Decrease stress and improve your well-being with these helpful tips.

1️⃣ Give

📚 Did you know giving support can improve your health more than receiving it? In one study, those who gave support felt a dramatic change in how they viewed themselves and life. It even improved their self-esteem, sense of control, and mood.

✔️ Volunteer, show emotional support for those in need, call a friend or loved one, give someone a compliment

2️⃣ Express gratitude

 📚There are countless studies showing that gratitude is beneficial to your happiness, so why not share it with others? Research shows that expressing gratitude not only brings happiness to both parties in the moment but also increases their happiness for months.

✔️ Write a letter, make a call, schedule a video meeting, tell those special people how they impacted your life, helped you, and made you feel

3️⃣ Forgive 

📚Those who forgive tend to feel more in control and have a greater sense of calmness and well-being. If forgiving doesn’t come naturally for you, research shows that forgiving unconditionally is more beneficial than receiving an apology. Stopping the cycle of recreating the physiological stress of the original pain can help you regain control and power over your life. 

✔️ Write about a specific event and create your definition of what forgiveness looks like, practice self-compassion for what you’ve been through, visualize how much better your life would be if you let the pain and anger go

4️⃣ Share a laugh

📚 Laughter is a great way to cope with stress and is linked to physical and mental well-being. Research shows those who use humor to deal with stressful situations have healthier immune systems, are 40% less likely to experience a heart attack or stroke, and live 4.5 years longer than those who don’t. Humor can even heal relationships and bring people closer together.

✔️ Watch a comedy show, share a joke, spend more time with friends who have a good sense of humor, have a playful perspective

5️⃣ Rest

📚 Sleep is probably one of the best things you can do to be healthier and happier that you don’t prioritize enough. Did you know that your brain function begins to fail after 16 hours of being awake? In one study, those who were sleep-deprived showed a 40% decrease in learning ability. Sleep isn’t only important for brain function but also emotional stressors and overall physical health. Your REM sleep helps you to resolve emotional and difficult experiences, and your non-REM sleep is vital to removing toxins from your body. Without sufficient sleep, everything else suffers.

✔️ Have a consistent sleep schedule, relax the mind and body before bed, stay cool at night, get some sunlight in the morning

📌What small steps are you taking towards improving your well-being and those around you?