Cork TV and radio personality Anna Geary’s top tips on managing stress

RADIO and TV Broadcaster Anna Geary is working with Zenflore on a campaign which is focused on helping to manage stress. Here Anna has outlined her top tips for managing stress.

Nourish your body:

Eat quality, unprocessed colourful food regularly. It will give you lasting energy.

Do you want to survive or thrive? We need at least seven hours sleep to perform well in our lives. It aids concentration, decision making and coping with pressure.

Regular exercise — it is proven to release endorphins which will help you to feel better in your body and mind. Movement is so important for your body as it increases blood flow and oxygen supply to the brain too.

Hydration. Whatever you starting point is, aim to increase your water intake by 0.5 litres. That may be zero to half a litre for some, or 1 litres to 1.5 litres. Hydration is just as important as the other three components above but it’s often overlooked.

Plan ahead

On Sunday evenings take five mins to look ahead and plan the week. Identify potential clashes before they happen: be proactive not reactive so you can come up with solutions when you have time to think them through.

Prioritise what you need to do Align your goals to your daily/ weekly routine.

Set yourself up for success by preparing well, as the saying goes “fail to prepare ...prepare to fail”.

Support structures

Talk to people if something is bothering you, no matter how small it seems, and confide in those you trust.

Delegate work if you are under pressure. It’s a sign of strength not a weakness to ask for help.

People are there to help and remember a problem shared is a problem halved.

Be kinder to yourself

Sometimes you need to take a ‘time out’ unexpectedly. Cancel that arrangement/gym session/housework and just take time for you. It’s not being selfish. In order to be the best mother/ husband/ daughter/ work colleague/ friend / teammate, you need to be the best version of ‘you’ first.

Read a book, go for a walk in the fresh air, take a bath, meet a friend. Do what makes you happy, even for two hours during the week.

We all need to push the reset button every now and again.

Don’t feel guilty about doing that. It happens to everyone.

Positive self talk

Change your language: our default can be negative talk in our minds, when we feel stressed/overwhelmed.

A situation can often become exaggerated in our heads.

We think of all the things that may go wrong, instead of focusing on what can go right, or focusing on what we can control.

When it comes to net drive self talk-if you wouldn’t talk to your friend that way, why would you say it to yourself?

Our thoughts affect our emotions and our emotions frequently have an impact on our actions.

Don’t make permanent decisions based on temporary emotions

Don’t compare yourself:

“Comparison is the thief of joy”. We often look at social media and see perfection everywhere and we can compare ourselves to that false reality.

Set your own goals and work towards them. Stay in your own lane.

Don’t worry about others, they are on a journey you know nothing about, with their own obstacles and challenges. Don’t assume and don’t judge. It wastes precious energy.

Your Chapter One is someone else’s Chapter 20. Remember that, so just focus on you.

Zenflore is the first commercial probiotic capsule with direct evidence of a positive influence on brain activity relating to the ability to cope with stress.