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Webinar: Ceasefire Now for People and Planet

In the past months, Democratic Socialists of America has mobilized to end the Israeli siege on Gaza and its illegal, US-funded occupation of Palestine. Panelists discussed this resurgence of a Left anti-war movement in the context of the climate crisis and explore how ecosocialist organizers can deepen internationalism and anti-militarism within domestic climate organizing. Palestinian liberation is central to the climate justice movement—and why demilitarization is not only socially necessary, but a requirement for meeting climate and environmental goals.

Featuring:

  • Ashik Siddique: Co-Chair, Democratic Socialists of America
  • Batul Hassan: Green New Deal Campaign Commission, NYC-DSA
  • Patrick Bigger: Research Director, Climate and Community Project
  • Zena Agha: Policy Analyst, Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network
  • Ruth Boyajian: Dissenters, Georgia State University

Co-sponsored by DSA’s Green New Deal Campaign Commission and the International Committee.

A recording of the panel was emailed to registrants..

The post Webinar: Ceasefire Now for People and Planet appeared first on Building for Power.
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Just Transitions: Palestinian Solidarity in the UAW

On the 1st of December, the United Auto Workers International Executive Board, alongside other labor unions & allies, announced the UAW’s support for a permanent ceasefire in Israel & Palestine. The announcement also called for the formation of a Divestment and Just Transition Working Group to study the UAW’s ties to the ongoing violence & terror of the Israeli occupation, and to explore future scenarios for a Just Transition of US workers from the war economy. The endorsement represents an important step forward for international solidarity between US labor unions and Palestine, and is the product of a long, often neglected, history of Palestinian solidarity by rank & file workers organizing within the UAW to pressure its leaders into action and divest its ties to the Israeli state. Tonight, we hear from Mary, a labor historian, filmmaker, and a graduate worker in UAW Local 2865, on the history of Palestinian solidarity by UAW rank & file workers, and how those lessons from our collective past can inspire working people today. We will also hear from Gordon, a labor organizer in UAW Local 7902, on organizing for Palestine in his local and at New York University, and the struggle that lies ahead for the UAW in the new year. 

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North NJ DSA Convention 2024 Announcement

North NJ Convention 2024 Announcement

Hey Comrades! As we close in on the end of the year and we all begin to think about our Chapter’s Annual Convention, which is coming up soon! 🌹 As we round out the season and come into the end of the year we wanted to share the Convention 2024 HQ chapter members can use to make submissions for convention. We apologize for the lateness of these documents. If any member feels that they will not be able to complete their submission by the Dec. 28th (11:59:59 pm) deadline please feel free to reach out to our Chapter’s Executive Committee.

The post North NJ DSA Convention 2024 Announcement first appeared on North NJ DSA.

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MAPPING DETROIT’S BURIED WATERWAYS — PART I: FINDING THE CREEKS

This article originally appeared in Riverwise on November 29th, 2023.

When I first moved to Detroit in 2014, my orientation to navigate to work, the grocery store, the theater, indeed anywhere I wanted to go, was centered around the freeway system. I raced along the Lodge, I-75, or I-94 not thinking about what might be happening in the neighborhoods reached by the off ramps that I flew past. When I wanted to see the water, I would drive to Belle Isle or down to the Detroit River, little realizing that the water once ran along Baby Creek, only a couple of blocks from my house in the Dexter Linwood neighborhood.

Then in Spring 2021, I joined a water walk around Belle Isle, organized by Hadassah Greensky, and began to learn about the physical and spiritual importance of water to Anishnaabe people and their way of life. Water is not only for drinking and irrigating land to grow food, but it is also a primary means of navigation and movement from one place to another. Indigenous names for the place we now call Detroit honor the area’s abundance of water; in Wendat, Karontaen, means “coast of the straits,” and Iroquoian, Teuchash Grondie translates in English as “the place of many beavers.” Beavers love creeks! For a place to have had many beavers it must have had many creeks for them to build their dams, find food, and raise their families.

As a new Detroit resident, I felt the need to reconsider my ways of orienting and navigating the city to — as Yuchi scholar, Dan Wildcat asks — “seriously reexamine and adopt those particular and unique cultures that emerged from the place I choose to live today,” and acknowledge “that the old ways of living contain useful knowledge for our lives here and now.”

