July 25, 2025 • 19 mins
Feeling overwhelmed? You're not alone. Stress has become our constant companion, but it doesn't have to control your life. Drawing from the respected research of the Mayo Clinic, John and Greg dive into evidence-based approaches to stress management that actually work.
The body-mind connection is powerful, and physical activity stands as perhaps the most effective stress reliever available to us. Even simple movements—walking, biking, or housework—trigger endorphin release that can transform your mental state. What you eat matters too. We break down the Mayo Clinic's nutritional guidance for stress management, emphasizing whole foods that nourish both body and mind while identifying which substances to avoid that secretly amplify your stress levels.
Sleep quality directly impacts your ability to handle stress, yet it's often the first thing sacrificed during busy periods. We explore practical techniques for creating the optimal sleep environment and share the notepad trick used by Paul McCartney that could revolutionize your bedtime routine. Beyond physical approaches, mindfulness practices offer powerful tools for mental clarity. From meditation to yoga to journaling, these accessible techniques require minimal time investment for maximum stress-reduction benefits.
Perhaps most importantly, we discuss when self-help isn't enough. The Mayo Clinic emphasizes that seeking professional support signals strength, not weakness. The benefits of stress management extend far beyond momentary relief—enhanced productivity, improved mental health, and increased resilience create a foundation for navigating life's inevitable challenges. Whether you're facing temporary pressure or chronic stress, these science-backed techniques provide a pathway to greater calm and balance in your life. Try one today and feel the difference for yourself.
What stress management technique will you implement first? Connect with us at wando75.jw@gmail.com or gpowell374@gmail.com to share your experience or suggest future topics. Your journey toward stress resilience starts now.
Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, hello and welcome to our podcast, success
Secrets and Stories.
I'm your host, john Wondoloski,and I'm here with my co-host
and friend, greg Powell.
Greg hey, everybody.
And when we put together thispodcast we wanted to put out a
helping hand and help that nextgeneration and help answer the
(00:35):
question of what does it mean tobe a leader?
Today we want to talk about asubject that I think supports
that concept.
So this podcast is kind of aninteresting subject.
It's from the Mayo Clinic staffStress getting to you.
Try some of these tips forstress relief and they start off
(00:58):
with is stress making you angryor grouchy?
Stress relievers can help bringback the calm and the peace in
your busy life.
You don't have to put a lot oftime or thought into stress
relievers.
If your stress is getting outof control, you need some quick
relief.
Try one of these tips and whatI liked about it is it's coming
(01:20):
from the Mayo Clinic.
It is an opinion.
These are pretty good medicalpeople that understand the
mechanics that are associatedwith stress relief and I give a
lot more credence to anorganization like Mayo Clinic.
So the first one be active.
Get active.
Almost any form of physicalactivity.
(01:48):
I get tickedver.
Even if you're not an athleteand you're out of shape,
exercise can still be a greatstress reliever.
Physical activity can pump upyour feelings, your endorphins
and other natural chemicals toboost your sense of well-being.
It can also refocus your mindand your body movements.
(02:11):
This refocus can improve yourmood and can help you in terms
of letting those irritationsfade away.
Irritations fade away.
So go beyond just taking a walk, taking a jog, walking through
your garden, cleaning your house.
(02:37):
Do things like bike or swim orweight train or vacuum or
anything else to get you up andget you active.
That's the key.
The next point that they broughtup was eat a healthy diet.
I always loved this subject.
Now the Mayo Clinic made itvery simple.
They didn't want to get intothe details.
Eat a healthy diet is animportant part of taking care of
yourself to eat as many fruits,vegetables and whole grains as
(02:59):
possible.
So when I read this, it's like,well, what does that mean?
Because that's one of the linesI keep on getting.
So there's a littleself-conscious piece of what
does it mean to eat a healthydiet?
And they went through some ofthe details and I'm just going
to go over the subjects.
Obviously, eating more fruitsand vegetables is really the key
.
You were talking about eatingfive portions in one of these
(03:23):
health descriptions of fruitsand vegetables every day.
I don't eat five times a day,but their point was that there's
minerals and there's fiber andthere's vitamins that you can
get from fruits and vegetablesthat you can't get from other
sources, and that's really theidea of the whole list here.
