Stress is the body’s natural response to feeling under pressure or threatened, and it's perfectly normal to feel stressed on occasion, particularly at times of change, upheaval or sadness. A certain amount of stress and adrenaline can be positive, providing focus and determination to complete a task like an exam or presentation.
However, when stress starts affecting daily functioning, it becomes problematic, affecting mood, relationships and physical health. Over time, stress can lead to mental, physical and emotional burnout. What’s more, stress affects children and young people as well as adults.
25th March 2024
According to the Mental Health Foundation, in 2021 nearly three-quarters (74%) of adults in the UK had at some point been so stressed they felt unable to cope or overwhelmed.
It’s important that you understand what triggers and causes stress in you, and have some techniques up your sleeve for managing it. These can range from forward planning to positive thinking, meditation or splitting up seemingly impossible tasks into more manageable chunks. Talking is also incredibly beneficial. Sometimes, just a coffee and a chat to an understanding friend can be enough.
Another incredibly beneficial technique is to be more physically active. This can help burn off nervous energy, and so help reduce or better manage stressful situations. At the same time, exercise boosts well-being and self-esteem, while increasing your brain’s production of stress-busting neurotransmitters or endorphins, also known as the ‘feel-good’ hormones.
Of course, if stress becomes unmanageable and you feel overwhelmed or unable to cope, see your GP for professional advice and help.
This April, it’s Stress Awareness Month, an event which the Mental Health Foundation has now run for more than three decades to enhance understanding of the causes and solutions for what could be described as a modern-day epidemic.
As part of the occasion, the Foundation runs a month-long challenge encouraging people to choose a single daily action to benefit physical, emotional or mental well-being. For you, that could be heading to your local open-air gym, where you can enjoy all the stress-zapping advantages of exercise and all the benefits of working out outdoors, including improved mood and self-esteem, plus reduced mental fatigue.
So make it your mission to get to your nearest outdoor gym for a workout every day in April, and reap the rewards in terms of stress reduction and well-being.
Fresh Air Fitness is a well-established, award-winning specialist provider of outdoor gym equipment. We work with parks, schools, local authorities, care homes and others to supply extremely safe, fully compliant top-quality machines with a warranty of 25 years. Funding for your open-air gym may be available – let us advise on this, too.
Get in touch today for an informal chat and free, no-obligation quote. What better time to do so, after all, than Stress Awareness Month, with all the weeks of summer lying ahead?
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