Healthy Heart Tip: Keeping stress in check

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: Keeping Stress in check

We’re coming up to a busy time of year, and if you find the lead-up to Christmas a little overwhelming, you are not alone. Stress is very personal and experienced differently by everyone.

The key is to recognise when you are feeling stressed and put things in place to reduce it before it gets too much.

There are many things you can do to manage stress and build resilience, so you cope better next time you find yourself feeling overburdened or in a stressful situation. Stress is linked to heart health because when we are feeling stressed, we can adopt unhealthy lifestyle habits which contribute to the development of heart diseases.

Here are three things to consider building into your routine to help keep stress at bay:

Prioritise your physical health

Getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet, and ensuring we are physically active can help us deal with stress better and increase our resilience.

Research has shown that when we are sleep deprived, we report higher levels of stress, so ensuring you get seven to nine hours of sleep a night is essential.

These things can seem out of reach in the midst of stress, however, they can make a big impact so start small, making little, sustainable changes.

Spend time in nature

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that spending time in nature can reduce our perceived stress levels and increase our overall wellbeing.

Similarly, bringing nature indoors can help you feel less stressed, so think about getting some houseplants to take care of.

You can tick two things off your stress-buster list by taking part in some movement in a green space, such as going for a jog or brisk walk in your local park.

Get creative

Spending time doing activities you enjoy can give you a much-needed break from daily life, and doing something creative that requires your concentration can give your mind some quiet time.

Think about starting a new hobby such as pottery, knitting or even block printing. We have recently partnered with the Indian Block Printing Co. to create a block printing tea towel kit which would be a great first crafty project to start with.