And then they have whole grainsin terms of things like brown
(03:45):
rice or whole wheat bread orwhatever else that you can find
a fiber in a grain product.
Next one is lean proteins,being it fish, poultry, beans,
nuts, eggs, whatever you can getfor lean proteins and like
anything else, all these thingsare in moderation they talk
(04:06):
about.
The next subject is dairy anddairy alternatives, so they're
talking about milk or yogurt orcheese not cheesecake, but
cheese.
All those things are kind ofthe key of a healthy diet.
So their number six waslimiting unhealthy components
such as saturated fats,obviously, sugars and salt.
(04:28):
The last point that theybrought up was hydration and
drinking enough water, and Ihave seen a lot of answers to
people who have literallydrowned themselves by drinking
too much water but having a lotmore, because a lot of us are
dealing with a minimum ofvitamin D and water.
Those are like the two thingsthat you'll always hear that
(04:49):
you'd have to do more, andhydration is one of the keys.
So we're talking about avoidingunhealthy habits is the next
subject from the article.
Some people may deal with stress, with unhealthy habits such as
drinking too much caffeine oralcohol or smoking or illegal
(05:10):
substances.
All these things can harm youin terms of trying to manage the
stress level and exercise andbeing active and being social,
making good choices, and I cantell you that anything that
usually is coming from fast foodis not a great choice.
(05:32):
You have to be very careful inwhat you're picking.
The other elements ofpainkillers and alcohol and
smoking are all those thingsthat we have found people that
overdo.
I'm not a fan of smoking period, but trying to find a ways of
handling pain can't be found ina bottle.
(05:52):
It is.
It has to be something that youhave to work on and nine times
out of 10, it's the inactivitythat you're chasing.
Craig, why don't you take thenext one?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
All right, john.
So there's seven harmful habitsfolks could have pretty much at
any age, right?
The first one is smoking.
I'll talk a little bit aboutthat.
I'm not a big fan of smokingeither.
Had some people in my familythat had lung cancer because
they smoked and passed awayExcessive alcohol consumption
John mentioned earlier.
(06:27):
I believe everything inmoderation right.
It's a good rule to live byOverdependence on painkillers.
We know people have to havepainkillers for surgical
procedures and that, but don'tget hooked on those painkillers.
Making unhealthy choices reallycontributes to obesity,
diabetes.
It may taste good at the time,it may seem like the right thing
(06:47):
to do and they discount it.
And a lot of cheese andbarbecue sauce, but it's of
cheese and barbecue sauce, butit's not always a good choice.
It's rarely a good choice.
Leading a sedentary life itmeans not sitting in the chair
all the time.
Get up, walk around, see people, not being social.
Don't become a hermit.
You've got neighbors or friendsor family.
Keep in touch.
(07:07):
You reach out.
Don't just wait for them toreach out.
Poor sleeping habits Think aboutyour sleep and think about it
seriously.
What can you do, whether it'sthe bedroom, a noise machine.
Don't eat right before you goto bed.
But what are the things thatcan help you get more
comfortable and relaxing sleep?
Meditate.
And even I've got like JohnYounger, I guess older kids now
(07:30):
that are adults and doing theirown thing, and our parents as
well.
They still talk aboutmeditating.
During meditation, you focusyour attention and quiet the
stream of jumbled thoughts thatmight be crowding your mind and
causing you stress, and my dadused to say stress will kill you
.
So if you can prevent somestress, do so.
So if you can prevent somestress, do so.
Meditation can give you a senseof calm, a sense of peace and
(07:51):
balance that can help both youremotional well-being as well as
your overall health.
Meditation can empower us toenhance our well-being.
You can practice guidedmeditation, guided imagery,
mindfulness, visualization andother forms of meditation
wherever, pretty much at anytime, and, for example, you
could meditate when you're outfor a walk, riding the bus,
(08:14):
riding your bike, going to work,waiting for your healthcare
provider's office.
You know how they make you sit,sometimes for a little bit
right Good time to meditate.
Try a nap to show you how to dothe exercises, and you can try
deep breathing pretty muchanywhere.
Think about prayer, and nomatter what faith you have.
It can be unshakable, it can bevery serene for you, it can put
(08:37):
you in a really good place andyou think about the different
religions around the world.
There's enough options therefor you to think about Laugh
more.
