April is National Stress Awareness Month. It is time to unwind after a long winter and embrace spring and do some de-stressing. Health care professionals across the country are joining forces and trying to increase public awareness of the causes and cures of the stress epidemic. Everyone endures some kind of stress in their daily lives; it’s inevitable. Stress is a joy killer and makes it harder on us to enjoy our lives.

Stress may seem like something that can just be brushed off but it’s important to remember that stress can lead to other major health problems like anxiety or depression. Life threatening rare cases of stress can be a heart attack. This is why it’s so important to keep your stress in check and respond to stress in a positive way.

The most important step to stress reduction is keeping yourself healthy. A healthy diet and exercise will make a great difference in how your body reacts to stress. Simple changes to your life can leave you feeling refreshed. A simple change can be clearing out the clutter in your desk drawers or watching a funny movie because laughter really is the best medicine.

Another step that may help you de-stress is to meditate. Meditating may not be for everyone but don’t knock it until you try it. Give yourself just five minutes each day to sit and take deep breaths and just be in the moment. Focusing on your breaths will clear your mind of all the clutter and leave you feeling completely relaxed.

Focus on the moment you are living in now. Worrying about the things in the past or the future will do you no good. A man once said, “Worrying is pointless. It’s like walking around with an umbrella waiting for the rain.” So get de-stressed in April for National Stress Awareness Month.

Did you know that you have Direct Access to Physical Therapy? No referral is needed. We offer the best Physical Therapy on Long Island where you can get help from our trusted and expert Physical Therapists. We have several locations on Long Island including Massapequa, Valley Stream, Wantagh and Lindenhurst. To start your Physical Therapy evaluation, call Park Physical Therapy and The Physical Therapy Alliance at (516) 568-4444.