School Season Stress

School season is BACK! After a relaxing, vacation filled summer, it is time to return to the busy routine of early mornings, seemingly longer days, and event filled nights. With this routine in effect, stressors can start building up quickly and take a negative toll on your health and well-being. It is not only ideal but critical to learn how to cope and handle school season stressors – they can not always be avoided but can become manageable if dealt with optimistically throughout your daily routine.

Stress can affect many aspects in your life, the main one being your health. It can raise your blood pressure and heart rate making your organs work harder during everyday function. Studies reveal that prolonged and severe stress has a direct association with heart disease, depression, and an overall decline in the immune system which can leave the body vulnerable to other harmful diseases.

Below are 4 tips to help you easily manage that school season stress.

Take Control

stressed-person-STOCK — Control and eliminate stressors in order to reduce the stress in your life.

Evaluate the personal and professional stressors in your life and work to be proactive against controllable negative triggers to try to eliminate them from daily life. You can not always avoid stressors, but by being mindful of what triggers you may encounter, you can learn to switch your perception of these triggers from negative energies to positive manageable situations.

Exercise

Exercising releases endorphins and make you feel good.

By exercising you release “happy, feel good” chemicals called endorphins that give a feeling of relaxation and wholesomeness. Try going for a walk, lifting weights, yoga or stretching. Not only are you relieving tension and stress, there are an infinite number of benefits from all types of exercise that can boost overall wellness.

Meditate

meditating-on-beach-STOCK — Meditation helps reduce stress.

Take time each day to clear your mind of all outside chaos. Sit in the quiet with no distractions, concentrating only on your breathing. Let all of the negative stressors effecting you at that moment clear out of your thoughts. After clearing your mind think positively about yourself, your feelings, and your behaviors throughout the day. Self-awareness is the path to inner peace.

Sleep!

Sleeping is our body’s rejuvenation period, a time to regenerate new healthy cells and ward off the bad ones. The less rest you get the harder it is for your body to recover from the harsh elements that we encounter every day. The amount of sleep needed for each individual varies depending on daily activity, age, and overall health but as a general guideline it is recommended to get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night to function at a quality level.

By introducing these simple steps into your (sometimes chaotic) routine you can begin to healthily manage the negative stressors that arise through the season. With practice and mindfulness you can continue to manage your stress by making these steps part of your lifestyle habits.

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About the Author

Growing up with an abundance of energy, McKenzie Stern could usually be found practicing an active lifestyle, participating in multiple sports including gymnastics, competitive cheerleading, soccer, flag football and swimming. After high school she attended Florida State College at Jacksonville and graduated from the Physical Therapist Assistant program specializing in rehab. While completing her internship for the program graduation McKenzie started working at a fitness facility as a personal trainer and fell in love.

With her rehab background she has been able to help multiple people improve their functional abilities, as well as challenge them to try things they never deemed possible – striving to take people’s weakness and transform it into their most prized strength. With a mindful approach, McKenzie’s passion is to help people become healthier and more functionally active as a lifestyle adaptation. Going on her 10th year in the fitness, health and wellness industry, she loves to work with all types of goals, including general weight loss/management, increasing functional abilities, core, balance, stability and building lean muscle.

McKenzie has been a resident of the Fort Lauderdale area for 4 years and is head fitness instructor at the Lauderdale Yacht Club. She also helps private clients throughout Eastern Fort Lauderdale. To inquire about personal training or wellness you can email McKenzie at mkz.functionalwellness@gmail.com.