Stop stressin', start walkin' & celebrate

Spring break, graduations, CRCT testing, taxes...

I'm sure these are just a FEW possible causes for the exhaustion some parents are feeling. As the spring break hours countdown, the words "stay focused" have become the mantra around my house as spring fever has caused a tad bit of "antsy pants." Boy am I hoping this rain lets up, an entire week of kids being out of school requires clear skies and movement! 

It's hard to believe it's spring. Weren't we just celebrating the beauty of the weather? Well as the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers, but April's calendar is now flooded with hair pulling to-dos and a few tear-jerking events, and we know we'd be pushing it if we even suggested adding one more thing to your list.  

So in order for us to sanely make it through the month we've decided to take this FITparent moment as a quick breather to regroup and reconsider the opportunity to live well and move more; to celebrate life and nourish our bodies with the season's produce.

So Stop Stressing

For the 19th consecutive year, April has been designated Stress Awareness Month.  You know the signs of stress and anxiety:  short attention span, quickly snapping at minor upsets, irritability and  headaches. Usually accompanied by exhaustion and emotional disruption, these signs are often ignored and misinterpreted, so we tend to just deal with them. 

Sponsored by The Health Resource Network (HRN), a nonprofit health education organization, Stress Awareness Month is a national, cooperative effort to inform people about the dangers of stress, successful coping strategies and harmful misconceptions about stress that are prevalent in our society.

During this 30-day period, health care professionals and health promotion experts across the country will join forces to increase public awareness about both the causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic.

 In addition to sponsoring Stress Awareness Month, the organization also sponsors National Stress Awareness Day, held every April 16--or the day after income taxes are due!

GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE, THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.  

When the things, people and events in our lives start to weigh down on us, we can only manage what we have the ability to control, and that is where our health lives.

Consider these simple stress reducing techniques:

• Breath and relax: Often times when we are under stress, we draw our shoulders up toward our ears and contract the muscles surrounding the base of the neck and head and almost uncontrollably hold our breath.  Learning to relax those muscles and breath can relieve much of the stress we carry in our neck.

Try this exercise: lay on your back with your arms relaxed and rested at your sides. Close your eyes, slowly breathe in through your nose, breathe out through your mouth, breathe in again and on your next exhale, breathe slowly and tilt your right ear toward your right shoulder. As you breath in return back to neutral position and repeat to the other side. This can also be done sitting up straight in a chair. 

• Accept the things you cannot change.
• Get plenty of rest and sleep.
• Keep a positive attitude
• Eat healthy, well-balanced meals. Increasing high-sugar, high-fat foods can actually intensify the stress levels. 
• Exercise regularly. Your body will fight off stress much better when it's fit. 

Regular exercise releases stress reducing hormones and increases your energy to manage your time more effectively.  

These days, adults like you are spending more time at work than ever before – and, as a nation, we're becoming more inactive. This is a problem when you consider the fact that physical inactivity doubles the risk of heart disease!

But take heart! It's a problem you can help fix by convincing your company to take part in National Start! Walking Day on Wednesday, April 6!

Date: First Wednesday in April (next: April 6, 2011)

Location: Wherever you work or spend your day

Organizer: American Heart Association

What to do: Businesses can order a free, downloadable National Start! Walking Day toolkit that includes posters, flyers, and signs that can be used to create a walking path for employees.

On your own, all you need to do is take a walk to participate! Consider making it a part of a new family fitness plan or even a fitness challenge your whole family can participate in. And the American Heart Association suggests wearing green today to show your support for its walking movement.

For more information: National Start! Walking Day site or  Please contact Cobb Heart Walk office at (678) 224-2064 or jane.sanders@heart.org or visit our website at www.cobbheartwalk.org.