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Reduce Your Stress

The WOMAN Challenge Newsletter
July 1, 2008

That's right—mental health has as much to do with women's well-being as physical activity. Stress, anxiety, irritability, and unhappiness affect each of us at different periods throughout of lives. While a part of normal life, stress has very real physical affects on the body and can be a sign of serious illness—take time to evaluate how your feel inside and out!.

In this issue...

• WOMAN Challenge Tips
  
  
• Reduce and Relieve Your Stress – 18 and Older
  • Tips to relieve stress
  • Conditions stress can trigger
  • Stress reducing resources
    
    
• Stressed Out? – 17 and Younger
  • Tips for dealing with stress
  • Stress reducing resources

WOMAN Challenge Tips

• Thank you for participating in the WOMAN Challenge 2008! Be proud of yourself! You've done a wonderful thing for your health by committing to an active lifestyle these past seven weeks! Keep it up!
  
  Don't Forget! The WOMAN Challenge ends on July 5, 2008. To be eligible to recieve a certificate of completion, you must log all Challenge activity by July 12, 2008 at midnight (EST) and have earned 16 points.

Do you want to continue tracking your activities online after the WOMAN Challenge ends?

• We've listened to your feedback, and this year we are proud to announce a brand new program to help you stay active all year long: The WOMAN Activity Tracker! The WOMAN Activity Tracker will begin on July 6, 2008 (the day after the WOMAN Challenge ends). And the best part? 2008 WOMAN Challenge participants do not need to re-register for the WOMAN Activity Tracker! You can use your same log-in information for the new program.

Reduce and Relieve Your Stress – 18 and Older

Tips to relieve stress

• Be physically active
• Eat regular, healthy meals
• Laugh (especially at yourself)!
• Have fun with friends
• Confide in someone you trust - you don't have to go it alone!
• Make time to relax
• Get a full 8 hours of sleep each night
• Keep a journal
• Organize your daily tasks
• Learn healthy ways to deal with anger
• Ask for help
• Talk to your health care provider

Conditions stress can trigger

• Headaches
• Heart problems
• Stomach and bowel disorders
• Higher risk of asthma and arthritis flare-ups
• Skin problems, such as hives
• Heart problems
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Less sexual desire
• Difficulty becoming pregnant

Stress reducing resources

• Women's Mental Health – Here you will find information about mental health issues that affect women and links to the best organizations and publications on mental health.
• Stress and Your Health – What is stress? What are the signs of stress? Find out how stress affects your body and ways to cope.
• Caregiver Stress – Are you a caregiver? This information is specific to caregivers to help reduce stress.
• Assess Your Stress – Take this quick, simple quiz to help you better understand your stress.
• Managing Stress – This tutorial will teach you what stress is, why it is risky to your health, the symptoms and causes of stress, and how to prevent and manage it.
• Stress and Pregnancy – What you need to know and what you can do to prevent and reduce stress during pregnancy.

Stressed Out? – 17 and Younger

Stress is what you feel when you react to pressure from others or from yourself. Pressure can come from anywhere, including school, work, activities, friends, and family members. You can also feel stress from the pressure of wanting to get good grades or wanting to feel like you belong. Stress comes in many forms and everyone feels stress.

Tips for dealing with stress

• Put your body in motion – Physical activity is one of the most important ways to keep stress away by clearing your head and lifting your spirits!
• Fuel up – Eating regular, healthy meals (this means no skipping breakfast) and taking time to enjoy them will make you feel better (nope, eating in the car on the way to practice doesn't count).
• Laugh out loud – Did you know that it takes 15 facial muscles to laugh? Lots of laughing can make you feel good. Everyone has those days when they do something really silly or stupid—instead of getting upset with yourself, laugh out loud! No one's perfect! Life should be about having fun. So, lighten up!
• Have fun with friends – Being with people you like is always a good way to ditch your stress. Friends can help you work through your problems and let you see the brighter side of things.
• Talk to someone you trust – Instead of keeping your feelings bottled up inside, talk to someone you trust or respect about what's bothering you. Just remember, you don't have to go at it alone!
• Take time to chill – Pick a comfy spot to sit and read, daydream, or even take a snooze. Listen to your favorite music. Work on a relaxing project like putting together a puzzle or making jewelry.
• Catch some zzz’s – Fatigue is a best friend to stress. When you don't get enough sleep, it's hard to deal—you may feel tired, cranky, or you may have trouble thinking clearly.
• Keep a journal – If you're having one of those crazy days when nothing goes right, it's a good idea to write things down in a journal to get it off your chest—like how you feel, what's going on in your life, and things you'd like to accomplish. Check out the Resources section for a neat tool to create your own journal!
• Get it together – Too much to do but not enough time? Forgot your homework? Feeling overwhelmed or forgetful? Making time to prepare for school, practice, or other activities can make for a less stressful day!
• Lend a hand – Get involved in an activity that helps others. It's almost impossible to feel stressed out when you're helping someone else. It's also a great way to find out about yourself and the special talents you never knew you had!
• Learn ways to better deal with anger – It is totally normal to be angry sometimes. The important thing is to deal with your anger in a healthy way. It will help to cool down first and then focus on positive solutions to problems.

Stress reducing resources

• Handling Stress – Find out how your body handles stress, its causes, and how you can handle it.
• Create a Journal – All the tools you need to start your own daily journal.
• Stress-O-Meter – To find out how much you are stressed out, try this quiz!
• Create a Personal Stress Management Guide – Create a stress relief plan that will work for YOU! All of these ideas can help lower your stress without doing any harm.

Content last updated July 1, 2008.