How to Manage Stress Like Your Heart Depends on It

Ever feel like you're juggling more than you can handle?

Stress doesn't just affect your mood; it's a matter of heart health, too. A heart at peace gives life to the body (Proverbs 14:30, NIV). On the contrary, a heart that is stressed harms the body. Stress can interfere with sleep, digestion, and blood flow. It may also distract you so much that you forget to make healthy choices physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Did you know that stress is the number one acid producer in the body? Too much acid causes inflammation! Too much inflammation can lead to chronic health issues, including a weakened immune system! Our bodies suffer when we fail to manage stress. So, how can we manage stress like our physical and spiritual health depend on it? Here are some ideas.

Physical Heart Check

Because God created us as physical beings, the lifestyle choices we make each and every day directly affect our physical experience in the bodies God gave us. Stress management requires healthy lifestyle choices. Here are seven healthy lifestyle practices that may help you manage stress:

1. Practice deep breathing several times throughout the day, especially when you feel tense or under pressure.
2. Before you eat a meal, take a few deep breaths to prepare your body for digestion. Between bites, put your food or fork down, and take another deep breath before the next bite.
3. Stretch to help relieve muscle tension and to create more flexibility in your arteries and around your heart.
4. Drink enough water. Dehydration can stress your body.
5. Exercise is a proven stress reliever. Make time in your daily schedule for exercise. Aim for at least 20 to 30 minutes.
6. Sleep at least seven to eight hours each night. This will give your body time to repair and recharge so that it is ready to handle the next day's stress!
7. Eat more fresh foods and less processed foods!

Spiritual Heart Check

We are more than physical beings; we are also spiritual beings. Don’t neglect your spiritual heart health! Work to keep a healthy heart by regularly reading God’s word and spending time in prayer.

Keep in mind that your heart's condition depends on what you allow to enter it. What you take in forms your thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions. So, control what you think about. Philippians 4:8 says, "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." Add to this gratitude, forgiveness, and laughter!

If wrong things in your heart go unattended, they will become deeply rooted and harder to deal with. The quicker you detect a bad heart condition and straighten it out, the better off you are. Also, remember that you need to guard your heart (Proverbs 4:23). No one else can do it for you. It is your responsibility to guard it and keep it healthy. You will not know when trials, difficulties, or temptations may come, but if you stay aware and work with the Holy Spirit to keep your heart healthy, it's amazing how peaceful you can be amid the toughest circumstances.

Perception and Opinion

Two final stressors often affect heart health and are worth noting. These stressors are perception and opinion.

An opinion is a view, outlook, or belief regarding something. It is also a judgment and can become a debate. How often do you find yourself in a situation where you are being judged because of your opinion? How often do you judge others because of their opinions? Often, we allow opinions and opinionated conversations to "stress us out."

We do the same with perceptions. Perception is how we see things or our assessment—real or otherwise. Have you ever allowed your perceptions of someone else’s happiness, circumstances, or success to create discontent in your life? It’s tempting to make assumptions about others and to allow those assumptions to grow into negative thoughts. It's also tempting to worry or stress out about how others perceive you.

As we encounter opinions and perceptions—whether they be our own or of others—it's important to keep this truth in mind: How we see things may not be how they really are. As God guides us, we are no longer restricted to the way we see it. When we accept and follow Jesus as Lord, we make a commitment to accept his version of reality over our own. This is why renewing our minds is so key!

The depth of our Christian experience hinges on how well we (1) allow God to renew our minds, (2) surrender our views and opinions, and (3) accept God's reality as our own. This puts us in touch with the way God sees things and enables us to break away from the limitations and stress of human opinions and perceptions. We can trust God’s point of view, and when we choose to trust his point of view, our hearts can truly be at peace and at rest.

And a heart at peace gives life to the body (Proverbs 14:30, NIV).