The Mapping Detroit’s Buried Waterways project is my response to Wildcat’s request. It is a way to honor the old ways of orienting, building relationship with, and moving through the land known as Detroit, and a practical guide to navigating the city’s current streets through learning about and mapping the courses that the creeks followed, and in many cases still flow underneath the concrete.

This article is part of a three-part series, it explores the maps I used to find the creeks. Part II will look at my practice of mapping the creeks, and Part III will investigate the relationship between the creeks, the greenways projects across the city, and gentrification.

“The old ways of living.”

To start to learn about the old ways that water lived in Detroit, I began researching historical maps preserved in library archives. While these resources all center settler-colonial perspectives and place names, by approaching them with a different mindset I hoped to engage with a different version of history than the one presented on the maps’ surfaces. I wanted to engage with the creeks’ intrinsic value as living beings that facilitate connections between land, people, plants, and animals.

Probably the most famous creek in Detroit is Parent Creek, also known as Bloody Run. The creek still sees daylight near the place where Obwandiyag’s (Pontiac’s) land defenders were attacked by and defeated 250 British soldiers in July 1763.

One of the earliest known maps of Detroit, Carte de la Riviere du Detroit, drawn in 1752 by M. de Lery clearly shows Parent Creek, marked as R. Parent, already being encroached on both sides by French colonial settlers’ ribbon farms. Later US maps provide more detail on the route of Parent Creek in relationship to Detroit’s current streets and document the erasure of the creek as the city expanded.

Excerpt from Carte de la Riviere du Detroit showing French ribbon farms crowding around Parent Creek. Source: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.

Section of Map of Wayne Co., Michigan showing Parent Creek, labeled Bloody Run. Source: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.

In this section from Geil, Harley, and Siverd’s 1860 map of Wayne County the north fork of the creek, now labeled Bloody Run, has already been erased by the ribbon farms and the plots that will eventually bury the east and west forks are already planned.

By 1878, the entire creek north of Elmwood Cemetery had been disappeared under the area that now comprises the Eastern Market and McDougal Hunt neighborhoods. Today only a short section is visible in the Cemetery.

Photo of Parent Creek by Christiana

Further east from Parent Creek runs the creek that the French called the Riviere du Grand Marais (the river of the great marsh). The land around the river was appropriated by Joseph and Louis Trombley, and the river came to be known as Trombley’s Creek.

Section of Plan of the settlements of Detroit 1796: Reproduced in collotype facsimile from the original manuscript in the Clements Library, with a note by F. Clever Bold showing the creek and Louis Trombly’s ribbon farm. Source: Wayne State University.

Although descendants of the Trombley family continued to “own” land around the creek after Michigan’s ratification as a state in 1837, the creek was renamed Connor Creek for Henry Connor, who had been assigned ownership of land on the creek’s northeast side. Both Trombley’s and Connor’s land claims are shown on John Farmer’s 1855 Map of Wayne County, Michigan.

Clip from Map of Wayne County, Michigan: exhibiting the names of the original purchasers showing the land appropriated by Joseph Lewis Trembles (Trombley) and Henry Connor. Source: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.

Continuing east towards Lake St. Clair, Fox Creek is a shadow of its former self. Once running parallel to Lake St. Clair all the way from its connection with the Detroit River to the Milk River estuary, the creek now only sees daylight for a couple of short blocks in the Jefferson Chalmers community. For most of its northeasterly course, it is now trapped in a major sewer. Building along Connor and Fox Creeks and on the marshes where beavers once thrived and where the creeks connect to the Detroit River is one of main contributors to flooding in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood.

Detail from Detroit Metropolitan Area Planning Commission 1962 Major Areas in need of Sanitary Sewer Services. The sewer that encloses Fox Creek along its original course is highlighted in blue. Source: Wayne State University.

