Make time to realx and you'll reap the benefits

Your emotional health is just as important as your physical wellbeing; you need to spend time nurturing it so you can remain focused, flexible and positive in the bad times as well as the good. If you’re feeling stressed or anxious finding the source of whatever is stopping you live your life to the full means you can change these unhelpful patterns of thinking, and grow in self-confidence to feel happy and fulfilled. Women are subjected to endless pressures on a day to day basis, and face many threats to their emotional wellbeing. It is important to strengthen and build upon your resilience so when faced with these situations you can handle them with ease. The better you are able to master your emotions, the greater your capacity to enjoy life and focus on important personal priorities without worrying about minor, insignificant problems.

Under pressure
A little stress can be a good booster when giving presentations or approaching deadlines for example, but beyond a point it stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, mood, productivity, relationships, and quality of life. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body, it can raise blood pressure, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the ageing process. If you feel like stress is taking control, learn to manage it or eliminate whatever is causing it from your life. Take charge of your thoughts, emotions and environment, and the way you deal with problems.

Nobody’s perfect
Research shows in Britain women are ten times more likely to be severely depressed than they were 50 years ago. Wanting it all; a devoted husband, a beautiful house and loving children is just the start – a great career, healthy parents, fun social life, killer wardrobe and a model figure also creep high up the list. Seeking this unachievable perfection is unneccesarily punishing and likely to fail, leading competitive and ambitious young women to run themselves into the ground. Concentrate on what you are happy with, rather than what you have not yet achieved and appreciate the smaller, simpler things in life – a blue sky, a happy child or the sound of the sea. Don’t keep striving for future perfection – enjoy your life now!

Depression
Feeling trapped or frustrated is normal at any age; emotions can be a chaotic, tangled mass of energy and conflicting feelings. But if you feel your despondent outlook is not transient and something much deeper, you may be depressed. Symptoms include low self-esteem, feelings of guilt, suicidal thoughts, reduced libido, disturbed sleep and feeling isolated. Blocking your depression can cause it to manifest somewhere in your body giving you physical aches and pains as well as the emotional ones. If you think you are depressed it is vital you seek some help from a professional and get diagnosed so you can start treatment. Depression is not a sign of weakness or laziness, in fact it is the third most common reason for visiting a GP and unfortunately one in four people experience it at some time in their lives.

Ways to relax
Think about joining a relaxation group like yoga, meditation or tai chi to give you the time to centralise your thoughts and generate feelings of calm. Or try just taking some time out for yourself to collect your thoughts and breathe deeply. Hold your breath for five seconds then breathe out for five – you’ll be amazed at how those few moments will make you feel more composed. Reading a book, listening to music or going for a walk can clear your mind and relax your body. Or treat yourself to a soothing massage or facial for some time out.