![\"stress](\"https:\/\/perfectpaddles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/28226l-1028x685-1-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Whether we like it or not, stress is a part of life. It often arises from work, relationships, family issues, money problems, and more. If you\u2019re chronically or momentarily stressed out, chances are your body is giving you a heads up to take a moment and evaluate the cause.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While in some instances stress can serve a purpose in your daily life, it can also have a real negative effect on your health \u2014 both mental and physical.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is especially the case in the modern world. Everyday we are hit with negative news from our globally-connected internetscape that often forces us to take on unnecessary stress from distant places on the map. After a while, our personal stress can feel compounded with global issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With so many areas in which we take on stress in our lives it is important to develop effective strategies to de-stress ourselves in order to live happier and healthier lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you're feeling stressed out and looking for ways to de-stress<\/a>, here's a list of things that can help you today.<\/span><\/p>\n When most people feel stress coming up, the tendency is to stuff it back down. It\u2019s considered weak or a waste of time to feel through the feelings. Instead, we\u2019ve been conditioned to ignore it.<\/span><\/p>\n This strategy can be an effective way to continue in our daily lives, getting done whatever needs to be done\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n For a while.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The thing is, stress compounds when you ignore it. Especially if you don\u2019t consider the cause. And as stress compounds, so do our health issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n By not understanding or feeling through your stress, you can experience an increase in agitation, erratic moods, restlessness, low self-esteem, lack of energy, insomnia, and a whole host of additional ailments you want to avoid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Instead of ignoring the issue, honor the feeling instead. An important step towards feeling healthier is by considering where your stress is arising and why.<\/span><\/p>\n Certain facets of our lives are often the cause of an increase in stress levels. The two most prevalent are work and relationships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s only natural to feel stressed out about deadlines, reports, bosses, money issues, and more. In addition, relationships can cause a fluctuation in moods if you and your spouse or partner are in the middle of a rough patch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If this is the case for you, it might be time to re-evaluate one or both.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To do this, you can ask yourself simple questions like\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n It can be helpful to sit somewhere quiet and ask these questions out loud. Allow yourself to answer authentically. See what comes up. And adjust from there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sometimes we can get caught up in large expectations when it comes to work and our relationships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This can include the idea of an ideal spouse or the perfect work environment. And if our realities don\u2019t meet our expectations we can build a hefty amount of stress around this perceived letdown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To alter the situation, you need to change your expectations and instead see things the way they truly are.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This might seem very unsatisfying at first. But over time you will realize seeing things for what they truly are is very empowering.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With your expectations lowered to reality, you can ask yourself\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Am I still loving what I do and who I\u2019m doing it with?<\/span><\/p>\n Stress is often a signal you might need a change. If this is the case, then you know what actions need to be taken.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are a few universal tools that everyone knows work for stress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Long walks in nature. Hanging out with a great group of friends. Getting a massage. Maybe taking a vacation. Attending a yoga class. Or even spending time on the water paddle boarding.<\/span><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have any specific tools you can enjoy to reduce your stress, then you need to start developing some.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The best thing is to follow where your interests lie and give it a shot! Once you\u2019ve found your method, use it as much as possible to reduce your stress and start feeling better today.<\/span><\/p>\n Exercise is an important tool for reducing stress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It pumps your endorphins. These are your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters. It improves your mood. Helps you sleep better at night. Increases muscle mass and cardiovascular health. And will help reduce the risk of age-related diseases over the long term.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t started yet, you need to get on a regular exercise regimen as soon as possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But even better than exercise in the gym is exercise in nature. Why is this the case?<\/span><\/p>\n According to a recent <\/span>study<\/span><\/a>, \u201cresearchers found that exercising outdoors was associated with greater feelings of revitalization, increased energy and positive engagement, together with decreases in tension, confusion, anger and depression. Participants also reported greater enjoyment and satisfaction with outdoor activity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Exercising outdoors trains your body while providing you with serious stress relief. It\u2019s a win-win.