Keep these tips in mind for managing stress. This is a practical article that walks with you as you take care of yourself and keep stress at a manageable level.
Techniques for Managing Stress
Exercise
Regular physical activity is one of the healthy ways to deal with stress. Do the sport or activity you enjoy: brisk walking, running, cycling, swimming, jumping rope or lifting weights. If you have not moved in a while, start slowly, and if you have a health condition, talk to your doctor first.
Deep Breathing
Breathing slowly can release physical and mental tension. How do you do it?
- Standing, sitting or lying down, let your shoulders drop and relax your hands, keeping your back straight.
- Close your eyes and breathe in slowly through your nose.
- Breathe out slowly, letting the air go a little more slowly than you took it in.
- Repeat for two or three minutes, in a comfortable position. If you feel dizzy or more anxious, stop. Breathe normally.
Meditation or Mindfulness
Mindfulness means paying attention to the present moment, without judging. A simple exercise:
Sit for two or three minutes and watch what happens in your head. You may notice many thoughts jumping from one place to another. Do not get frustrated or angry; look at them with affection, like a mischievous child. For example, if you catch yourself thinking about what you will say to your boss, breathe and let it pass without starting a conversation with that thought. If another one appears later, do the same. With practice, you learn to observe your thoughts without getting tangled in them, like clouds passing by.
If these exercises make you feel worse, with painful memories or more anxiety, stop the exercise and talk about it with a professional.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
What stresses you may be different from what stresses another person, but the mechanism is similar. In CBT you learn to recognize the situations that cause you stress, and one way to understand it is the Lazarus and Folkman model, which describes two questions we ask ourselves:
- Primary appraisal: Is this situation dangerous, difficult or uncomfortable for me?
- Secondary appraisal: Do I have the resources (skills, money, support) to cope with it?
If you feel you do not have the resources, you get more stressed. A therapist can guide you to assess the danger realistically and to gather tools and strategies to face different situations.
Writing
Writing lets you put into words what you feel, know yourself better and sort out what worries you, instead of going around and around in your head. A journal can show you which situations stress you the most. It does not replace professional help if anxiety or sadness persists.
Balance Effort With Rest
Think of your life in cycles of effort and rest. It is easy to understand that training hard without rest does not make you stronger; it wears you out. And yet that pattern repeats itself in our daily lives, in a society that pushes us to produce more. Making an honest list of what stresses you and planning moments of recovery is one way to break that cycle. Making sure you rest is not weakness: it is taking care of yourself.
What small moment of rest could you schedule today, and who would keep you company?
Would you like to talk with a professional? Call (407) 559-7093 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern) or find professional help here. For general questions that are not an emergency, write to drduany@zodugroup.com. Please do not send health information by email.
This article is for education only. It does not offer diagnosis or personal advice, does not replace evaluation or treatment by a health professional, and reading it or writing to us through this site does not create a therapeutic or pastoral counseling relationship. This site is not an emergency service and is not monitored continuously: do not send health information through comments or public forms. The author is a licensed psychotherapist and pastor, and is part of ZODU.
Sources
- National Institute of Mental Health: I’m So Stressed Out! Fact Sheet
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: Relaxation Techniques: What You Need To Know
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