For Well-being Wednesday, I thought I would continue with some stress management. Since last week's blog was a tad on the long side, I thought this week should be "short but sweet" and focus on ways to cope better with the stress already in your life.
Simple modifications in posture, habits, thought, and behavior often go a long way toward reducing feelings of stress and tension. Here are 8 quick and simple things you can do immediately to help keep your stress level under control.
1. Control Your Anger:
Watch for the next instance in which you find yourself becoming annoyed or angry at something trivial or unimportant, then practice letting go - make a conscious choice not to become angry or upset. Do not allow yourself to waste thought and energy where it isn't deserved. Effective anger management is a tried-and-true stress reducer.
2. Breathe:
Although this was discussed in detail last week, Breathing is very helpful for counteracting the negative effects of stress. Breathe slowly and deeply. Before reacting to the next stressful occurrence, take three deep breaths and release them slowly. If you have a few minutes, try out breathing exercises such as meditation or guided imagery.
3. Slow Down:
Whenever you feel overwhelmed by stress, practice speaking more slowly than usual. You'll find that you think more clearly and react more reasonably to stressful situations. Stressed people tend to speak fast and breathlessly; by slowing down your speech you'll also appear less anxious and more in control of any situation.
4. Complete One Simple To Do:
Jump start an effective time management strategy. Choose one simple thing you have been putting off (e.g. returning a phone call, making a doctor's appointment) and do it immediately. Just taking care of one nagging responsibility can be energizing and can improve your attitude.
5. Get Some Fresh Air:
Get outdoors for a brief break. Our grandparents were right about the healing power of fresh air. Don't be deterred by foul weather or a full schedule. Even five minutes on a balcony or terrace can be rejuvenating.
6. Avoid Hunger and Dehydration:
Drink plenty of water and eat small, nutritious snacks. Hunger and dehydration, even before you're aware of them, can provoke aggressiveness and exacerbate feelings of anxiety and stress.
7. Do a Quick Posture Check:
Hold your head and shoulders upright and avoid stooping or slumping. Bad posture can lead to muscle tension, pain, and increased stress.
8. Recharge at the Day’s End:
Plan something rewarding for the end of your stressful day, even if only a relaxing bath or half an hour with a good book. Put aside work, housekeeping or family concerns for a brief period before bedtime and allow yourself to fully relax. Don't spend this time planning tomorrow's schedule or doing chores you didn't get around to during the day. Remember that you need time to recharge and energize yourself - you'll be much better prepared to face another stressful day.
Showing posts with label stress management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stress management. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Well-Being Wednesday - Just Breathe
As I thought about topics to cover for Well-Being Wednesday, I examined what issues I run into again and again and decided (hopefully not narcissistically) that if I have a problem with something, there might be others out there struggling with the same issues. Today’s topic will focus on counteracting the negative effects of stress by using deep breathing.
Now stress has earned a bad reputation, but it actually has a good side. It seems to be one of our universal complaints, and yet stress is a very personal thing. Ask a dozen people what they define as stressful and you’ll probably get a dozen different answers. For example, shopping is stressful for one person, while it is fun for another. Background music may aid concentration for some people but be annoying for others.
Many things in life can be stressful. Some are big stresses like divorce or death of a loved one, moving to a new town, or financial problems. Some are everyday hassles, like waiting in line or contending with traffic, spilled coffee or a stopped-up sink. Just meeting life’s basic needs like having food to eat and a roof over your head can be stressful. Some stresses aren’t even negative events. Weddings, births, vacations, and visiting friends are happy occasions that can also be highly stressful.
So then, what is stress? Quite simply, it is the way your mind and body react to everyday irritations and changes that frighten, anger, or upset you. It is a normal response to a new or challenging situation. Stress can increase your alertness and concentration, sharpen your reflexes and stimulate you to perform well. Stress can help you in passing a test, playing a sport, dealing with heavy traffic or learning a new skill, adjusting to a major lifestyle change, or dealing with slight hassles. Stress can be dealt with in a healthy or unhealthy way. I remember hearing somewhere that stress is like a guitar string: you need a certain amount of tension to make music, but if the string is too tight, it will break.
The secret to managing stress is in how you perceive and react to it. Most people have had a first-hand experience with dealing fine with a situation one time, then the next time getting completely stressed-out over an identical circumstance. You may not have coped as well the second time because you were more tired or weighed down by other stresses.
Unfortunately, some people have an unhealthy view of all change. They see change and everyday hassles as threatening. They view the world through glasses tinted with pessimism and because they expect change to be harmful, it often is. These people often feel overwhelmed by stress.
Other people see change as positive and understand that stress is a fact of life. They realize change is sometimes difficult but can also be helpful. They know change brings new information, new experiences, and opportunities for personal growth. These people seldom let stress get out of control.
Whether you have a natural outlook on life that helps you deal with stress or helps you feel more overwhelmed by stress, we all experience stress. You can’t avoid all stress, but you can counteract its negative effects by learning how to evoke the relaxation response, a state of deep rest that is the exact opposite of the stress response. Dr. Benson first wrote about the relaxation response and I have a link to a few of his books at the end if you want to read more.
The stress response floods your body with chemicals that prepare you for “fight or flight.” But while the stress response is helpful in an emergency where you must be alert, it wears your body down when continuously activated. The relaxation response brings your system back into balance: deepening your breathing, reducing stress hormones, slowing down your heart rate and blood pressure, and relaxing your muscles.
