Working Moms: Combat Stress With Your Stress-Busting TREE!

Your TREE consists of 4 things: Talking Relaxing Exercising Eating well Talking "A problem shared is a problem halved". You don't need to do this alone. Whether it's with your partner, a family member, a trusted friend, a work counsellor or a member of a supportive online community, one of the best things you can do is let it out. Whenever I coach, all I tend to do is ask questions. 90% of the session's input comes from the person I'm coaching. Inevitably, what always happens is they leave lighter, brighter and thanking me for my help - even though all I've done is given them the space and time to talk things through and out. Studies have found that talking to people about the things which concern us actually changes the way our brains work and combats depression, anxiety and stress. Action: Choose someone you can regularly check in with to share what's going on for you and use them - you don't need to work it all out yourself! Relaxing Yes, I know - easier said than done as a busy working mom - I hear ya! However, our body and mind are so closely interlinked that it's impossible to have a stressed out mind inside a chilled out body. So you're going to have to learn a new habit - how to relax! Buy a mediation/relaxation CD and listen to it for 10 or 15 minutes a day. Take a 30-minute bath with no interruptions from anyone. Booking in for a 15-minute facial on the way home, or a 15-minute neck massage in your lunch hour. Action: Choose one thing you're going to do this week as a relaxation technique and stick to it. Exercising A key element of making yourself happier and less stressed is exercise. This doesn't mean taking out a gym membership for a ridiculous sum of money and then pounding yourself to within an inch of your life. Even though we may be emotionally exhausted at the end of our day, experts have shown that the little happy hormones release when we've done some physical exercise. This could be taking a walk around the block in your lunch hour, doing 30 minutes of aerobics in the garage, going for a 20-minute swim immediately after work and prior to picking up the kids (so you don't have to worry about doing your hair and make up again) - but get those endorphins pumping! You'll feel fitter, healthier and best of all, your sleep will be a much more restful one, rather than exhausted one. Action: Identify one form of exercise which you can do over the next 24 hours and commit to walking it out. (Walking it out? See what I did there?!!) Eating well What you eat can affect your mood and well being. When we're stressed we can either skip meals, or eat junk food on the run. This is only going to make us feel more depressed, stressed and unhappy - and so the cycle continues! I know you're busy, but there are things you could do differently in your eating habits, even within your busy day. Plan ahead and buy your shopping on the internet. This helps to avoid temptation of buying the foods which bring your mood down. Stock up on mood busting food - dried fruit bars, nuts, seeds, fruit. Drink plenty of water - your brain needs to keep hydrated and coffee and fizzy drinks (even the zero sugar ones) just do not cut it. Action: What's one food habit you could change this week, in order to have a positive impact on your stress levels?