On Detroit’s Westside, US settlers were also naming creeks for themselves. James Baby and George Campbell appended their names to Baby Creek and Campbell Creek, respectively. Both creeks join the Detroit River in the Springwells area. Baby Creek is now buried under the Claytown and Petoskey-Otsego neighborhoods, and various branches of Campbell Creek are encased in the concrete of Barton-McFarland, Bethune, and Rosedale Park communities among others. The creeks are still clearly visible as late as 1905 on the US Geographic Survey maps of Detroit, which also shows the many ditches and canals built by ribbon farmers and later settlers to irrigate their land with water from the creeks’ main channels.

Historical Topographic Map Collection

Clip from 1905 USGS 1:62,000 Series showing Baby and Campbell creeks and their many natural tributaries and man-made canals and ditches. Source: United States Geological Survey

The courses of Parent, Connor, Fox, Campbell, and Baby Creeks were all relatively easy to find. They were included on maps well into the late 1800s and early 1900s, many of these maps have been digitized and are accessible online. Much more difficult to locate are Mays Creek and Savoyard Creek which once flowed through what is now downtown Detroit.

There has recently been a resurgence of interest in Mays Creek with the opening of the Southwest Greenway, which runs over a section of the creek. Settler after settler slapped their name on the creek as the land “ownership” around it changed hands. It was first recorded as Campeau’s Mill Creek, then Cabacier’s Creek, May’s Creek, and finally Peltier’s Creek. In 1848 the railroad built along the course of the creek and within a few years May’s Creek was buried and built over.

Mays Creek routes

In the heart of what is now downtown Detroit, Savoyard Creek was the first creek to be drawn on colonial maps. It is marked on many old maps of Fort Detroit as Ruisseau de Rurtus or River Xavier. It was also the first creek to be converted into a sewer and buried beneath the city. Savoyard Creek has not seen the sun since 1836, and it still runs through its brick lined coffin.

Detroit in 1796 from Western Literary Cabinet. Source: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division

Savoyard Creek routes

“Useful knowledge for our lives here and now.”

Visiting libraries, exploring the maps, and seeing the courses and names of the creeks change over time is fascinating. I could have sat in my living room tracing the creek routes onto a current map of Detroit, which would probably have taken a couple of days and oriented me to nothing more than the relationship between my couch and my fridge. That approach seems very out of keeping with Dan Wildcat’s definition of decolonization and it certainly would not facilitate connections with the creeks or honor their value as living beings. Instead, using GIS technology I have set out to map the creeks by walking and biking all of Detroit’s buried waterways, the creeks, the canals, the drainage ditches, and the rivers. I have been at it for more than a year now and am still far from completing the project.

Part II of this series of articles will explore my process and the different mapping practices I am using in the project.

The Detroit Socialist is produced and run by members of Detroit DSA’s Newspaper Collective. Interested in becoming a member of Detroit DSA? Go to metrodetroitdsa.com/join to become a member. Send a copy of the dues receipt to: membership@metrodetroitdsa.com in order to get plugged in to our activities!


MAPPING DETROIT’S BURIED WATERWAYS — PART I: FINDING THE CREEKS was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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Stop the evictions and discrimination against New Roots farmers in City Heights

New Roots farmers are fighting illegal evictions by the City Heights Community Development Corporation (CH-CDC), a local nonprofit.

New Roots farmers at risk of eviction

New Roots was established in 2008 by International Rescue Committee as a farm for the immigrant and refugee population in San Diego. This farm was run well until 2018 when it was transferred to CH-CDC. Since then rents and water bills have skyrocketed, while service from CH-CDC has been non-responsive.

A group of 26 farmers signed a petition seeking to address issues of safety, security, and sanitation around the farm at the end of October 2023. In response, the CH-CDC has issued a no-fault eviction notice to one of the leaders, is pressuring farmers to sign leases for 2024 (without any translation […]

Read More...

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What is box breathing?

Box breathing is a powerful but simple relaxation technique that aims to return breathing to its normal rhythm after a stressful experience. It involves breathing in and out and holding the breath. It may help clear the mind, relax the body, and improve focus.

Box breathing involves four basic steps, each lasting 4 seconds:

  1. breathing in
  2. holding the breath
  3. breathing out
  4. holding the breath

Box breathing, also known as resetting the breath or four-square breathing, is easy to do, quick to learn, and can be highly effective in stressful situations.

The box breathing method

Box breathing is a simple technique that a person can do anywhere, including at a work desk or in a cafe. It is called box breathing to encourage people to think about a box as they do it.