This is a good one, because Ilaugh a lot and my kids do and
my wife does and John does.
You know right, you know a goodsense of humor can't lot and my
kids do and my wife does andJohn does.
Yep, you know right.
You know a good sense of humorcan't cure all ailments, but it
can help you feel better, Evenif you have to force yourself to
(08:58):
fake laugh through your overallgrumpiness.
When you laugh, it lightens upyour mental load.
It also causes positivephysical changes in your body.
Believe that Laughter fires upand then cools down your stress
response.
So read some jokes, tell somejokes, watch a comedy or hang
out with your funny friends, butgive laughter and yoga a try.
So, John, let's talk aboutconnecting with others.
(09:22):
When you're stressed andirritable, you may want to
isolate yourself, but insteadreach out to family and friends
and make some social connections.
But instead reach out to familyand friends and make some
social connections.
Even one good friend wholistens can make a huge
difference.
Social contact is a good stressreliever because it can offer
distraction, it can give yousupport, it can help you put up
with life's ups and downs.
(09:43):
So take a coffee break or forme, I take a tea break.
Take that with a friend.
Email a relative, Send them atext right.
Or visit your place of worship.
Got more time.
Try volunteering for a charityand help yourself while helping
others that need it.
You might also want to do itall, but you can't, at least not
without paying a huge price.
(10:03):
Learning to say no or beingwilling to delegate can help you
manage your to-do list and yourstress.
Healthy boundaries areimportant in a wellness journey.
Everyone has physical andemotional limits.
Saying yes may seem like aneasy way to keep the peace,
prevent conflicts and keep thejob done right, but instead it
(10:26):
may cause you inner conflictbecause your needs and those of
your family come second.
Putting yourself second canlead to stress, anger,
resentment and even the wish totake revenge, and that's not a
very calm and peaceful reaction.
Remember you're the priority,yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
The next one they came up with is try yoga, and I
don't know if you've tried yogaI have, and it actually is
beneficial.
It's try yoga and I don't knowif you've tried yoga, I have and
it actually is beneficial.
With a series of postures andbreathing exercises, yoga is a
popular stress reliever.
Yoga brings together thephysical and the mental
(11:06):
disciplines that may help youreach the peace of body and mind
.
Yoga can help you relax andease stress and anxiety.
Try yoga on your own or find aclass.
You can find a class in manyareas.
They have different types ofyoga.
It is a great stress relieverbecause it is a slower pace and
easier movement.
(11:30):
Next is get enough sleep.
Stress can cause you to havetrouble falling asleep.
When you have too much stress,you have too much to think about
, too much to do.
Your sleep can suffer.
But sleep is the time that youhave for your brain and your
body to recharge.
Most adults they talk aboutneed seven to nine.
No, you don't have to have theminimum of seven, but if you're
(11:56):
in the two to three to four tofive discussion, you're going to
be paying a price for that andit's probably going to show up
on a Friday faster than it'sgoing to show up on a Monday.
They go on in terms of how welland how long you sleep can
affect your mood, your energylevel, your focus and overall
(12:17):
functioning.
If you have sleep troubles,make sure that you have a quiet,
relaxing bedtime routine.
For example, listen to soothingmusic.
On that note, I found musicwith no words helps the sleeping
process.
Words sometimes keeps you awake.
Make sure that the area thatyou are sleeping in is cool,
(12:41):
dark and quiet.
Put phones and tablets away andstick to a regular schedule.
There was a study where theytalked about how tablets or
computers, especially like 20minutes, 30 minutes before
you're supposed to be going tosleep just is too hard to try to
purge.
You need more time than that toat least create a barrier
(13:04):
between your ability to sleep.
So that was one of theinteresting ads I'd like to
throw through to the discussion.
The next one was keeping ajournal.
Was keeping a journal To writedown your thoughts and feelings
can be a good release for anotherwise pent-up feelings?
(13:24):
Don't think about what you'rewriting, just let it happen.
Write with whatever comes tomind.
No one needs to read it.
So don't aim for perfectgrammar or spelling.
Let your thoughts flow on paperor on a computer screen, and
once you're done, you can tossit to the side.
(13:44):
Yeah, greg.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
So, John, I don't keep a journal.
I mentioned once I went toChina to visit my son and I kept
a pretty copious journal.
I look back at it every once ina while.
