9 Strategies for a Life With Less Stress and Anxiety

Stress affects us all, from quiet worries to major setbacks. A certain level of stress can actually be helpful—much like the burn that accompanies a good workout, which signals your muscles are getting stronger. However, when stress becomes excessive, it becomes a problem. It slowly burns you out and even contributes to chronic disease. The following evidence-based tools provide a holistic foundation to combat stress and anxiety and build lasting resilience.

1. Eat Nourishing Food

Nutrient-dense foods can combat stress, provide steady energy, and support brain function. This approach reduces blood sugar fluctuations and balances hormonal rhythms, which in turn stabilizes mood and focus.

2. Prioritize Sleep Quality

Sleep is the stress-repair system. Without restorative sleep, mental clarity declines, emotions become harder to regulate, and stress accumulates unchecked. During deep sleep, the glymphatic system clears toxins and metabolic waste from the brain.

3. Keep Daily Routines You Enjoy

Routine is medicine for the nervous system that lets your body and brain learn when to activate, when to rest, and when to replenish, which lowers stress. Systems fall into balance when routines align with daylight—waking with morning sun and winding down after sunset.

4. Move to Elevate Your Mood

Movement is one of the fastest levers to shift mood and balance the chemistry of stress. Exercise influences the body through multiple pathways: regulating blood sugar, balancing hormones, and releasing neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin that restore mental clarity.

5. Practice and Embody Gratitude

Gratitude is a neurobiological practice that reshapes the brain. Studies show that gratitude lowers the stress hormone cortisol, regulates emotional networks, and strengthens empathy and self-regulation pathways.

6. Add Mindful Pauses and Breathe

Mindful breaks activate the brain’s prefrontal cortex—the executive area for decision-making and self-control—while quieting the amygdala, the emotional alarm system. Regular brief pauses can enhance resilience and self-control, studies show.

7. Tune Into Positivity Daily

Turning to faith in a higher power—through spirituality or religious practice—can nurture hope, meaning, and a more positive outlook, especially during challenging times. Research shows that daily religious practice can improve mood and lower stress.

8. Connect With Like-Minded Community

Human beings are wired for connection, and social ties remain one of the most powerful ways to reduce stress and increase resilience. A study found that belonging to engaged social groups directly increased well-being and health.

9. Embrace Vulnerability

Vulnerability invites connection, trust, and authenticity. A 2023 study confirmed that vulnerability and adaptability during adversity build enduring strength—especially under conditions like the pandemic. By acknowledging limitations, sharing truths with others, or engaging in self-reflection, vulnerability becomes a doorway to connection and creativity.

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All You Need to Know About Chagas, the ‘Kissing Bug’ Disease Recently Labeled Endemic

If Chagas disease was news to you until recent headlines, you were not alone. Sometimes called the “kissing bug disease,” it’s caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), and is spread by insects that often bite near the mouth or eyes while a person sleeps.

What’s the Risk?

While many kissing bugs in the United States carry the parasite, human infection through local transmission is considered rare due to how the infection spreads—the feces they leave behind. Dogs are much more vulnerable and can serve as sentinels for the disease’s presence.

Signs and Symptoms

Within the first one to two months after infection, some people may experience mild symptoms such as fever, fatigue, body aches, or swelling near the eye, but many feel fine and never realize they’ve been infected.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Diagnosis requires two separate antibody tests, as the parasite is often undetectable in the blood during chronic infection.

Treatment involves antiparasitic medications—benznidazole and nifurtimox—which are only FDA-approved for children and used off-label in adults.

How to Protect Yourself

If you live in rural or wooded areas—or spend time camping, hunting, or working outdoors—it’s wise to take basic precautions, beginning with recognizing the insect.

Seal cracks and gaps at home.
Use window screens and install door sweeps.
Keep outdoor lights to a minimum at night.
Bring pets indoors after dark.
Avoid letting pets eat insects.