Stress isn’t just for National Stress Awareness Day

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While the first Wednesday in November each year is National Stress Awareness Day, the world is a pretty stressful place a lot of the time and it is different for us all.

You might feel irritable and impatient, nervous or depressed. There can be knots in your stomach, a sense of dread and the inability to see the good in life. Panic attacks, sleepless nights, loss of libido and feeling sick, dizzy or fainting are all ways stress can be experienced.

If we are to thrive, we need to find our own ways of coping with whatever our busy lives throw at us, so we have some ideas we hope might help.

Know your triggers
A buzz word, maybe, but it’s really good to try to access your triggers, where possible. Stress can come from many things, be that work, kids, family, friends or other people on social media! If you can identify what causes your stress, this will help you to tackle it and get things under control. Start to keep a diary of when you feel stressed, look at who or what sets it off and if a pattern emerges look at the changes you can make so things settle down.

Look at your lifestyle
Exercise is often on the bottom of our to do list, but it is a great way to manage stress. Increasing your heart rate, eating a nutritious diet, drinking lots of water and getting plenty of sleep are really important if you want to keep stress levels down. Just as you track your stress, look at how good you feel after a run or a swim, and how your skin improves when you swap chocolate and coffee for fruit and veg.

Pick your battles
There can be many things in life that are stressful – from a big bill, unfair boss to an angry customer, but if you react to them all you are going to be ill. Choose which things you are going to actually direct energy at and try to resolve, but the rest can be put behind you because they aren’t worth it.

Let it go
Stamp your feet, shout out loud, cry or jump up and down or do some boxing! No, we aren’t talking about toddler tantrums, but letting out your stress and steam in a more physical way. If you are feeling cross and out of control, it might just help to yell about it and get that stress out of your system.

Switch off
Turning off your phone, not checking your emails and powering down your laptop can all help put a lid on stress. You don’t need to be ‘on it’ 24/7, and no one expects you to work late every night, and if they do, maybe you need to look at how much work is impacting your life and stress levels.

Be mindful
This is talked about a lot, but mindfulness is where you have an awareness of the present moment and you pay attention to thoughts, feelings and sensations in the here and now. Mindfulness is really good for healthy mental wellbeing, so if you feel stressed, take a moment and reflect. If your mind gets busy, mindfulness can help to slow it down.

Kick the bad stuff
Smoking, drinking and binge-eating are ways many people cope with stress, but none of those toxic habits will do you any favours. Giving up cigarettes, cutting down takeaways and going to the gym rather than the pub will help you to feel better in the long run.

If things are getting out of hand, chat to your GP – you won’t be the only one.

Team Pure Beauty

Find fabulous new habits in your forties

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When you get to your forties you may well find that the habits you have formed have been with you for years, but the reality is they might not be doing your mind or body very much good. No one is perfect, including us, so we’ve looked at easy ways to get happier and healthier as you sail through your forties.

Drop the vices
We all know that smoking and drinking isn’t good for us at any age, but this really is the time to try and get things under control. Binge drinking, midnight snacks, gambling excessively and lighting up one cigarette after another will be taking a toll on your health, and wallet. So look at what’s going on and make a decision to stop, and find something better to do with your time, and money.

Have health checks
Diabetes, high cholesterol, certain cancers and heart disease are all conditions that can be detected early through routine GP visits, so book in and get a clear bill of health. If things aren’t 100% good, it’s best to know what’s happening and trying to get it fixed because if you hide you head in the sand, things could get worse and then it could be too late. You might also want to keep a watch on the menopause at this stage in your life.

Get to bed
Sleep is so important and if you don’t get enough, you can feel irritable, miserable and life can quickly get you down. You might however be finding that as you move through your forties, the ease at which you get to sleep, and the amount of time you actually sleep, will change. We would suggest you still aim to get at least seven hours of snoozing a night as this will enhance your immune system, reduce stress levels, and generally help you to cope with life better.

No tech at bedtime
Talking about sleep, the one thing we do suggest is that you don’t take your phones or devices to bed. Yes, they can help you keep connected with the world, but night time is when you need to switch off, so power down and leave those light emitting screens downstairs.

Keep sun damage away
We need to do this all of our lives, but it is critical in your forties to look after your skin if you want to keep your melanoma risks down, as these increase with age. The sun’s UV rays is one of the biggest risk factors you can control, so find a moisturiser that has sunscreen in it, and if you want to go one step further to both protect yourself from skin cancer and keep wrinkles at bay, use an SPF stand alone too!

Look after your eyes
Yes, celebrities wear sunnies all the time, but they are so much more than a fashion statement; they are a good habit to get into. So take Victoria Beckham’s lead (she’s in her forties and wearing it well) and put your sunglasses on not just in the summer, but every time you go outside, and keep your eyes safe.

Smile
Life can be hard in your forties as your kids move away and your parents fall ill, but getting into the habit of smiling and laughing during your day, can be a really good for you. Laughter boosts your mood, reduces stress, and smiling at a stranger could be the lift they also need in their day.

So, what new habits are you going to make, and which badies are you going to ditch to make your forties fabulous?

Team Pure Beauty

How to make self care a priority in 2019

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Demands at work, family pressures and the endless bombardment of information from social media means that making time for ourselves becomes increasingly difficult. The thing is, if you don’t do this, you will burn out and then you will be no good to anyone at all – harsh but true.

We have looked at some simple ways that you can build some time into your busy life to ensure you get the care you need to be happy and healthy.

Make a list
Whether you use a pen and paper, write on a blackboard or tap into Trello, make a list of what you need to do. As well as giving you a focus and ensuring you don’t forget to take the cat to the vet, a list can take away that feeling of overwhelm and give you a sense of achievement as you tick things off.

Spend time alone
Many of us spend a lot of our time with family, friends and work colleagues, and while it is good to be sociable, you need some time alone too. On that to do list, add in a slot where you can read a book, watch a movie or just have a bath and enjoy a little solitude.

Stop the chatter
You are kind to others when you talk to them, but do you extend the same care to yourself? You need to be your own cheerleader and that means ignoring the voice that puts you down and instead, focus on the good! Whether it’s your smart appearance, achievements at work or recent weight loss, give yourself a pat on the back and when you look in the mirror, smile at your reflection, because ‘you are worth it’.

Switch off
Technology and social media have a lot to answer for. While they might make it easier for us to connect, they can also totally take over our lives and negatively impact our mental health and self-esteem. We aren’t saying knock it on the head altogether, but don’t take your phone to bed with you (buy an alarm clock), you won’t miss out if you aren’t checking Facebook every three minutes and if you can, go digital free for an hour a day, working up to a whole day if you can.

Treat yourself
Whether it is going for a coffee with friends, having a relaxing facial or buying yourself a bunch of flowers on the way home from work, do something that is just for you. These things won’t blow the budget but they can really help to lift your mood and will put a spring in your step.

Get outside
Being inside isn’t good for us all the time. Get your coat on and get outside in the fresh air, however cold it is. A brisk walk at lunchtime, a run along the river or a bike ride with your partner will blow away the cobwebs and give you a blast of the natural endorphins that make you feel good! Put aside sometime each week to being outside and we are pretty sure your mental health will thank you for it.

Remember, 2019 is all about self-care!

Team Pure Beauty