But what I do?
I write poems.
I write poems mostly aboutfamily situations, whether it
was my grandson being born,whatever, and I go back to them
and they put me in a really goodplace because of how I was
(14:06):
feeling at the time.
I wrote them and I've writtenquite a few of them.
So that's maybe my version of ajournal, John.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Nice and I think for me.
I found the journal helpful.
When I was doing, when I wasunder a lot of stress and I was
forgetting points, I had a padof paper and a pencil by my
nightstand.
I would turn on a nightstand, Iwould put the thought on paper
and I could go back to sleepBecause I had that.
I want to get back to it.
I need to remember this andwhen I found out that I could
(14:39):
just use the paper and thepencil to be honest, when I got
the information it was from acomment that Paul McCartney did
that and Let it Be was one ofthose songs that, in a dream,
his mother told him let it be,and he wrote down the words and
went back to sleep and slept onthe concept of his mom speaking
to him.
So it's a powerful tool in termsof stress management, of
(15:02):
keeping a journal, the differentways for you to do a poem.
For Paul McCartney, it was toremember a song lyric that he
wanted to try to use in thefuture.
For me, a project, you know,loose end that needed to get
followed up on and I had somehowmissed it and I wanted to make
sure it was going to beaddressed the next day.
(15:23):
All these things in terms ofstress.
If you can get it out of yourmind, you can get back to
resting.
That's the key.
Greg, why don't you take us tothe next point?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So you spoke about it briefly, john.
But get musical and be creative.
Listening to or playing musicis a good stress reliever.
Yeah, years ago I used to playdrums in high school and a
little bit afterwards.
I've been playing guitar morerecently and I know John likes
more instrumental kind of musicand I like all kinds of music.
But we have the mutual love forsoft jazz, new age jazz, smooth
(15:57):
jazz, which can really put yourhead in a really great place.
It can provide a mentaldistraction, lessen muscle
tension and lower your stresshormones.
If you turn up the volume youcan let your mind be absorbed
totally by the music.
It puts you in a wholedifferent space, a whole
different world, verycomfortable, very peaceful world
.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
For my kids.
They hear jazz and theyremember all the times in the
car listening to jazz and itjust drives them nuts.
So it can have an oppositeeffect.
So you might want to just dothis for yourself in terms of
stress management Pull out yourAirPods for this Exactly.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
So if music isn't one of your interests, turn your
attention to another hobby thatyou enjoy.
For example, some people likegardening, sewing, reading,
sketching I mean painting or tryanything that makes you focus
on what you think you'd ratherbe doing than what you think you
should be doing.
Give your mind that break andthen seeking counseling If new
(16:55):
stressors are making it hard foryou to cope or if self-care
measures aren't relieving yourstress, you may want to go to
that next step and that's thinkabout therapy or counseling.
Nothing wrong with that.
For some people, a lot ofpeople, it's the right way to go
.
Therapy could also be a goodidea if you feel overwhelmed or
just plain trapped.
You know you need help gettingout of that trapped feeling.
You also might think abouttherapy if you worry a lot or if
(17:19):
you have trouble carrying outdaily routines or meeting duties
at work, home or school.
Counseling can be extremelyhelpful.
Professional counselors ortherapists can help you find the
source of your stress and thengive you some kind of new coping
tools.
Okay, and there's benefits tothe stress management programs.
One enhanced productivity, noquestion.
(17:42):
You reduce stress and thatenergy you're burning negatively
can help you do somethingpositively, move things forward,
improve mental health yes,you're going to get some balance
If you get rid of stress.
Overall, your head's going tofeel good and your attitude
toward things is going to bemuch more positive.
And then increase resilience.
Because one thing we all knowabout sometimes you get knocked
(18:02):
down, you got to get back upagain and you reduce that stress
, you have the better ability tobe resilient to bounce back up
and take on the next challenge.
John.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
So I found this article.
We've talked about stressbefore, but from the Mayo
Clinic's point of view, they'revery specific in terms of the
medical science that'sassociated with the different
options that are available, thekind of things that have worked
and their recommendations totheir patients.
(18:34):
I think that's an importantelement that sometimes, when you
look at it just from a businessperspective, you lose the human
perspective.
So I hope that this articlehelped.
