help you get there. If you've been feeling lost after becoming a mom, you're not alone. I know that incredible woman is still in there just begging to be found. I am here to create a safe, non-judgmental space for like-minded women.

Let's empower each other. I am so happy you're here. Now let's jump into the 1 23 Mom Squad podcast with. Jenny Lynn. . 

Hello, my friends. And welcome back to another episode of the 1, 2, 3 moms squad podcast. I am happy that you're here and spending a little time with me. And I hope that you are getting some lovely information out of these little chats that I've been having with you. I'm going to be bringing back my guests. 

Um, in the next week or so I have been lining up some very special guests for you and . I can't wait for you. To listen to those episodes so you can get all this amazing information that they have to offer. So today, I just want to talk about five ways that we can decrease our stress and five ways that we can help treat some anxiety. 

Everybody. In this world needs these tips. And there's not one person that can't say that I know how to treat my depression. I know how to treat my anxiety and I know how to treat stress. And if you do, which we kind of all know a little bit about what we should be doing to help treat these. These issues, but are we actually putting them into practice? And the thing of it is with just like, with anything that we're learning new. 

We have to practice them and we have to really focus on making them a daily habit. If we have to stack these habits on top of another, like an older hat, like an old habit that we just automatically do, like, you know, brushing our teeth in the morning or taking our medicine. We have to stack. A new habit on top of an old one, so that it just becomes automatic. 

And just like with anything else, you're going to need to practice that. And it's going to have to become a part of your daily routine. Even if you miss one or two days, it could push you back. So really focusing on what it is that you need to do and what is actually helping you. You're going to need to just really, really become consistent with it. 

Consistency is key with anything that you want to create a habit with. They say it can take anywhere from 30 to 60 days to really create a new habit. So just keep that in mind, as you are trying new something new. Okay. Stay with it. You can do it. You've done it all your life. Just like with anything. 

When you were young and learning something new, you were doing it daily and it at that's how long it takes. So I know that you can do it, so let's get into it. We all know something that is at the top of everybody's list. When they say, how can we decrease stress? What can we do? Well, what's the first thing anybody is going to tell you to do. 

And it's so hard for us to do. When you struggle with chronic pain. Uh, or any type of fatigue in your body? Is exercise. But exercise seems like a big monumental word, especially when you're just not feeling great. And I mean, from head to toe, like your body just can't exercise. But I don't mean go to the gym and lift weights. 

You don't have to go to the gym and do a hit class or run for 25 minutes on the treadmill. Exercise can include going for a walk. You can. Do some cleaning around your house. It's any type of movement you can do. Gentle yoga in front of your TV, watching your favorite program. You can do some mild stretching. 

You can sit in a chair and do chair yoga that has become a very popular way to move. I don't love the word exercise because it, it really makes me feel, um, it's just too big of a word for me. It makes me feel very heavy. I don't love exercise.  So. What else can we do? 

To help move our bodies. We can dance. We can put on a great jam and just start moving, get your heart pumping. And that's all you have to do. And you don't have to do it for long. Even if you do it for five to 10 minutes a day, put out a couple of your favorite songs and just start dancing. It start dancing around your house and like go from room to room, put on your, you know, put on your earbuds and just jam to your favorite songs.

 I used to country line dance and there are days that I'll put out my country line dance playlist, and I will start just getting, you know, getting my jam on in my kitchen and my dogs. Are looking at me crazy when I'm doing the slap and leather and I'm, you know, boot, Scootin and. 

Yeah. There's an image for you. But, you know, exercise improves our mood. It reduces our tension. We have to, we just have to get our heart pumping. It's going to reduce our stress in so many, in so many ways. So it's very important to really just start moving our body. You don't have to quote unquote. 

Exercise, just move. All right. Number two mindfulness meditation. You guys, meditation is very hard for a lot of people, especially if you have that like creative brain that is constantly, you know, has a hundred tabs open. Meditation for me is, is difficult. Um, I have found that moving meditation is actually better for me. There are YouTube videos that you can. 

Watch or listen to. If you want to, you know, walk around the house or while you're cleaning or just doing something around the house. Um, they're called moving meditations and it really just it's, it just helps to kind of try to clear your mind or kind of bring you to a present moment so that your mind doesn't feel like there's so much noise going on. And I know that that is. 

You know, when you have so many things going on in your mind, you just feel completely overwhelmed and you're just, you just want to turn everything off. But we have so many things to do all day long and we're constantly go, go, go and running around. That we just have a hard time finding the time. 

But the thing of it is, is. If we don't find the time to really be present and take this time for ourselves. This chatter, this noise in our head is never going to turn off. So it is super duper important. I'll tell you what, even if when you come home from work today, before you go in the house. Sit in your car. 

Turn off, obviously turn off your car. But sit in your car for five minutes, you can set the timer on your phone. I want you to put on like calming music. There's so many different, like even those, um, like noises that there's white noise. There's pink noise. Um, there's like the height. Pitch frequency noises that. 