To try box breathing, a person should:

  1. sit with their back supported in a comfortable chair and their feet on the floor
  2. close their eyes and then breathe in through their nose while counting to four slowly, feeling the air enter into their lungs
  3. hold their breath while counting slowly to four, trying not to clamp their mouth or nose shut.
  4. slowly exhale for 4 seconds
  5. wait 4 seconds, then
  6. repeat steps 1 to 3 at least three times

Ideally, a person should repeat the three steps for 4 minutes, or until calm returns. If they find the technique challenging, they can try counting to three instead of four. Once they are used to the technique, they may choose to count to five or six.

Mark Divine is a former Navy SEAL commander who has been using the technique since 1987. In the video below, he describes how to use box breathing.

Adapted From: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321805#breathing-and-health

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Stress Management: How to Reduce and Relieve Stress

Tip 1: Identify the sources of stress in your life

Stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in your life. This isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. While it’s easy to identify major stressors such as changing jobs, moving, or going through a divorce, pinpointing the sources of chronic stress can be more complicated. It’s all too easy to overlook how your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors contribute to your everyday stress levels.

Sure, you may know that you’re constantly worried about work deadlines, but maybe it’s your procrastination, rather than the actual job demands, that is causing the stress.

To identify what’s really stressing you out, look closely at your habits, attitude, and excuses:

  • Do you explain away stress as temporary (“I just have a million things going on right now”) even though you can’t remember the last time you took a breather?
  • Do you define stress as an integral part of your work or home life (“Things are always crazy around here”) or as a part of your personality (“I have a lot of nervous energy, that’s all”)?
  • Do you blame your stress on other people or outside events, or view it as entirely normal and unexceptional?

Until you accept responsibility for the role you play in creating or maintaining it, your stress level will remain outside your control.

Start a stress journal

A stress journal can help you identify the regular stressors in your life and the way you deal with them. Each time you feel stressed, make a note of it in your journal or use a stress tracker on your phone. Keeping a daily log will enable you to see patterns and common themes. Write down:

  • What caused your stress (make a guess if you’re unsure).
  • How you felt, both physically and emotionally.
  • How you acted in response.
  • What you did to make yourself feel better.

Tip 2: Cut out unhealthy ways of dealing with stress

Many of us feel so stressed out, we resort to unhealthy and unproductive ways to cope. A lot of these unhelpful strategies can temporarily reduce stress, but in the long run, they actually cause even more damage:

  • Smoking, drinking too much, or using drugs to relax.
  • Bingeing on junk or comfort food.
  • Zoning out for hours in front of the TV or phone.
  • Withdrawing from friends, family, and social activities.
  • Sleeping too much.
  • Filling up every minute of the day to avoid facing problems.
  • Procrastinating.
  • Taking out your stress on others (lashing out, angry outbursts, physical violence).

If your methods of coping with stress aren’t contributing to your greater emotional and physical health, it’s time to find healthier ones that leave you feeling calm and in control.

Tip 3: Practice the 4 A’s of stress management

While stress is an automatic response from your nervous system, some stressors arise at predictable times: your commute to work, a meeting with your boss, or family gatherings, for example. When handling such predictable stressors, you can either change the situation or change your reaction. 

When deciding which option to choose in any given scenario, it’s helpful to think of the four A’s: avoidalteradapt, or accept.

Avoid unnecessary stress

It’s not healthy to avoid a stressful situation that needs to be addressed, but you may be surprised by the number of stressors in your life that you can eliminate.

Learn how to say “no.” Know your limits and stick to them. Whether in your personal or professional life, taking on more than you can handle is a surefire recipe for stress. 

Avoid people who stress you out. If someone consistently causes stress in your life, limit the amount of time you spend with that person, or end the relationship.

Take control of your environment. If the evening news makes you anxious, turn off the TV. If traffic makes you tense, take a longer but less-traveled route. If going to the market is an unpleasant chore, do your grocery shopping online.

Avoid hot-button topics. If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people, stop bringing it up or excuse yourself when it’s the topic of discussion.

Pare down your to-do list. Analyze your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you’ve got too much on your plate, distinguish between the “shoulds” and the “musts.” Drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely.

