Pre-Wedding Stress? 2 Ways To De-Stress (In 1 Minute Or Less)
Feeling the frisson of excitement bubble over from mere butterflies to that slightly sick in the stomach feeling as you get closer to your big day? Here are 2 ways for you to stop the butterflies from turning into anything more than gentle happy flutters - and they can both be done in 1 minute, or less!
You have dreamt of this day since your childhood, and odds are that you want to realise your dream to near perfection. But that can cause pressure.
My first piece of advice to you is to take some of the pressure off yourself! Your day will turn out exactly as it should do!
Remember Phoebe and Mike’s wedding in Friends? Their wedding got cancelled last minute due to a snow storm. They didn’t let the weather decide their day’s fate, though, and they made the best out of an unplanned situation. They got married on the street in the snow surrounded by those they held close to their hearts. Sure, not everyone who was invited could make it, but that made for an all the more small-ish, adorable winter wedding.
Now, I am not saying that your feelings of stress are invalid, in fact, they are very real, and no TV crew is there to make it all easy for you.
So let's look at what you can realistically do with the little time you have between all the things you need to get done.
What is wedding stress?
Stress generally is the body's response to a threatening or dangerous stimulus or thought. These are known as stressors.
When we are stressed the body’s fight or flight system is activated to make sure we are ready for the incoming danger. This response was obviously very useful to our ancestors who would go out hunting and come face to face with a threatening animal say.
In our modern life, a lot of our stressors tend to be thought based.
Like: How am I going to get all of my work done in time? How am I supposed to make sure that the wedding is going to be perfect? If the flowers don’t arrive on time we’re doomed, you can’t have a wedding without flowers! And so on....
You are formulating danger in your mind!
There are two types of stress, known as: acute stress and chronic stress.
Acute stress refers to a short-term stressor, which you can cope with, where there is a recovery period after the stressful event, where your body has time to re-regulate it’s cortisol levels.
Once you and your body recover, this is known as an acute stress response, which is healthy and useful.
BUT in today’s society everyone is faced with one stressor after another, and another... This means that the body has not got enough time to restore and recover from all of the previous stressors and can lead to a buildup of chronic stress in the body. This can cause a multitude of problems in your body and mind - and chronic stress.
As you are heading into an additional stressful period such as wedding planning, your mind and body will get even less time to restore, just when they need it more.
If you feel an almost constant nervous energy, lack of sleep, feeling brain fog or reacting irritably, it's time to do something about your stress.
De-stress Tip 1: Do Yoga
Yoga can:
- Reduce feelings of overwhelm
- Reduce levels of stress