5 Ways To Maximize Your Energy and Preserve Your Peace
Stress can and will affect your mental performance. For Black women, stress can be found in housing scarcity, food deprivation, wage-gaps, micro-aggressions, poor scheduling and diet, etc.
I can feel my chest tightening as I write this. Last year Essence and XONecole detailed the importance of stress management but as I looked at the list of common stress indicators I noticed something was missing. Energy conservation is as much spiritual as it is physical.
We often discuss matters of the heart but neglect to highlight the true steps needed to keep #SoftLife alive and well.
Here are five quick steps you can take to lighten the baggage and maintain peace during adversity:
1. 24-48 hour rule.
Create a 24 to 48 hour rule. Does this incident affect me longer than 24 hours? Is it simmering in your spirit after 48 hours? If you did not discuss it before 24 hours and it exceeds the 48 hour mark, write it down and keep it moving. Holding scenarios, interactions, feedback or anything that can be perceived as negative longer than 2 days will disrupt your mental ecosystem.
Stress directly affects your nervous system. Breakdowns in your nervous system can lead to lasting health concerns. Choose you over everything. Peace is not just a choice. It is a method in warfare. Not everything needs to be addressed.
2. Leave it all in a puddle of sweat.
The gym and, or sauna is where the enemy goes to die. Enemy = inner me ? Get it? You don’t have to. Sweat glands help our skin filter toxins out of the body, which in turn boosts our immune system. Sweating also cools our body and maintains proper body temperature. It’s a natural way of resetting ourselves from the inside out.
Frequent sauna use may protect against cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease. Sauna use also provides a means of preserving muscle mass.
Sweating detoxes our bodies while aiding in muscle recovery. "Sweating boosts circulation and helps flush out lactic acid," according to Axe. This can alleviate soreness and speed up the recovery process.
Sweat acts as a barrier for illnesses and diseases we come in contact with daily. According to Axe, “Sweat is our biological deterrent from germs.” Sweating helps release endorphins, which are the “Happy hormones” that trigger positive feelings in your body.
3. Build a mood enhancing playlist with all your favorite songs.
Nothing sets the tone for your life like sound waves crashing in your ears. The rhythm of your favorite artist singing the sound track of your life, while the aroma of candles or incense rises to your ceiling.
Have you ever seen the utter joy cascade across faces when “Knuck If You Buck” drops in the club? Or the instant excitement when any “family” themed songs play at a bar. You grabbed your friends and held them closely, swaying side to side to the beat. Music connects us. It reminds us that we are home and we are one.
According to doctors at John Hopkins Medical, listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory.
According to Healthline, music changes the brain. Listening to music triggers the release of several neurochemicals that play a role in brain function and mental health:
dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure and “reward” centers
stress hormones like cortisol
serotonin and other hormones related to immunity
oxytocin, a chemical that fosters the ability to connect to others
Listening to your favorite music has a positive effect on depression symptoms.
4. When everything fails, write.
I have chronically decided not to write when things are going wrong but that attitude keeps stress on your mind and heart and not a sheet of paper. Writing improves your functionality as a human. Writing activities produce intellectual, physiological, and emotional benefits to individuals. Writing allows us to practice and manifest a lifestyle of gratitude and peace. Writing can and will reduce stress, while helping to improve focus and attention.
Writing by hand is also shown to increase memory and retention. Writing helps increase comprehension skills. Each detail gives an additive perspective on your experiences. Writing allows you to depict your thoughts in a clear and concise manner. It gives you the authority to be your freest self.
5. Prioritize rest.
As Black women we often feel guilty resting because there’s always something that needs to be done.While we pour our souls into others at home and at work, we need to focus on dedicating time to ourselves and rest. We can not show up everywhere. WE CAN NOT BE EVERYTHING.
The most valuable thing that we can do for ourselves is to trust our bodies and listen when we
need to slow down. The average adult requires seven to nine hours of sleep daily. I’d be lying If I told you I get more than five hours of sleep a day during the average week.
Rest is a necessary part of immune boosting and energy conservation. Rest allows for our cells to reach harmful bacteria quickly and efficiently. Sleep deprivation can lead to prediabetes in adults, the more rest, the more blood glucose levels reduce. Adequate rest allows you to be better prepared for your day and enhances your mood.
As we continue to seek guidance and strategies to eliminate stress, increase joy and relaxation we must be open to doing what we’ve never done before.