Alter the situation

If you can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Often, this involves changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life.

Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way. If you don’t voice your feelings, resentment will build and the stress will increase.

Be willing to compromise. When you ask someone to change their behavior, be willing to do the same. If you both are willing to bend at least a little, you’ll have a good chance of finding a happy middle ground.

Be more assertive. Don’t take a backseat in your own life. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them. If you’ve got an exam to study for and your chatty roommate just got home, say up front that you only have five minutes to talk.

Find balance. All work and no play is a recipe for burnout. Try to find a balance between work and family life, social activities and solitary pursuits, daily responsibilities and downtime.

Adapt to the stressor

If you can’t change the stressor, change yourself. You can adapt to stressful situations and regain your sense of control by changing your expectations and attitude.

Reframe problems. Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective. Rather than fuming about a traffic jam, look at it as an opportunity to pause and regroup, listen to your favorite radio station, or enjoy some alone time.

Look at the big picture. Take perspective of the stressful situation. Ask yourself how important it will be in the long run. Will it matter in a month? A year? Is it really worth getting upset over? If the answer is no, focus your time and energy elsewhere.

Adjust your standards. Perfectionism is a major source of avoidable stress. Stop setting yourself up for failure by demanding perfection. Set reasonable standards for yourself and others, and learn to be okay with “good enough.”

Practice gratitude. When stress is getting you down, take a moment to reflect on all the things you appreciate in your life, including your own positive qualities and gifts. This simple strategy can help you keep things in perspective.

Accept the things you can’t change

Some sources of stress are unavoidable. You can’t prevent or change stressors such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession. In such cases, the best way to cope with stress is to accept things as they are. Acceptance may be difficult, but in the long run, it’s easier than railing against a situation you can’t change.

Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Many things in life are beyond our control, particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems.

Look for the upside. When facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes.

Learn to forgive. Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world and that people make mistakes. Let go of anger and resentments. Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.

Share your feelings. Expressing what you’re going through can be very cathartic, even if there’s nothing you can do to alter the stressful situation. Talk to a trusted friend or make an appointment with a therapist.

Tip 4: Get moving

When you’re stressed, the last thing you probably feel like doing is getting up and exercising. But physical activity is a huge stress reliever—and you don’t have to be an athlete or spend hours in a gym to experience the benefits. Exercise releases endorphins that make you feel good, and it can also serve as a valuable distraction from your daily worries.

While you’ll get the most benefit from regularly exercising for 30 minutes or more, it’s okay to build up your fitness level gradually. Even very small activities can add up over the course of a day. The first step is to get yourself up and moving. Here are some easy ways to incorporate exercise into your daily schedule:

  • Put on some music and dance around.
  • Take your dog for a walk.
  • Walk or cycle to the grocery store.
  • Use the stairs at home or work rather than an elevator.
  • Park your car in the farthest spot in the lot and walk the rest of the way.
  • Pair up with an exercise partner and encourage each other as you work out.
  • Play ping-pong or an activity-based video game with your kids.

Deal with stress with mindful rhythmic exercise

While just about any form of physical activity can help burn away tension and stress, rhythmic activities are especially effective. Good choices include walking, running, swimming, dancing, cycling, tai chi, and aerobics. But whatever you choose, make sure it’s something you enjoy so you’re more likely to stick with it.

While you’re exercising, make a conscious effort to pay attention to your body and the physical (and sometimes emotional) sensations you experience as you’re moving. Focus on coordinating your breathing with your movements, for example, or notice how the air or sunlight feels on your skin. Adding this mindfulness element will help you break out of the cycle of negative thoughts that often accompanies overwhelming stress.

Tip 5: Connect to others

There is nothing more calming than spending quality time with another human being who makes you feel safe and understood. In fact, face-to-face interaction triggers a cascade of hormones that counteracts the body’s defensive “fight-or-flight” response. It’s nature’s natural stress reliever (as an added bonus, it also helps stave off depression and anxiety). So make it a point to connect regularly—and in person—with family and friends.

Keep in mind that the people you talk to don’t have to be able to fix your stress. They simply need to be good listeners. And try not to let worries about looking weak or being a burden keep you from opening up. The people who care about you will be flattered by your trust. It will only strengthen your bond.

