5 Tips on Stress Management

Stress has been a part of our lives for as long as we can remember. In this hectic time, people lead increasingly stressful lives.

Experts say that a little stress is good for you; it keeps you sharp and ready to move forward, and sometimes is essential for achieving optimum performance. However, medical research has determined that prolonged stress is bad for your body, and can block the body’s natural ability to repair, regenerate and protect itself.

Over 90% of diseases is caused by stress. Stress is both a physical and a psychological response. It can lead to chronic diseases, obesity, insomnia, deteriorated relationships, depression, and so much more.

Stress is such a strong and harmful force that it is essential that you learn effective stress management techniques to live a successful, happy, and healthy life. We have to remember that we will always come across inevitable factors that can cause pressure and anxiety.

What we don’t realize is that it is not the problem itself, but our attitude towards it. So in reality, the cause of stress is your attitude towards these things. Then what is an effective way to deal with stressors you ask?

Below are 5 great tips for stress management:

1. Identify what makes you stressful and anxious. Making a list of your stressful experiences is useful. Immediately deal with the issues that you have control over and can change, for example waking up earlier for work in the morning, not leaving things until the last minute, and delegating tasks if you are in over your head. Forget about the issues that you cannot control like being stuck in a traffic jam or not getting into the elevator because there is not enough room for you.

2. Keep Calm. A few minutes break would do you some good. Wash your face, take a deep and slow breath, notice if there is any tension in any part of your body and release it. You can also listen to some relaxing music, or call a friend to chat. Releasing your inner feelings to a friend is a great option. If talking to a friend is somehow not possible, writing in a journal also helps.
3. It will be over before you know it. Reminding yourself that the stressful situation will end sooner or later can make you see the positive side of things. At the same time, calm your emotions down and think of what is best to do right now rather than taking your energy away by relentlessly thinking about what you didn’t do or what still needs to be done.

4. Knowing yourself. Ask yourself: What causes your anxiety? If for it is your job for example, then maybe it’s time for you to consider whether it would be best to find a less stressful job. You could also make your job more tolerable by letting yourself get that needed vacation or sick leave.

5. Learn to use your relaxation response. Just as we all have a stress response, we also have an opposite response, which is called a relaxation response. A person should use it on a regular basis. The relaxation response includes two steps. Repetition, it can be a word, a sound, a phrase, or a repetitive movement. The second step is to ignore other thoughts that come to your mind while you’re doing the repetition exercise. The technique should be used once or twice a day for about 15 minutes. Sit quietly and choose an appropriate repetition, like a prayer, the sound Om, or the word love, or calm. You can also do a repetitive exercise, for example yoga, jogging, Reiki. Additional repetitive activities can be knitting or handcrafts. When you incorporate this into your everyday life, you become calmer and better able to handle stress. Practice makes perfect and the more you practice relaxing your mind, the easier it will get.

True causes of stress are not the problems or the negative experiences that you confront in your daily life, but your attitude toward them. Therefore, the trick is to change your attitude and to develop a relaxed state, because it is impossible to be stressed and relaxed at the same time. It is important to understand that what we focus on, we energize.

The more you continue to think about the factors that cause your stress, the more energy you will give it.

So it is vital to let go and focus on relaxing instead. Hence, you’re less likely to be upset by the stressor, therefore, less likely to have its harmful effects. It is up to you. You could either continue to react in the same stressful manner, or you could choose to improve your life by changing your attitude and becoming more relaxed. There’s no way around it.

What are some of your Stress Management Techniques?