Healthy Routines for Intensely Stressful Situations

Recently I've been under an intense amount of stress due to a family member's illness. 

I mentally made note that my brain just wasn't going to function normally for a while.  I could feel it "short-circuiting." This is so normal.  There's so much fear and worry and unknowns, and that's a lot of space taken up in the brain.  Realizing that can be helpful.  

I wanted to share what I found to be helpful during this time so that maybe this will help someone else out there struggling with intense stress.  

I consciously made an effort to do the same kind of things everyday around the same time and tried to make them as healthy as possible.  This way I didn't have to think so hard about what to do and when.

Routines I managed to stick to:

Waking up early same time every day, between 4:30 and 5 am.  (Sleep is hard to do with worry and anxiety)

On that note, trying to get to bed and sleep at least 6.5-7 hours (works for me).

Keeping my thoughts positive.  It's just as easy to be positive as it is to be negative.

Walking my dog before and during sunrise every morning.  It's a nice time to breathe deep and think.

Strength workouts with heavy weights.  

Making myself drink water when I wasn't really thirsty.

Making myself eat when I really didn't want to. 

Not eating sugar.

Absolutely no alcohol.

The body still needs hydration and nutrition.  Give your body what it needs even if you're not getting the signals.  

Meditation.

Deep breathing.

That's it for now.  

Here’s to embracing health, wellness, and physical therapy,

Dr. Christine Klein, PT, DPT, WCS, PCES, NASM-CPT