It really, it's kind of crazy what it does to your mind, but so sit in your car for five minutes before you get in your house. Set that timer. And I just want you to close your eyes and literally allow, and you don't have to think like, okay, I'm trying to clear my mind. Let my thoughts go. No, you don't necessarily have to do that. If your brain wants to go there, then by all means, go ahead and clear those thoughts. 

But sometimes meditating is actually allowing other thoughts to come in. It's getting the loud chatter out. And getting other thoughts to come in. Like. What. Hurt me today. Did somebody say something that may hurt that have, that have hurt my feelings? You have to bring that feeling in acknowledge that feeling, and then you're going to let it go. Like there's so many things that we hear all day long that you don't realize that you actually are internalizing these feelings and emotions. So. 

Sometimes all you need is that. Little bit of quiet to just acknowledge that feeling. And until you sit with that, you're not going to be aware of it. So I challenge you to, just to do that. If you can sit in your car because your dogs are barking and you really gotta get in the house or whatever the case may be, please just find five minutes even before you go to bed. 

Sit in bed. And, you know, again, set your timer. It doesn't have to be long. I mean, sometimes five minutes is even a long time when you're trying to just be silent instill. It's hard. Start with one minute. If you don't, if you think five minutes is too long, but just try to do that. You're going to, you know, just focusing on the present moment, but doing it also without any type of judgment. 

So it's going to calm the mind and reduce our stress. All right. Number three. We're going to talk to our family or friends. Having an open conversation with your friends or family member. It can be a great way to let out some of your stress and maybe get tips on how to cope with it. You never know your family and friends are there for a reason. 

You're always. Asking people or telling people, you know, I'm here for you. Well, there's friends and family that are there for you too. That's why they're there. So. You just tell them. Just say, Hey, listen, do you got a minute that I can just unload a few things on you. Would you mind to just lend me your ear? I don't necessarily, maybe I don't necessarily need advice, but I just need. I just need to get this out. And there'll be like, yeah, but you don't maybe T maybe right now is not a good time, but can you call me back, you know, at whatever time or, you know, set a date, go get some coffee, go out for ice cream, go for a meetup for a walk. 

Just you utilize your circle. All right. Number four, taking time for yourself. You have to take time to relax. You have to do something that you enjoy. And or to simply rest, it can make a big difference in reducing your stress levels. One was the last time that you did something. That you actually enjoyed and laughed like good old fashioned belly laughed like jumping rope. 

I don't know, like, you know what I mean, doing something that just can be silly. But bringing you back to pure happiness. And. Just doing it without like, thinking about it, just do it and laugh, put out a good old fashioned comedy movie that you just absolutely loved as a kid or something, you know, take yourself back and just. 

Be happy, reduce that stress. And, you know, guys, number five, it is so important and this is something. Oh, gosh, do I struggle with this? Um, I have good months, bad months, and I really do think that hormones play a huge part. In sleep. For, especially for women. Um, And I am still working on my hormones and the treatment of my topical creams that I have been working with my hormone doctor with. They are still tweaking it. This is literally like the sixth time. 

I've had my blood work checked and you know, my progesterone was low, but then my estrogen was high and we've had to tweak it. And so I go month, like literally kind of month to month. So it's tough. And those of you that are. You know, menstruating and cycling every single day, your hormone levels are different. So you could sleep well one night and the other night you are a complete insomniac, but we need to get seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Because when we don't, we're not reaching that rest and digest part. 

That is completely essential for our body to repair itself. To get. To really, really rejuvenate everything that we need to need to help our body, to just optimize the best way that we can. And if we're not getting that, that sleep and we're waking up completely fatigued. We're already like doomed  for that day. We're just, we're already.  We're just zombies. 

And it's hard. It is so hard when you are completely fatigued and you can't think, and you have brain fog, you don't know what to do. And it is, and that just causes more stress, right. So we really need to  get some sleep.  What I try to do is if I even have the energy to, but I love to take a bath and I love to put some pure Epsom salt in my bath. 

It gets the magnesium that really helps to calm our body, sit and soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Pure Epsom salt guys. And if you want to take an essential oil, lavender or eucalyptus, I love, I personally love eucalyptus. I just, sprinkle that oil in my water. I get to breathe it in. I take a wash cloth and I soaked the washcloth in the water. 

And I just kind of put it under my nose and I breathe in that, you know, that eucalyptus in that sense, and it really, really helps to calm my stress and to relax me that helps put me in a better state to help me fall asleep better. So, but whatever you have to do to try to really fall asleep and stay asleep is essential. 

So you really need to try to get that rest. So now let's just go to a couple of ways that we can help treat anxiety. Have you ever heard of CBT cognitive behavioral therapy? It's a type of psychotherapy that focuses on addressing and changing negative thought patterns in order to reduce anxiety. So a little bit more on CBT. 

So we all have these negative thought patterns and this helps to really kind of switch that way of thinking so that we're not. Thinking in ways that are constantly negative, we need a more balanced, healthier way of thinking and doing that. Can help us release this anxiety. Because sometimes our thoughts and our beliefs and our attitudes can affect the way that we feel. Huge. It's it's huge. 

