"Hello everyone! I’m Faith Aguilar, Registered Nurse for the Virtual Care team at Oscar.
Today, we will be discussing ways to decrease stress and anxiety. By incorporating these techniques into your daily life, you will hopefully see many health benefits such as better sleep, improved mood, lowering blood pressure, and better glucose control.
Breathe and relax your shoulders
You might not realize it but when we get anxious, we tend to take shorter, shallow breaths and tighten up our shoulders. This is signaling our brain that we are going into panic or survival mode.
Try to be aware when you get stressed or anxious. You can notice how your neck or shoulders tighten up.
Pause, take a few moments to take at least two deep breaths, in through your nose, out through your mouth while dropping your shoulders. Count to three and fill up your lungs.
You might have to repeat this several times throughout the day because there are a lot of stressors throughout the day. That’s okay!
As many times as you need to practice this technique, go ahead. Every day, you will keep getting better at it.
Admit when you’re stressed, anxious, or afraid
Admission does not signify defeat. Acknowledging your feelings of fear, anxiousness or stress is good because when we are able to be aware of them, it helps you move through the feeling and move forward.
It helps you grow and teaches you how to keep improving on handling those same feelings the next time you experience these feelings. We go with it and move in a positive way.
Challenge your thoughts
This is tough. We all like to think of ourselves as intelligent and rational human beings. But, sometimes negative thoughts just seem to get the better of us. We are all guilty of quickly moving our thoughts to “worst case scenario”.
That worse case scenario may indeed be the outcome at times, but all the time we spend worrying about every single outcome makes us feel worse. Consider if all of the time worrying about the what-ifs will matter to you next week.
Life will always have many curveballs so we have to try our best to keep our thoughts and focus in the now. Remember that thinking something does not make it true or real!
Let go, try your best to stop those negative thoughts, and move towards a more positive way of thinking.
Sweat it out
Physical activity always helps to trigger a release.
Take a brisk walk or a workout video at home. Physical activity helps to trigger a release of dopamine and serotonin which helps to reduce stress and anxiety.
When you feel that intense anxiousness or stress, get up and get moving. In no time, you will be feeling great!
Think about a time when...
At one point, your mind and body felt wonderful and relaxed. Reflect back on what that looked like for you. Mentally move yourself back to that space for just a few moments. Or think about a time when you were in a stressful situation and you were able to stay calm.
Is this something you can apply to your current situation? Give it try.
Press play
You know yourself best! You can tell when your body and mind are feeling stressed and anxious. If you like music, put on a happy tune that always brings you joy. Crank it up if you need to.
This will help to decrease those feelings of stress or anxiousness and even dance it out if you need to — that will always help.
Change your scenery
Sometimes the room we’re in gives us a heavy feeling for some reason.
Move to another room, or better yet, step outside for a change in temperature and a few deep breaths of fresh air. Appreciating nature can also help to put some shine in our mood.
Hope this information is helpful for everyone! Be on the lookout for our next video. We will be discussing tips for a more restful sleep so our bodies can be recharged for a new day."
This content does not constitute medical advice and is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advice, including diagnosis or treatment. Contact your physician with any questions you may have regarding COVID-19 or your personal health. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, dial 911 for immediate assistance.
*Virtual Providers are employed by Oscar Medical Group and are not employed by Oscar Insurance.
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