Have you ever found yourself in a situation where your to-do list seems endless, deadlines are fast approaching and you find yourself in a soup? But what’s stress, and how does it affect us?
What’s stress?
Stress, in everyday terms, is a feeling that people have when they’re overloaded and struggling to cope with demands. It happens when you perceive that demands placed on you such as work, school, or relationships exceed your ability to cope.
Is it helpful?
Not in most cases but some stress can be beneficial at times, producing a boost that provides the drive and energy to help people get through situations like exams or work deadlines.
How bad is it?
Untouched chronic stress can outcome in serious health conditions including anxiety, insomnia, and a weakened immune system. Study shows that stress can contribute to the development of major illnesses, such as heart disease, depression, and obesity.
Can we fight stress?
By finding optimistic, healthy ways to manage stress as it happens, many of these negative health consequences can be condensed. Everyone is different, and so are the ways they choose to handle their stress. Some people prefer following hobbies such as gardening, playing music, and creating art, while others find relief in more lonely activities like meditation, yoga, and walking.
Stress management tips
Effective stress management techniques can reduce the negative effects of stress in your life.
- Talk it out: If you’re suffering stress from office or a relationship, try to talk it out. Many times talking your heart out can provide simple solutions.
- Take a break from the stressor: It may seem difficult to get away from a big work project or a relationship but when you permit yourself to step away from it, you let yourself have time to do something else, which can help you have a new perspective or practice techniques to feel less overwhelmed.
- Acceptance: Don’t be a master of the result. Accept that you can’t control many events around you. Just do your best and keep moving ahead.
- Positive attitude: Nothing lasts forever. See the good happening around you. There’s too much beauty to quit. There’s a lot of good happening in the world. Focus on the good and positive parts. The habit of optimism and positive thinking can bring better health, better relationships, and everything good.
- Manage time: One good tip to handle stress is to manage your time well. Don’t waste time on things that don’t need attention. Invest time in your daily tasks. Make a calendar. Make a priority matrix.
- Exercise: The research keeps growing — exercise benefits your mind just as well as your body. Even a 10-minute walk, run, or dance session during a stressful time can give an immediate effect.
- Diaphragmatic breathing: Every day you take tens of thousands of breaths so you might be surprised to learn that you might not be doing it right! Diaphragmatic breathing is one of the simplest yet most important stress management techniques available.
- Meditation: It’s undoubtedly one of the best stress management techniques known Meditation makes you more resilient and less reactive to stress by decreasing the number of neurons in the area of the brain associated with fear, anxiety, and stress. It helps you quiet your mind and master negative thought patterns which are often the root cause of stress. There’re many kinds of meditation, and one that stands out for stress relief is mindfulness meditation.
- Yoga: One reason for the explosion in interest in this 5,000-year-old practice is that people are looking for a way to de-stress. Any kind of physical exercise will reduce stress, but yoga excels at it. Besides yoga poses, there are many yoga-based breathing techniques. One technique is Sudarshan Kriya.
- Guided imagery: A method of relaxation which concentrates the mind on positive images in an attempt to reduce pain, stress, etc. It has the built-in capacity to deliver multiple layers of complex, encoded messages deep inside — positive, healing, motivating messages through simple images.
- Self-hypnosis: Hypnosis is a trance-like state characterized by extreme relaxation, increased suggestibility, and heightened imagination. Self-hypnosis occurs when you intentionally put yourself in this state without the help of a hypnotherapist.
- Music therapy: Music is used for many different issues, from stress relief to mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. It’s beneficial for any individual, both physically and mentally, through improved heart rate, reduced anxiety, stimulation of the brain, and improved learning.
- Aromatherapy: It’s a healing and relaxation technique that makes use of the scent of essential oils. Dozens of essential oils deliver stress relief.
- Enjoyable pastimes: You almost certainly already have your favorite stress-reduction strategy. Creating art, listening to music, or getting absorbed in your favorite hobby are all legitimate stress management techniques.
- Smile and laugh: Our brains are interconnected with our emotions and facial expressions. When people are stressed, they often hold a lot of stress on their faces. So, laughs or smiles can help relieve some of that tension and improve the situation.
- Nature: Nothing heals like mother nature. Go outside and spend some time in nature. It will lower your cortisol, blood pressure, and pulse rate while increasing heart rate variability.
- Volunteer: With busy lives, it can be hard to find time to volunteer. However, the benefits of volunteering are enormous to you, your family, and your community. The right match can help you reduce stress, find friends, connect with the community, learn new skills, and even advance your career. Giving to others can also help protect your mental and physical health.
- Get social support: Call a friend, send an email. When you share your concerns or feelings with another person, it does help relieve stress. But the person whom you talk to must be someone whom you trust and whom you feel can understand and validate you. If your family is a stressor, for example, it may not alleviate your stress if you share your works woes with one of them.
- Gratitude: Expressing gratitude creates a surge of feel-good brain chemicals that will make you feel happier and more relaxed. A common way of expressing gratitude is by journaling but I find sharing grateful thoughts with others even better. This benefits both you and the recipient.
- Green tea: It provides focus and energy while it relaxes you.
- Reduce dosage of intoxicants: Many times we think that some alcohol or drugs might provide a temporary solution for stress but in fact, it’s even more dangerous. Any type of intoxicants adds up to the stress and the situation may become worse.
- Get social support: Call a friend, send an email. When you share your concerns or feelings with another person, it does help relieve stress. But the person whom you talk to must be someone whom you trust and whom you feel can understand and validate you.
- Visit a professional: If you’re not able to cope up with all the solutions provided, visit a mental health professional who might be of help. A visit to a psychologist or your family doctor might be the only solution.
- Attend workshops: Nowadays, many professionals do stress management workshops across the globe. Find someone good from the internet and registers for their workshops.
- ME time: A short trip alone often helps calm the body and mind. When you’re with yourself you can come up with creative solitons for your stress.
- Break up: This is the lender of the last resort. Sometimes you have to be strict and call it off with a company or a stressful relationship to stop living a stressful life. Although not an easy thing to do, it may be the only solution in a particular case. Give yourself a priority. Nothing is more important than yourself. There’s always a time to lead and a time to leave.
Conclusion
Although stress and anxiety may arise in your workplace and personal life, there’re many simple ways to reduce the pressure you feel. These tips often involve getting your mind away from the source of stress.