I hope this podcast helped and,if you like what you've heard,
you're going to learn a littlebit more about leadership in my
(18:57):
book called Building yourLeadership Toolbox.
It's available on Amazon andBarnes Noble.
Our podcast, success Secretsand Stories, is available on
what you're listening to, thankyou.
It's also available on Appleand Google and Spotify.
A lot of what Greg and I talkabout is the MBR program by Dr
Durst, and you can find more outabout that on
(19:18):
successgrowthacademycom.
If you want to contact us, myemail address is guando75.jw at
gmailcom, and Greg.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
I can be reached at gpowell374 at gmailcom.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
And the music has been brought to you by my
grandson.
So we want to hear from you.
Give us a ring, drop us a line.
We would appreciate it, becauseit's your input that helps us
decide what we want to deal withon our program.
Well, greg, thanks.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Thanks, john, as always.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Next time yeah.
Well, hello and welcome to our podcast, success
Secrets and Stories.
I'm your host, john Wondoloski,and I'm here with my co-host
and friend, greg Powell.
Greg hey, everybody.
And when we put together thispodcast we wanted to put out a
helping hand and help that nextgeneration and help answer the
(00:35):
question of what does it mean tobe a leader?
Today we want to talk about asubject that I think supports
that concept.
So this podcast is kind of aninteresting subject.
It's from the Mayo Clinic staffStress getting to you.
Try some of these tips forstress relief and they start off
(00:58):
with is stress making you angryor grouchy?
Stress relievers can help bringback the calm and the peace in
your busy life.
You don't have to put a lot oftime or thought into stress
relievers.
If your stress is getting outof control, you need some quick
relief.
Try one of these tips and whatI liked about it is it's coming
(01:20):
from the Mayo Clinic.
It is an opinion.
These are pretty good medicalpeople that understand the
mechanics that are associatedwith stress relief and I give a
lot more credence to anorganization like Mayo Clinic.
So the first one be active.
Get active.
Almost any form of physicalactivity.
(01:48):
I get tickedver.
Even if you're not an athleteand you're out of shape,
exercise can still be a greatstress reliever.
Physical activity can pump upyour feelings, your endorphins
and other natural chemicals toboost your sense of well-being.
It can also refocus your mindand your body movements.
(02:11):
This refocus can improve yourmood and can help you in terms
of letting those irritationsfade away.
Irritations fade away.
So go beyond just taking a walk, taking a jog, walking through
your garden, cleaning your house.
(02:37):
Do things like bike or swim orweight train or vacuum or
anything else to get you up andget you active.
That's the key.
The next point that they broughtup was eat a healthy diet.
I always loved this subject.
Now the Mayo Clinic made itvery simple.
They didn't want to get intothe details.
Eat a healthy diet is animportant part of taking care of
yourself to eat as many fruits,vegetables and whole grains as
(02:59):
possible.
So when I read this, it's like,well, what does that mean?
Because that's one of the linesI keep on getting.
So there's a littleself-conscious piece of what
does it mean to eat a healthydiet?
And they went through some ofthe details and I'm just going
to go over the subjects.
Obviously, eating more fruitsand vegetables is really the key
.
You were talking about eatingfive portions in one of these
(03:23):
health descriptions of fruitsand vegetables every day.
I don't eat five times a day,but their point was that there's
minerals and there's fiber andthere's vitamins that you can
get from fruits and vegetablesthat you can't get from other
sources, and that's really theidea of the whole list here.
And then they have whole grainsin terms of things like brown
(03:45):
rice or whole wheat bread orwhatever else that you can find
a fiber in a grain product.
Next one is lean proteins,being it fish, poultry, beans,
nuts, eggs, whatever you can getfor lean proteins and like
anything else, all these thingsare in moderation they talk
(04:06):
about.
The next subject is dairy anddairy alternatives, so they're
talking about milk or yogurt orcheese not cheesecake, but
cheese.
All those things are kind ofthe key of a healthy diet.
So their number six waslimiting unhealthy components
such as saturated fats,obviously, sugars and salt.
(04:28):
The last point that theybrought up was hydration and
drinking enough water, and Ihave seen a lot of answers to
people who have literallydrowned themselves by drinking
too much water but having a lotmore, because a lot of us are
dealing with a minimum ofvitamin D and water.
