De-Stressing Your Life

Technology doesn't seem to be making life easier, if anything it's making life more stressful. With faxes, emails, and cell phones, everyone wants things to happen now. Although it's unlikely you can get away from modern technology, you can do a couple of things to lower your stress levels.

Get Unplugged

Sure TV is great once in a while, but there are better ways to relax than watching the boob tube. Studies show that your brain activity is lower when you watch TV than when you sleep, so get off the couch and get moving. Read a book, look through a magazine or even sleeping are much better alternatives than watching TV.

Get a Friend

Social ties are important and if you have a friend whose shoulder you can cry on or who doesn't mind if you call her in the middle of the night, you'll find yourself a lot happier and less burdened. Getting your feelings off your chest do a lot to help decrease your stress levels.

Get Physical

Exercising, whether through hard-core running or death-breathing yoga, is a great way to raise your adrenaline levels and lower your stress levels at the same time.

Get a Pet

Studies show that those of us with pets, even better if it's a dog, have lower stress levels and better relationships. There's just something about having your dog greet you when you come home from work that makes it all worth the while.

Get Out

Everyone needs Vitamin D, especially during the long winter months. Taking a 20 minute walk and breathing fresh air and appreciating the beauty of nature around you is a great way to get grounded and take in the world around you.

Although you can't get away from technology of this day and age, you can make short escapes. Try one or two of the above suggestions this week and you'll see how quickly your stress disappears.

Sharon de Hinojosa (naturegirl321) has lived and worked (mainly teaching English) in the US, Scotland, Spain, the Czech Republic, China, Korea, and Peru. And taught short-term in Venezuela and Taiwan. Her work has been featured in Transitions Abroad, Viva Travel Guides, TEFL News, and ELT World.

She has created The LA Job List http://www.thelajoblist.blogspot.com which lists schools, institutes and universities in 19 Latin American countries which offer English teaching positions.

Since living in Peru since August 2006, she wrote The Ultimate Peru List http://www.theultimateperulist.blogspot.com . With 50 pages and updated monthly it's a comprehensive guide for those living in or moving to Peru.

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