I am Lynn James and I run the brand Mrs Mummypenny. This has been my full-time job for the past three years after having quit the corporate world to start my own business. My background is commercial finance and I qualified as an accountant back in the day. My website Mrs Mummypenny is a blog all about personal finance, I write all about healthy wealth, body and mind.
1.) Do you suffer with stress frequently or occasionally?
I suffer from stress frequently. I over think a lot of things and let issues rattle around in my head which creates a huge amount of mind talk, stress and worry mostly about stuff that won’t happen.
2.) What sort of things cause you stress?
The areas that cause me stress change over time, but there is normally one part of my life, be it family, relationship, work, money that gives me cause to get stressed out. It might be a long-lasting argument with extended family members. Or maybe money and cash flow is tight and causing pressure. Or maybe there is something going on in the blogging community that gives me anxiety and creates a pressure.
3.) Does anything in particular make stress worse for you?
I am 100% more stressed if I have an issue that I can’t talk to anyone else about. Talking to someone who gets it, a sounding board, someone who can take the emotion out of a situation and talk rationally makes such a difference. If it’s a relationship issue talk to my oldest bestest friend who knows me inside out. If it’s a blogging issue talk to my blogging best friends to help solve an issue.
4.) Does stress have an impact on your physical health?
Absolutely. Stress causes me to self-sabotage and to binge eat. It causes me to bite my nails right down until it hurts. It can also have a positive reaction and force me to go out for a run or do a Hiit class. But it always causes a reaction in some way.
5.) What do you do to alleviate stress?
My best method is to talk, talk to someone trusted who I know will give solid advice on how to cope with a situation. I have a very small list of friends who can help with this. But their advice is always balanced and rational. I need help sometimes with removing the emotion from a situation and rationalise it in the reality of a situation not something I have made up in my head.
Exercise is an incredible reliever of stress and I know a day that starts with a run, or a yoga session or a personal training session will be a good one.
I am a big sufferer of SAD in Jan/Feb/Mar but I have managed to get rid of it this year with a great exercise plan. I wrote about it here how exercise and healthy eating was my saviour.
6.) Do you think more needs to be done to raise awareness of what causes stress and the impact it has on us and those around us? If yes, what would you do or like to see done?
I think the media is doing a great job currently with normalising depression, people in the public arena sharing their depression stories are so powerful. When you hear Freddie Flintoff talking about his depression struggles it normalises it and makes it so much more acceptable and shame free.
The same can be said for the causes of stress and the damage it can do. The rise of bloggers like you and I sharing our incredibly personal stories can only have a positive influence. Our readers see us as just like them, and so to read about our depression, stress, eating disorders, grief gives them a glimmer of light that they are not the only person going through these feelings.
More honest stories from people in the public arena will keep normalising these issues.
7.) Do you have any tips for anyone dealing with stress?
Absolutely don’t hold it all in. Talk to someone you trust. Write a journal. Write a blog-post. Just do what you can to move those feeling whirring around your mind to outside of your mind.
Don’t leave a box of difficult feelings closed, open it up and face them with help.
I have tried all sort of therapy over the years (my parents died when I was teenager having a huge effect on my mental health), and talking to someone in a professional capacity works. Be that a councillor, or therapist. I have also seen a hypnotherapist with a huge amount of success.
Do not suffer by yourself.