Those are like the two thingsthat you'll always hear that
(04:49):
you'd have to do more, andhydration is one of the keys.
So we're talking about avoidingunhealthy habits is the next
subject from the article.
Some people may deal with stress, with unhealthy habits such as
drinking too much caffeine oralcohol or smoking or illegal
(05:10):
substances.
All these things can harm youin terms of trying to manage the
stress level and exercise andbeing active and being social,
making good choices, and I cantell you that anything that
usually is coming from fast foodis not a great choice.
(05:32):
You have to be very careful inwhat you're picking.
The other elements ofpainkillers and alcohol and
smoking are all those thingsthat we have found people that
overdo.
I'm not a fan of smoking period, but trying to find a ways of
handling pain can't be found ina bottle.
(05:52):
It is.
It has to be something that youhave to work on and nine times
out of 10, it's the inactivitythat you're chasing.
Craig, why don't you take thenext one?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
All right, john.
So there's seven harmful habitsfolks could have pretty much at
any age, right?
The first one is smoking.
I'll talk a little bit aboutthat.
I'm not a big fan of smokingeither.
Had some people in my familythat had lung cancer because
they smoked and passed awayExcessive alcohol consumption
John mentioned earlier.
(06:27):
I believe everything inmoderation right.
It's a good rule to live byOverdependence on painkillers.
We know people have to havepainkillers for surgical
procedures and that, but don'tget hooked on those painkillers.
Making unhealthy choices reallycontributes to obesity,
diabetes.
It may taste good at the time,it may seem like the right thing
(06:47):
to do and they discount it.
And a lot of cheese andbarbecue sauce, but it's of
cheese and barbecue sauce, butit's not always a good choice.
It's rarely a good choice.
Leading a sedentary life itmeans not sitting in the chair
all the time.
Get up, walk around, see people, not being social.
Don't become a hermit.
You've got neighbors or friendsor family.
Keep in touch.
(07:07):
You reach out.
Don't just wait for them toreach out.
Poor sleeping habits Think aboutyour sleep and think about it
seriously.
What can you do, whether it'sthe bedroom, a noise machine.
Don't eat right before you goto bed.
But what are the things thatcan help you get more
comfortable and relaxing sleep?
Meditate.
And even I've got like JohnYounger, I guess older kids now
(07:30):
that are adults and doing theirown thing, and our parents as
well.
They still talk aboutmeditating.
During meditation, you focusyour attention and quiet the
stream of jumbled thoughts thatmight be crowding your mind and
causing you stress, and my dadused to say stress will kill you
.
So if you can prevent somestress, do so.
So if you can prevent somestress, do so.
Meditation can give you a senseof calm, a sense of peace and
(07:51):
balance that can help both youremotional well-being as well as
your overall health.
Meditation can empower us toenhance our well-being.
You can practice guidedmeditation, guided imagery,
mindfulness, visualization andother forms of meditation
wherever, pretty much at anytime, and, for example, you
could meditate when you're outfor a walk, riding the bus,
(08:14):
riding your bike, going to work,waiting for your healthcare
provider's office.
You know how they make you sit,sometimes for a little bit
right Good time to meditate.
Try a nap to show you how to dothe exercises, and you can try
deep breathing pretty muchanywhere.
Think about prayer, and nomatter what faith you have.
It can be unshakable, it can bevery serene for you, it can put
(08:37):
you in a really good place andyou think about the different
religions around the world.
There's enough options therefor you to think about Laugh
more.
This is a good one, because Ilaugh a lot and my kids do and
my wife does and John does.
You know right, you know a goodsense of humor can't lot and my
kids do and my wife does andJohn does.
Yep, you know right.
You know a good sense of humorcan't cure all ailments, but it
can help you feel better, Evenif you have to force yourself to
(08:58):
fake laugh through your overallgrumpiness.
When you laugh, it lightens upyour mental load.
It also causes positivephysical changes in your body.
Believe that Laughter fires upand then cools down your stress
response.
So read some jokes, tell somejokes, watch a comedy or hang
out with your funny friends, butgive laughter and yoga a try.
So, John, let's talk aboutconnecting with others.
(09:22):
When you're stressed andirritable, you may want to
isolate yourself, but insteadreach out to family and friends
and make some social connections.
But instead reach out to familyand friends and make some
social connections.
