Women and Stress

Being a women in todays world can be a rewarding experience filled with many financial and material rewards. Some of us can tend to measure our own personal success and growth by the external gratifications of others and stuff. Forgetting our internal need of balance, mindfulness and peace within our own personal needs and wants. This contributes to women and stress greatly.

All of this can come at a personal price. Whilst we are working hard to prove ourselves regarding our own self worth, waiting to be rewarded, recognized or validated externally for a job well done, we can sometimes not notice that our physical health and mental health is taking a battering.

This gives us the feeling of pressure which can lead to…

STRESS, ANXIETY and DEPRESSION.

Working with many women one thing that comes up daily will be the constant struggle for balance regarding the above. Also, one struggle that is growing for many women, is the imbalance of hormones caused by the effect of stress on the body resulting in our hormones being thrown out of balance creating many real physical effects on the body, mind and spirit.

Sound familiar?

For many women work doesn’t just stop at the end of a 6-8 hour working day. Many women have families, partners and children and the responsibility of everything that goes with the home, family and loved ones.  Loving, caring, thoughtfully cooking, cleaning, homework and more! That is just skimming the surface. In todays society the list goes on. To add to the pressure for women, media shows us that we have to look a certain way and eat a certain way. Adding to the pressure and insecurities so our internal critic can really shame us and bring us down. If we are not careful and mindful enough to catch it.

Women are amazing but they are not superwomen!

That is for the comic strips and movies.

How do we go from all the stress, and possibly a life spiralling out of control, to a more balanced and mindful life? A life where we give ourselves, as women as much love, positive self-talk and thoughtfulness as everyone else who we work so hard for on a daily weekly basis. From family, friends and our careers, how do we create the balance in our daily lives to create a life we not only live and survive but LOVE?

Like anything else there has to be a beginning to the journey before this stress eats us up. To have a beginning there has to be a start and a knowing of what it is you want your life to look like and reduce the stress that is around you daily. Getting to the point where it’s there all around us, but we don’t have to let it get to us and absorb it into our cells and take it on as our stress.

Here are 5 pointers to help you at the start of your journey.

1) GET CURIOUS

With no judgement to the things in your daily life that creates your stress.(write it down).

2) WHAT & WHY? 

                       What makes you happy and what doesn’t?

                       What is fun to you and what isn’t?

                       What is stopping you? (Write it down). Why are you still doing it?

3) BREAK IT DOWN

In different ares of your life break down the different areas. Work, home, family, friends and leisure time. This will help you get an idea where you need to reduce your stress, where you are enjoying your life to create the balance. Imagine balancing some scales, add for fun and take away more stress until the scales balance. You’ll notice what is working for you as the stress lowers.

4) BREATHE

Take longer breaths before reacting and replying back to people  in situations. When you are in situations or around people that you notice your stress or anxiety go up, take your time to assess the situation, breathe and then reply.

5) POSITIVE SELF TALK

We all have an inner critic that likes to help sabotage us or situations, get curious to when it comes out and how it talks to you? Ask yourself when you notice your inner critic not being nice “WOULD I TALK TO SOMEONE ELSE LIKE THAT?” If the answer is NO, try talking to yourself more lovingly and gentle like you would if you were talking to someone else you like or loved. You’re totally worth it.

Hopefully some of these ideas above help you. Take a look at your week and see where you can apply some of this information and take away what isn’t serving you.

Good luck with everything and I look forward to you following my work.  Creating a better version of you one day at a time.

Hugs Tina x

If you would like to book a walk and talk or coaching click the links.