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Most people have a to-do list<\/a> that is a mile long. And it\u2019s often the case that we can\u2019t complete everything we need to in a given day. This makes us push back what we didn\u2019t complete onto the next day and we\u2019re left feeling even more overwhelmed than the previous day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s a cycle that continues throughout the year and leaves us feeling like we never accomplish anything. This, of course, is a great way to stress out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But instead of looking at our entire to-do list, it\u2019s better to just pick one task and focus. This will give you a break from all the overwhelming tasks that are causing your stress. Even 30 minutes or an hour of active focus can rest your running mind and help decrease your stress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Don\u2019t try to multitask, instead focus on one task, complete it, and then move onto another.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As we get older, the chances of being a beginner decrease. This is commonly due to routine. We become experts in a field or a hobby and we stick to it as much as possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While this can work great for people who already have stress-relieving activities, it can also leave a major void in those who do not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As a stress relief tool, we recommend every new year that you undertake a new activity. This can be a new outdoor hobby like SUP, learning how to play an instrument, or understanding a new language.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n By being a beginner you give yourself permission to mess up. You can relax. Enjoy yourself. And who knows, maybe you\u2019ll learn a brand-new stress relief hobby you can use when you need it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To search for a SUP outfitter near you for your first lesson, head to our SUP Search<\/a> tab on Perfect Paddles!<\/p>\n Meditation<\/a> might be the most powerful stress-relieving tool.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once thought of as a hippie-dippie practice to achieve enlightenment (and there might be some truth to the latter), it is now understood to be a way to live directly in the moment, breath by breath, where you are no longer overwhelmed by the running thoughts inside your mind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to WedMD, \u201cMeditation is a simple technique that, if practiced for as few as 10 minutes each day, can help you control stress, decrease anxiety, improve cardiovascular health, and achieve a greater capacity for relaxation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The key here is to practice. If you\u2019ve never meditated before, it can seem overwhelming, in a paradoxical way, to sit and breathe for as little as 10 minutes a day. The mind will run wild while you do so, you might become uncomfortable, think it\u2019s a waste of time, and just want to get on with your day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But this is just the initial resistance you will feel when beginning a new practice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s easier to think of meditation in simpler terms \u2014 you sit and breathe for 10 minutes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s it. Just sit and breathe<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But this simple action is a free way to feel dramatic stress relief. And it\u2019s available at any time during the day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Start today and see how meditation can completely change your life (and your stress levels).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sleep is important.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s vital for recovery, upping your immune system, and reducing your stress. But most people never get enough. Or if they do, they often go to sleep too late and wake up when the sun is already out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The reasons for this sleep schedule can involve many different reasons. One of the fastest-growing reasons happens to be our phones. A vast majority of people will look at their phones right before going to sleep. But this last look at the blue light from our mobile devices de-regulates our natural melatonin cycles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Without melatonin we never hit deep REM sleep. And that will decrease our recovery and increase our unwanted stress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If stress is having a negative effect on your sleep, you can always supplement melatonin before bed<\/a>. This will allow your body to use the melatonin in pill form to better prepare your body for deep sleep, recovery, and provide you with stress relief.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHonor the Feeling<\/span><\/h1>\n
![\"stress\"](\"https:\/\/perfectpaddles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/seated-prayer-300x172.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRe-Evaluate<\/span><\/h1>\n
\n
![\"stress](\"https:\/\/perfectpaddles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/SUP-sunset-e1536342056508-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\nChange Your Expectations\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n
Use Your Tools or Develop Some\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n
![\"stress\"](\"https:\/\/perfectpaddles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/yoga-meditating-banner-blog-2-300x150.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOutdoor Exercise<\/span><\/h1>\n
![\"stress](\"https:\/\/perfectpaddles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/keeping-sup-fun-blog-2-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFocus on a Task<\/span><\/h1>\n
Start a New Activity\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/perfectpaddles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DSC7063_2-1024x625-2-300x183.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPractice Meditation for Stress Relief<\/span><\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/perfectpaddles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/specialty-sup-300x244.jpg\")
<\/p>\nImprove Your Sleep<\/span><\/h1>\n
One Last Strategy for Stress Relief<\/span><\/h1>\n