Even one good friend wholistens can make a huge
difference.
Social contact is a good stressreliever because it can offer
distraction, it can give yousupport, it can help you put up
with life's ups and downs.
(09:43):
So take a coffee break or forme, I take a tea break.
Take that with a friend.
Email a relative, Send them atext right.
Or visit your place of worship.
Got more time.
Try volunteering for a charityand help yourself while helping
others that need it.
You might also want to do itall, but you can't, at least not
without paying a huge price.
(10:03):
Learning to say no or beingwilling to delegate can help you
manage your to-do list and yourstress.
Healthy boundaries areimportant in a wellness journey.
Everyone has physical andemotional limits.
Saying yes may seem like aneasy way to keep the peace,
prevent conflicts and keep thejob done right, but instead it
(10:26):
may cause you inner conflictbecause your needs and those of
your family come second.
Putting yourself second canlead to stress, anger,
resentment and even the wish totake revenge, and that's not a
very calm and peaceful reaction.
Remember you're the priority,yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
The next one they came up with is try yoga, and I
don't know if you've tried yogaI have, and it actually is
beneficial.
It's try yoga and I don't knowif you've tried yoga, I have and
it actually is beneficial.
With a series of postures andbreathing exercises, yoga is a
popular stress reliever.
Yoga brings together thephysical and the mental
(11:06):
disciplines that may help youreach the peace of body and mind
.
Yoga can help you relax andease stress and anxiety.
Try yoga on your own or find aclass.
You can find a class in manyareas.
They have different types ofyoga.
It is a great stress relieverbecause it is a slower pace and
easier movement.
(11:30):
Next is get enough sleep.
Stress can cause you to havetrouble falling asleep.
When you have too much stress,you have too much to think about
, too much to do.
Your sleep can suffer.
But sleep is the time that youhave for your brain and your
body to recharge.
Most adults they talk aboutneed seven to nine.
No, you don't have to have theminimum of seven, but if you're
(11:56):
in the two to three to four tofive discussion, you're going to
be paying a price for that andit's probably going to show up
on a Friday faster than it'sgoing to show up on a Monday.
They go on in terms of how welland how long you sleep can
affect your mood, your energylevel, your focus and overall
(12:17):
functioning.
If you have sleep troubles,make sure that you have a quiet,
relaxing bedtime routine.
For example, listen to soothingmusic.
On that note, I found musicwith no words helps the sleeping
process.
Words sometimes keeps you awake.
Make sure that the area thatyou are sleeping in is cool,
(12:41):
dark and quiet.
Put phones and tablets away andstick to a regular schedule.
There was a study where theytalked about how tablets or
computers, especially like 20minutes, 30 minutes before
you're supposed to be going tosleep just is too hard to try to
purge.
You need more time than that toat least create a barrier
(13:04):
between your ability to sleep.
So that was one of theinteresting ads I'd like to
throw through to the discussion.
The next one was keeping ajournal.
Was keeping a journal To writedown your thoughts and feelings
can be a good release for anotherwise pent-up feelings?
(13:24):
Don't think about what you'rewriting, just let it happen.
Write with whatever comes tomind.
No one needs to read it.
So don't aim for perfectgrammar or spelling.
Let your thoughts flow on paperor on a computer screen, and
once you're done, you can tossit to the side.
(13:44):
Yeah, greg.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
So, John, I don't keep a journal.
I mentioned once I went toChina to visit my son and I kept
a pretty copious journal.
I look back at it every once ina while.
But what I do?
I write poems.
I write poems mostly aboutfamily situations, whether it
was my grandson being born,whatever, and I go back to them
and they put me in a really goodplace because of how I was
(14:06):
feeling at the time.
I wrote them and I've writtenquite a few of them.
So that's maybe my version of ajournal, John.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Nice and I think for me.
I found the journal helpful.
When I was doing, when I wasunder a lot of stress and I was
forgetting points, I had a padof paper and a pencil by my
nightstand.
I would turn on a nightstand, Iwould put the thought on paper
and I could go back to sleepBecause I had that.
I want to get back to it.
I need to remember this andwhen I found out that I could
(14:39):
just use the paper and thepencil to be honest, when I got
the information it was from acomment that Paul McCartney did
that and Let it Be was one ofthose songs that, in a dream,
his mother told him let it be,and he wrote down the words and
went back to sleep and slept onthe concept of his mom speaking
to him.
