Stress Management Techniques to Get To Know Today

I’m sure you’ve all heard the term “burning the candle at both ends.” Well, just like that candle, we can burn ourselves out physically and emotionally to the point of exhaustion if we don’t recognize and reduce the stress in a given situation.

What is stress

Stress is what happens when the body reacts to any change that requires an immediate adjustment or response. The body will then respond to these changes either physically, mentally and/or emotionally.

Symptoms of stress

We all react to and experience stresses differently. There are, however, some common symptoms of stress that we all share:

• Difficulty sleeping
• Weight gain or weight loss
• Headaches
• Irritability
• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Sweaty hands or feet
• Heartburn
• Panic attacks
• Stomach pain
• Social isolation
• Obsessive or compulsive behaviors
• Disturbing dreams & nightmares
• Constipation, diarrhea, loss of control
• Reduced work efficiency or productivity

It should be noted though that stress is our friend, it acts as a protective mechanism that warns us of danger. It’s a natural reaction to the “fight or flight” response. When used at the right time, stress heightens our awareness and improves our physical performance needed in short bursts. However, repetitive exposure to the stress response on our body is proven to lead to long-lasting psychological and physical health issues.

Different Stress Management Techniques & Strategies

Tips that we can all benefit from doing more of. We can categorize them into three groups:

Action-Oriented – approaches used to take action to change a stressful situation such as:

• Being assertive – clear and effective communication is the key here.
• Reduce the noise – Make time to switch off all the technology, screen time, and constant stimuli to help you slow down. Ask yourself, how often do you go offline? For your own sake, it’s worth shaking this one up a bit.
• Manage your time – don’t let your days consume you. Before you know it, months will fly by because you’re feeling extremely busy. When we take the time to prioritize and organize our tasks, we are creating a less stressful and more enjoyable life. Making time to de-stress is as important as making time for the priorities that cause stress.
• Creating boundaries – boundaries outline what behaviors we will and won’t accept. Boundaries also help to define the time we need from others, the space we need, and what priorities we have. Critical to a stress-free life would be to have healthy boundaries.It is natural for us to respect ourselves and take care of our well-being without questions with healthy boundaries, not to mention how we would be expressing ourselves to others through these boundaries. Sometimes it is best to just move out of your own way and get out of your head.  Just take a break, distract yourself. Go see a movie, take a walk, do something positive that you know will take your mind off things.

Emotion- oriented: approaches are used to change the way we perceive stressful situations.

• Affirmations & imagery – it is now pretty much scientifically proven that increasing positive emotion is brought out from positive imagery and affirmations. When you take a minute out to think of a positive experience, your brain perceives it to be a reality. So, would it not be logical then to replace any negative thinking with positive statements to challenge and change the way you see yourself and experience the world around you?
• Cognitive Restructuring – this is a technique where we understand negative emotions and challenge the occasional incorrect beliefs that cause them.
• ABC Technique – created by psychologist Dr. Albert Ellis, this technique uses the letters ABC to define it; A – the adversity, or the stressful event. B – Beliefs, basically how you respond to the event. C – consequences, the actions, and the outcome of that event that are a result of your beliefs. Simply put, the more optimistic your beliefs, the more positive the outcome.

Acceptance – oriented: approaches are useful in stressful situations that you cannot control.

• Diet & Exercise – you know this already; you are what you eat. You should be mindful about keeping a healthy and balanced diet. Make simple diet changes, such as reducing your alcohol, caffeine, and sugar intake in a proven method to reduce anxiety. A great way to reduce stress is exercise.
• Meditation & physical relaxation – use techniques such as deep breathing, guided visualizations, yoga, and guided body scans. These activities help relax the body.
• Build resilience – this is our ability to bounce back from stressful or negative experiences. In short, resilient people are skilled at accepting that the situation has occurred. They then learn what transpired the event, and then they move on.
• Talk it out – don’t bottle it all up. Find that person close to you to talk with about your worries of the things that are getting you down. Sharing worries indeed cuts them in half. You may even realize that you might laugh at potentially absurd situations. If you aren’t a fan of sharing, that’s ok for now, just write them down, it’s a great way to release them.

Most of our worries really do sound a lot less worrisome when we take the time to say them out loud.

• Sleep – couldn’t stress this one more. Getting a good night’s sleep is vital for recharging and dealing with stressful situations in the best possible way.