Of course, it’s not always realistic to have a pal close by to lean on when you feel overwhelmed by stress, but by building and maintaining a network of close friends you can improve your resiliency to life’s stressors.

Tips for building relationships

  1. Reach out to a colleague at work.
  2. Help someone else by volunteering.
  3. Have lunch or coffee with a friend.
  4. Ask a loved one to check in with you regularly.
  5. Accompany someone to the movies or a concert.
  6. Call or email an old friend.
  7. Go for a walk with a workout buddy.
  8. Schedule a weekly dinner date.
  9. Meet new people by taking a class or joining a club.
  10. Confide in a clergy member, teacher, or sports coach.

Tip 6: Make time for fun and relaxation

Beyond a take-charge approach and a positive attitude, you can reduce stress in your life by carving out “me” time. Don’t get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to take care of your own needs. Nurturing yourself is a necessity, not a luxury. If you regularly make time for fun and relaxation, you’ll be in a better place to handle life’s stressors.

Set aside leisure time. Include rest and relaxation in your daily schedule. Don’t allow other obligations to encroach. This is your time to take a break from all responsibilities and recharge your batteries.

Do something you enjoy every day. Make time for leisure activities that bring you joy, whether it be stargazing, playing the piano, or working on your bike.

Keep your sense of humor. This includes the ability to laugh at yourself. The act of laughing helps your body fight stress in a number of ways.

Take up a relaxation practice. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing activate the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the fight or flight or mobilization stress response. As you learn and practice these techniques, your stress levels will decrease and your mind and body will become calm and centered.

Tip 7: Manage your time better

Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you’re stretched too thin and running behind, it’s hard to stay calm and focused. Plus, you’ll be tempted to avoid or cut back on all the healthy things you should be doing to keep stress in check, like socializing and getting enough sleep. The good news: there are things you can do to achieve a healthier work-life balance.

Don’t over-commit yourself. Avoid scheduling things back-to-back or trying to fit too much into one day. All too often, we underestimate how long things will take.

Prioritize tasks. Make a list of tasks you have to do, and tackle them in order of importance. Do the high-priority items first. If you have something particularly unpleasant or stressful to do, get it over with early. The rest of your day will be more pleasant as a result.

Break projects into small steps. If a large project seems overwhelming, make a step-by-step plan. Focus on one manageable step at a time, rather than taking on everything at once.

Delegate responsibility. You don’t have to do it all yourself, whether at home, school, or on the job. If other people can take care of the task, why not let them? Let go of the desire to control or oversee every little step. You’ll be letting go of unnecessary stress in the process.

Tip 8: Maintain balance with a healthy lifestyle

In addition to regular exercise, there are other healthy lifestyle choices that can increase your resistance to stress.

Eat a healthy diet. Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress, so be mindful of what you eat. Start your day right with breakfast, and keep your energy up and your mind clear with balanced, nutritious meals throughout the day.

Reduce caffeine and sugar. The temporary “highs” caffeine and sugar provide often end with a crash in mood and energy. By reducing the amount of coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, and sugar snacks in your diet, you’ll feel more relaxed and you’ll sleep better.

Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs. Self-medicating with alcohol or drugs may provide an easy escape from stress, but the relief is only temporary. Don’t avoid or mask the issue at hand; deal with problems head on and with a clear mind.

Get enough sleep. Adequate sleep fuels your mind, as well as your body. Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally.

Tip 9: Learn to relieve stress in the moment

When you’re frazzled by your morning commute, stuck in a stressful meeting at work, or fried from another argument with your spouse, you need a way to manage your stress levels right now. That’s where quick stress relief comes in.

The fastest way to reduce stress is by taking a deep breath and using your senses—what you see, hear, taste, and touch—or through a soothing movement. By viewing a favorite photo, smelling a specific scent, listening to a favorite piece of music, tasting a piece of gum, or hugging a pet, for example, you can quickly relax and focus yourself.

Of course, not everyone responds to each sensory experience in the same way. The key to quick stress relief is to experiment and discover the unique sensory experiences that work best for you.

Original: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-management.htm

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