So it's a powerful tool in termsof stress management, of
(15:02):
keeping a journal, the differentways for you to do a poem.
For Paul McCartney, it was toremember a song lyric that he
wanted to try to use in thefuture.
For me, a project, you know,loose end that needed to get
followed up on and I had somehowmissed it and I wanted to make
sure it was going to beaddressed the next day.
(15:23):
All these things in terms ofstress.
If you can get it out of yourmind, you can get back to
resting.
That's the key.
Greg, why don't you take us tothe next point?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So you spoke about it briefly, john.
But get musical and be creative.
Listening to or playing musicis a good stress reliever.
Yeah, years ago I used to playdrums in high school and a
little bit afterwards.
I've been playing guitar morerecently and I know John likes
more instrumental kind of musicand I like all kinds of music.
But we have the mutual love forsoft jazz, new age jazz, smooth
(15:57):
jazz, which can really put yourhead in a really great place.
It can provide a mentaldistraction, lessen muscle
tension and lower your stresshormones.
If you turn up the volume youcan let your mind be absorbed
totally by the music.
It puts you in a wholedifferent space, a whole
different world, verycomfortable, very peaceful world
.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
For my kids.
They hear jazz and theyremember all the times in the
car listening to jazz and itjust drives them nuts.
So it can have an oppositeeffect.
So you might want to just dothis for yourself in terms of
stress management Pull out yourAirPods for this Exactly.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
So if music isn't one of your interests, turn your
attention to another hobby thatyou enjoy.
For example, some people likegardening, sewing, reading,
sketching I mean painting or tryanything that makes you focus
on what you think you'd ratherbe doing than what you think you
should be doing.
Give your mind that break andthen seeking counseling If new
(16:55):
stressors are making it hard foryou to cope or if self-care
measures aren't relieving yourstress, you may want to go to
that next step and that's thinkabout therapy or counseling.
Nothing wrong with that.
For some people, a lot ofpeople, it's the right way to go
.
Therapy could also be a goodidea if you feel overwhelmed or
just plain trapped.
You know you need help gettingout of that trapped feeling.
You also might think abouttherapy if you worry a lot or if
(17:19):
you have trouble carrying outdaily routines or meeting duties
at work, home or school.
Counseling can be extremelyhelpful.
Professional counselors ortherapists can help you find the
source of your stress and thengive you some kind of new coping
tools.
Okay, and there's benefits tothe stress management programs.
One enhanced productivity, noquestion.
(17:42):
You reduce stress and thatenergy you're burning negatively
can help you do somethingpositively, move things forward,
improve mental health yes,you're going to get some balance
If you get rid of stress.
Overall, your head's going tofeel good and your attitude
toward things is going to bemuch more positive.
And then increase resilience.
Because one thing we all knowabout sometimes you get knocked
(18:02):
down, you got to get back upagain and you reduce that stress
, you have the better ability tobe resilient to bounce back up
and take on the next challenge.
John.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
So I found this article.
We've talked about stressbefore, but from the Mayo
Clinic's point of view, they'revery specific in terms of the
medical science that'sassociated with the different
options that are available, thekind of things that have worked
and their recommendations totheir patients.
(18:34):
I think that's an importantelement that sometimes, when you
look at it just from a businessperspective, you lose the human
perspective.
So I hope that this articlehelped.
I hope this podcast helped and,if you like what you've heard,
you're going to learn a littlebit more about leadership in my
(18:57):
book called Building yourLeadership Toolbox.
It's available on Amazon andBarnes Noble.
Our podcast, success Secretsand Stories, is available on
what you're listening to, thankyou.
It's also available on Appleand Google and Spotify.
A lot of what Greg and I talkabout is the MBR program by Dr
Durst, and you can find more outabout that on
(19:18):
successgrowthacademycom.
If you want to contact us, myemail address is guando75.jw at
gmailcom, and Greg.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
I can be reached at gpowell374 at gmailcom.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
And the music has been brought to you by my
grandson.
So we want to hear from you.
Give us a ring, drop us a line.
We would appreciate it, becauseit's your input that helps us
decide what we want to deal withon our program.
Well, greg, thanks.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Thanks, john, as always.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Next time yeah.
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