Throughout the course of a given work or school week at any level, the sharks can swim in bringing us drops of stress, fatigue, anxiety, and any number of other emotions.

Sometimes we can't stop to have lunch during the workday because things are so busy, there is seemingly no time, but then we feel burnout and very hungry by the end of the day.

There are ways to squeeze in time for you and it's important that you do so for your own mental health.

Ilissa Nico, licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and owner/founder of 'Rising Roots Counseling and Wellness', was a guest on Sunday on 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave' which airs weekly on 94.3 The Point and 105.7 The Hawk from 6-8 am, and she discussed ways to alleviate the stress in our lives and build on those happy moments.

"I am so big on structure, creating structure in your day, in your schedule, and breeding connection -- so, getting outside, making plans especially as it does get nicer, breathing the fresh air," Nico told Townsquare Media.

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Nico encourages all of you to step outside at least once a day, and get some fresh air to recharge and recenter.

"I think in this virtual-online world, (there's) a lot of people working from home now -- we find ourselves, 4-5 o'clock, we haven't been outside," Nico said. "I think there's such value even in just breathing the fresh air, regrounding yourself, rooting yourself -- it's so important."

The pandemic led to a more virtual, digital age where so much has been done and in some cases still is very much done online and remote, which has led to less in-person connection.

"It got harder in the pandemic because people were working from home and didn't have a separation from their home life to their work-life to their fun life," Nico said.

As a result, work-life, home life, and fun life were occurring in one central location, but whatever the case may be for you right now, it's important to build in some time to take care of you, "whether it's getting outside, whether it's going to the gym -- physical fitness -- something that allows you to turn off one rule and then be able to turn on another."

One simple, routine practice to help you hit the restart button on your mental health is by just doing some deep breathing.

"I think anchoring yourself to your breath, right, so I encourage people to breathe in for three, hold for three, out for three," Nico said. "I think it allows us to land in our bodies, and regulate our nervous system, and be able to tackle the next stressor, or the next role that we have to play, the next mask we have to put on. I think what happens is, when we get so stressed, we get overwhelmed, we get anxious -- we lose our breath. If we do wait until that happens, it's a little harder to access it. If we do create space in the day, like say to yourself, 'in the morning and the afternoon and the evening, I'm going to practice some breathing or I'm going to anchor myself into my body', that's helpful right because it's almost like your scheduling it. It's a great tool to have when you are feeling stressed or anxious. "

You can hear the full interview Dave Crossan and I did with Ilissa Nico on 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave', right here.

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