Are you sick of stress because people talk about it too much? Are you sick of stress because you are dealing with too much of it? Both? Neither?
I tend to mention stress a lot, because in this busy, high-tech, fast-paced world, people deal with a lot of stress. Stress definitely messes up blood glucose management, so I’m constantly stressing the importance of managing stress. And managing stress, just like everything else we do for diabetes, needs to become a way of life.
Luckily, many of the things we do to manage diabetes also manage stress. To that end, I ran across a great list of stress-busters that I want to share. Here are some steps you can take to reduce your stress and improve your health/diabetes:
- Get adequate sleep
- Exercise regularly
- Avoid excessive use of alcohol or drugs
- Develop a good balance between work and play
- Learn to put things in perspective
- Make a list of things you’re grateful for
- Regularly practice a calming technique such as guided imagery, meditation, prayer, or yoga
- Talk with a counselor or caring friend (Adapted (slightly) from TopHealth newsletter, December 2011.)
How do you manage stress?