Inspired! (by guest blogger Nicole Muscari)

Another Year Complete! Now What?

After surviving all the shopping, traffic, cooking, baking, family parties and chaos, we often need a fresh start! Creating a new year’s resolution or goal that is manageable, attainable and simple, actually reduces stress versus one where we resolve to a diet of nothing but celery sticks and water and just end up hangry and miserable.  Perhaps a bit extreme, but you get the point! Here are some healthier options for New Year:

Sleep

Put down the electronics in the evening prior to bedtime and allow your mind to relax.

Set a bedtime – this can help you get to sleep at a decent hour so that you aren’t hitting the snooze in the morning. It may seem necessary to stay up longer to get “things done”, but in reality getting sleep will allow for you to be more productive, less emotional and more prepared for taking on stressful situations that happen each day.

Find a stress relief hobby

We can all benefit from having an activity that is enjoyable and allows us to relax and have fun. We often spend most of our time doing things that feel like work even when we aren’t at actual work, standing in lines, sitting in traffic or other busy work that just isn’t fun.  Finding an outlet for yourself can really help to boost your mood and allow you to feel refreshed.

Learn 1 new strategy for tackling stress

Many of us find ourselves facing tasks, deadlines and daily demands that can quickly go from stressful to overwhelming. Making time for a massage or yoga are fantastic stress relievers, but not always something that we are able do.  Learning and applying a simple “time-out” technique is something that takes only a minute or two and can shift our response from “worked–up” to “okay, I got this”.

Some strategies to try: Breathing, Mindful Meditation, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Music Therapy or Coloring.

Reference:

Integrative Medicine | Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. Retrieved December 16, 2016, from https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/integrative-complementary-medicine

Background of Guest Blogger: Nicole Muscari is a Graduate Student at The Ohio State University studying Psychiatric Mental Health Advanced Practice Nursing and plans to graduate in May 2017. She has been a registered nurse for 15 years and has worked for The James Cancer Hospital for 13 years. She received her undergraduate BSN degree from The Ohio State University College of Nursing.