And that is.  Definitely going to affect our mood. So check out CBT cognitive behavioral therapy. And see if that's something that maybe you might want to add into your life. So what else? Again, exercise, exercise is just it's. It's beneficial. You guys. We have to somehow move that body, move our body. It reduces our stress hormones, hormones improves our mood and releases. Those feel good hormones. We all want those feel good hormones. So just get yourself moving. Like I said, it doesn't have to be something crazy and long and going to the gym, , put on your favorite jam and get that body moving. 

Let's number three. We need to relax relaxation techniques. What can we do to help us relax? Well, there's yoga. Yoga , is  a great tool too, to help us relax and move our ma and move our bodies in the meantime. Deep breathing. I swear by deep breathing. This is something that I've had to really, um, 

Kind of practice and learn. There's so many ways that we can use our breath work. To really slow down our heart rate. And really focus on being present. It really helps us to just calm down. 

Please, please. If you need to YouTube, I've done quite a few different episodes also. Um, The importance of breathwork. So please just. You know, try and adapt that , into some of  your daily routine. Number four. Herbal supplements. There are so many different supplements out there, but what can, what are the good ones  to help us with anxiety? 

 Kava and passionflower have been known to help reduce anxiety, but it's important to note that these should not be taken without consulting your doctor. I know that, you know, a lot of people say, well, it's just a supplement. Yeah, but  if your body doesn't need this, that specific supplement. 

It's going to have a negative effect on you. So sometimes it is beneficial to even consult the people . At the place where you're going to get them, I'm like literally drawing a blank, but they are very knowledgeable. They actually go through classes to learn specifically about all the supplements that they sell. So maybe you can let them know what it is that you're having a problem with or issues with, whether it's, you know, sleep, anxiety, depression, stress, they can point you in the right direction on what may help your body the best. 

And sometimes they have like the sample packs. Don't buy those, you guys, you know that you're not going to know if something's going to help you with. You know, To capsule supplement. You have to try to be on something between 30 to 60 days in order for your body to actually feel a little bit different. 

And please don't supplement stack. So in other words, don't go supplement crazy. Don't buy like five supplements and be like, I'm going to take them all at the same time. No, because how are you going to know which one is actually helping you? Or if they're all not helping you. So take one at a time, take one at a time and you can do it like maybe two weeks, every two weeks. Okay. You can add one or decrease one. 

And, you know, start like a little journal, just take a notebook and write down which ones you're doing. How many milligrams, how many times a day you're taking it. And just make sure you're aware of what it is you're taking when and everything so that you know what you're putting in your body and what may be helping you and what isn't. 

All right. And then if your anxiety gets super duper bad, You can consult your doctor and maybe you need to be put on some SSRI, some. Um, some medication and you guys had, so, okay. My goodness. I have been on Cymbalta for years. Although, it's not something that I want to be on long-term I really do need to consult with my doctor because I think it's something that I want to try and start weaning myself off of. 

 But  they can help. And sometimes if you're having a rough season in your life, which we all go through, we're going to get through it. But there are seasons that are harder than others and it's okay. If you need medication to get through them. It's okay. Just do what you need to do for yourself and for the best for you to function, because we all want to function the best tip weekend. And if we need help and, you know, any type of talk therapy or medication to get through these hard seasons. 

It's okay.  So you do you,  and that's it. That's it. I hope that these tips maybe helped you. Um, if you think they might've helped you, please, I would love if you shared this with somebody else who you think it may help. It really, really helps you guys. I'm really hoping to, you know, get a larger audience with this podcast. I really, really want to create this safe community where we can all just feel. 

Like, there's no judgment. You know, there's a safe community of people that are like-minded. That are here with us. We are one, we are a team. We are the mom squad team and you don't have to be a mom and you don't have to have to be female. We're talking everything, lifestyle, health, wellness, how to live and love your life, no matter what, because. 

We're here and we have this one life and we all want to live a long happy life. And I'm going to help you get there and we can do it together. And don't forget that I am rolling out this connect and reflect program. If you want support, like you've never known it before. If you're feeling all alone in your life. 

Your sisterhood has arrived. I am here and I want to help you. All you gotta do is send me an email. 1, 2, 3 mom's squad@gmail.com. And I will get you all the details. I really hope that you guys have rest of your good day. I would love it. If you subscribed, followed gave me a five star review. And you guys just keep doing what you're doing. Um, don't forget. I'm also on YouTube. All my guest interviews are up there. I am on tic-tac I'm all over social media. Give me a follow. And if you guys are listening and there's a specific episode that you really love, I would love it. If you just took a snapshot of it and tagged me, I love to see any type of. 

Feedback from anybody who's listening to these episodes because I want to know what kind of content you really actually enjoy listening to, or  send me a message. Send me a DM and let me know what content you would like to see and hear in the future. I am up for anything. So with that being said, you guys have  a wonderful day. And we'll talk to you soon.  

 Thank you all for being here. I am so glad we found each other. See you next time. Have an incredible day. My beautiful friends.