“Many a calm river begins as a turbulent waterfall, yet none hurtles and foams all the way to the sea.” - Mikhail Lermontov
The land of crypto is vast and largely unmapped. Its residents are hopeful explorers, perpetually convinced that paradise exists just beyond the next mountain top.
However, in this world, volatility is always king. For every individual that makes it to the promised land, a hundred find nothing but more mountains and more stress.
Unless you learn to manage it properly, this stress will get heavier and heavier until you can no longer carry it over the next peak. It’s crucial to find ways to unload this weight along the way.
Considering the movement in the marketplace over the last few weeks, it may be a good time to assess your strategy for managing stress. The key word here is “manage.” Don’t let it build to a breaking point. With consistency and discipline, you can make volatility your prisoner.
These methods for stress management provide great starting points to beating the bear!
Relaxation Techniques
Whether you’re clinging to the edge or just feeling a little weighed-down, you can benefit greatly from learning some basic relaxation techniques. These benefits can include enhanced mood and focus, reduced blood pressure, lower heart rate, improved digestion, decreased muscle tension, and higher energy levels.
Focused Breathing
This may be the most simple, yet powerful, technique for managing stress. There are many different methods, and you can find detailed instructions all over the internet, but here is a great place to start
Autogenic Relaxation
This technique focuses on using imagery and body awareness. You find words/ideas/suggestions that make you feel relaxed and concentrate on them. The most common example is “going to your happy place.”
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
This method can be very effective for both intermittent stress relief and for falling asleep at night. By tensing and then relaxing certain muscles, you can become more aware of your physical state and less restricted by mental stressors
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness is a form of meditation that has been growing in popularity over the past few years. It revolves around the idea of training yourself to be “in the moment.” Concerns about the future or the past contribute greatly to your stress levels, so focusing your attention on the present can be a powerful thing.
Exercise
While I know the idea of exercise might be a stressor in itself for some of you, its effectiveness has been proven through science over and over again. Personally, I’ve found that a good workout can completely change my mood and energy levels… when I actually do it.
Exercise can work just like a drug in many ways. It releases endorphins and endocannabinoids that can reduce pain and provide a calming, euphoric feeling.
Aerobic exercises like running, cycling, swimming, dancing or even going on a long walk are the most effective for stress reduction.
Sleep
The relationship between stress and sleep is a vicious cycle. Increased stress often causes people to struggle falling asleep, then the loss of quality sleep adds even more stress. I know quite a few people that are stuck in this nightmare of a cycle.
If you think about the daily life of the typical crypto degen, it’s easy to imagine how poor sleep habits develop and start the cycle. Sleep is absolutely crucial to managing stress, especially for people that spend a lot of time in front of a screen like us.
Although routine may not be a favorite subject in the crypto community, it is the key to improved sleep habits. Regular exercise, a solid sleep schedule, increased sunlight exposure, and reduced caffeine/alcohol consumption are all great ways to get better sleep. It’s also been proven that turning off all electronics for 30 minutes to an hour before bed can be extremely effective, but that might be difficult for some degens like me.
Diet
I’ll be the first to confess that my diet needs a lot of work. For a guy in his mid-thirties, my eating habits are a disaster. A normal day may start with a bowl of sugary cereal, and then I may forget to eat anything else (although I never forget to crack a few beers) until eating a large dinner with the family.
Complex carbs, fatty acids, lean proteins and antioxidants can help to reduce stress and the damage it causes to your body. Experts specifically point towards Vitamin C, Magnesium and Omega-3 fatty acids for stress reduction.
The most important tip, however, may be to avoid mindless eating, a common habit when you’re going down a crypto rabbit hole for hours at a time…
Laugh Therapy
Over the last two to three years, I’ve noticed how much some simple social interaction and laughing can improve my mood and wash some of the stress away. We are social beings that truly need interaction with others to maintain our mental health, and while Twitter Spaces and Discord chats can partially meet our needs, there is nothing like face-to-face interaction.
Laughing, specifically, is my go-to after stressful days… which has been pretty much every day the last few weeks in the crypto market.
A good laugh increases oxygen intake which gives your heart, lungs and muscle tissue a boost. This leads to the release of those feel-good hormones key to stress relief. Over the long-term, laughter can also strengthen your immune system, decrease pain and improve mood for extended periods of time.
Up Heal DAO
Up Heal is one of my favorite up-and-coming projects. It’s a growing decentralized community dedicated to improving Mental Health awareness/support, and I strongly believe that this is not only an area of great need in today’s world, but also that it fits perfectly into the blockchain/decentralized concept.
The future is bright for this DAO, and I’m excited to watch them leverage all the opportunities that crypto can provide.
Whether you’re interested in contributing or just looking for some support in these tough days in the market, go check them out on Twitter and Discord to learn more!
“No Free Lunches”
I’m no stranger to stress and anxiety. In fact, working full-time in the volatile crypto market may not have been the best idea for someone as emotional as myself.
Regardless, I’m here to stay, so learning to manage stress will continue to be an essential part of my personal development. For me, that means “less beer and alcohol, more meditation and exercise.”
There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and those that can handle stress effectively are much more likely to succeed and find that treasure at the end of the crypto rainbow.
Follow me on Twitter and other platforms! Just go to linktr.ee/docwrites for all my links, and as always, feel free to reach out anytime to talk!