Tips for Stress Management

Blog Category: Health

As we age, we want to experience the most relaxing and fulfilling life in retirement. A worry-free lifestyle is not only a key ingredient during your golden years, it’s essential to your overall health. Read on for helpful stress management tips for aging well.

What is Stress

Stress is a fight or flight mental reaction to challenging circumstances that can impact our:

  • Behavior: Appetite changes, crying, social withdrawal, and misuse of substances, such as alcohol.
  • Body: Increased heart rate, pulse, blood pressure, alertness, rapid breathing, muscle tension, and cortisol production (the stress hormone) and suppression in the digestive system, immune system, and sleep.
  • Thoughts and Feelings: Agitation, anxiety, depression, forgetfulness, indecisiveness, negativity, overwhelm, and sadness.

Many causes of stress only expand as we age, which is why it’s important to establish habits and routines for a healthy lifestyle. Causes of stress include:

Stress can become chronic or long-term if not addressed, leading to health problems such as:

Identify the Source

The first step to managing your stress is understanding where it comes from. Take an inventory of your life, from sleep habits to social activity, to see where big or small stressors are accumulating. Pinpointing minor stressors that can build up major problems is a complicated process and may take a little time, but it’s worth it in the long run.

Exercise

An active lifestyle is great for the brain as we age! As long as you get your body moving, you can exercise however you like to release endorphins and lower stress:

  • Aerobics
  • Cycling
  • Swimming
  • Tai chi
  • Walking
  • Weight-lifting
  • Yoga

Eat Well

Staying hydrated and eating a well-balanced diet is a great way to stay mentally sharp, boost your energy, and live a healthy lifestyle. Avoid added sugars, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, and caffeine, and consider food with magnesium, protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and dietary fiber:

  • Apples
  • Avocados
  • Bananas
  • Beans and lentils
  • Berries
  • Broccoli
  • Carrots
  • Cauliflower
  • Chia and flax seeds
  • Citrus fruits
  • Dark Chocolate
  • Fatty fish like anchovies, herring, mackerel, and sardines
  • Fortified cereal
  • Green beans
  • Leafy greens like spinach
  • Matcha
  • Oatmeal
  • Pears
  • Plain yogurt
  • Radishes
  • Sauerkraut

Get Good Sleep

A good night’s sleep can go a long way! Regular sleep helps to maintain your physical and mental health, including your mood, cortisol levels, and ability to focus. Having stress can cause a vicious cycle with sleep; you need to sleep to feel less stressed, but stress may keep you awake from getting adequate rest at night. If you’re struggling with creating a healthy routine to sleep well at night, follow these sleep tips.

Find Community

It’s important to find and continue companionship as you age so you’ll always have a network of people you can rely on when you’re stressed. Even if your stressors are keeping you down, you need to continue to stay social and make time to enjoy other people. You need to have someone you can lean on when things get tough and help you walk through it, even if that means joining a support group or seeking counsel from a professional like a therapist or spiritual leader.

Care for a Pet or Plant

You can experience joy and companionship at home by caring for a pet! Our furry, scaly, and feathery friends can help us to be more active and less lonely, channeling our bodies to release endorphins and stay healthy. You could also consider caring for a plant if that’s more your speed! Whether it’s a small houseplant or a grand garden, caring for plants is a great hobby that can also produce tasty food and better air quality.

Engage in an Activity

Keep your mind sharp as you age to improve your memory with problem-solving activities like puzzles and trivia. You can also problem-solve, emotionally regulate, and express yourself by engaging in creativity, such as painting, music, and writing. You can hit two birds with one stone by joining a class or club to meet other people and explore your talents, anything to take your mind off stress and fulfill your interests. Even having a job or occupation, like volunteering, is a great way to have a sense of purpose that drives you toward something positive.

Relax and Reflect

While it’s great to keep yourself busy with other fulfilling things to do, it’s also important to practice mindfulness and avoid overstimulation. Practice relaxation and reflection by:

  • Connecting with nature and enjoying the water
  • Engaging in meditation
  • Getting a massage
  • Journaling your thoughts and feelings
  • Logging off of social media

Looking for ways to live a healthy lifestyle? Check out our free ebook, Living and Aging the Way You Want!

At Life Enriching Communities (LEC), we’re committed to ensuring patrons feel well-equipped to plan their future and age how they wish. Explore more resources on senior living or contact us today to learn more about our legacy of services and programs that bring meaning and purpose to every stage of life.