In addition to its calming physical effects, research shows that the relaxation response also increases energy and focus, combats illness, relieves aches and pains, heightens problem-solving abilities, and boosts motivation and productivity. Best of all – with a little practice – anyone can reap these benefits.
The key to bringing about the relaxation response is focused awareness. Your breathing can be the object of that focus. In addition, because the normal breathing patterns can be disrupted by tension, stress, and pain, focusing on how you breathe may provide you with an additional method of relaxing.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Learning to breathe deep is a great relaxation method. The key to deep breathing is to breathe deeply from the abdomen, getting as much fresh air as possible in your lungs. When you take deep breaths from the abdomen, rather than shallow breaths from your upper chest, you inhale more oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and anxious you feel. So the next time you feel stressed, take a minute to slow down and breathe deeply:
Free breathing exercise download found here: http://www.holycross.edu/wellness_programming/stress/breathing/
Various Relaxation resources can also be found here: http://www.loyola.edu/campuslife/healthservices/counselingcenter/relaxation.html
Jason Newland has provided many free relaxation audios for download here: http://freerelaxationaudios.com/
Now stress has earned a bad reputation, but it actually has a good side. It seems to be one of our universal complaints, and yet stress is a very personal thing. Ask a dozen people what they define as stressful and you’ll probably get a dozen different answers. For example, shopping is stressful for one person, while it is fun for another. Background music may aid concentration for some people but be annoying for others.
Many things in life can be stressful. Some are big stresses like divorce or death of a loved one, moving to a new town, or financial problems. Some are everyday hassles, like waiting in line or contending with traffic, spilled coffee or a stopped-up sink. Just meeting life’s basic needs like having food to eat and a roof over your head can be stressful. Some stresses aren’t even negative events. Weddings, births, vacations, and visiting friends are happy occasions that can also be highly stressful.
So then, what is stress? Quite simply, it is the way your mind and body react to everyday irritations and changes that frighten, anger, or upset you. It is a normal response to a new or challenging situation. Stress can increase your alertness and concentration, sharpen your reflexes and stimulate you to perform well. Stress can help you in passing a test, playing a sport, dealing with heavy traffic or learning a new skill, adjusting to a major lifestyle change, or dealing with slight hassles. Stress can be dealt with in a healthy or unhealthy way. I remember hearing somewhere that stress is like a guitar string: you need a certain amount of tension to make music, but if the string is too tight, it will break.
The secret to managing stress is in how you perceive and react to it. Most people have had a first-hand experience with dealing fine with a situation one time, then the next time getting completely stressed-out over an identical circumstance. You may not have coped as well the second time because you were more tired or weighed down by other stresses.
Unfortunately, some people have an unhealthy view of all change. They see change and everyday hassles as threatening. They view the world through glasses tinted with pessimism and because they expect change to be harmful, it often is. These people often feel overwhelmed by stress.
Other people see change as positive and understand that stress is a fact of life. They realize change is sometimes difficult but can also be helpful. They know change brings new information, new experiences, and opportunities for personal growth. These people seldom let stress get out of control.
Whether you have a natural outlook on life that helps you deal with stress or helps you feel more overwhelmed by stress, we all experience stress. You can’t avoid all stress, but you can counteract its negative effects by learning how to evoke the relaxation response, a state of deep rest that is the exact opposite of the stress response. Dr. Benson first wrote about the relaxation response and I have a link to a few of his books at the end if you want to read more.
The stress response floods your body with chemicals that prepare you for “fight or flight.” But while the stress response is helpful in an emergency where you must be alert, it wears your body down when continuously activated. The relaxation response brings your system back into balance: deepening your breathing, reducing stress hormones, slowing down your heart rate and blood pressure, and relaxing your muscles.
In addition to its calming physical effects, research shows that the relaxation response also increases energy and focus, combats illness, relieves aches and pains, heightens problem-solving abilities, and boosts motivation and productivity. Best of all – with a little practice – anyone can reap these benefits.
The key to bringing about the relaxation response is focused awareness. Your breathing can be the object of that focus. In addition, because the normal breathing patterns can be disrupted by tension, stress, and pain, focusing on how you breathe may provide you with an additional method of relaxing.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Learning to breathe deep is a great relaxation method. The key to deep breathing is to breathe deeply from the abdomen, getting as much fresh air as possible in your lungs. When you take deep breaths from the abdomen, rather than shallow breaths from your upper chest, you inhale more oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and anxious you feel. So the next time you feel stressed, take a minute to slow down and breathe deeply:
- Sit comfortably with your back straight. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
- Breathe in through your nose. The hand on your stomach should rise. The hand on your chest should move very little.
- Exhale through your mouth, pushing out as much air as you can while contracting your abdominal muscles. The hand on your stomach should move in as you exhale, but your other hand should move very little.
- Continue to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to inhale enough so that your lower abdomen rises and falls. Count slowly as you exhale.
If you have a hard time breathing from your abdomen while sitting up, try lying on the floor. Put a small book on your stomach, and try to breathe so that the book rises as you inhale and falls as you exhale.
I plan to cover some other methods for achieving the relaxation response in the next few weeks. If you would like more information before then, you might check out the following resources:
Some great books on relaxation:
The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook
The Relaxation Response
Beyond the Relaxation Response
Some free relaxation exercises to help you practice deep breathing and other relaxation techniques:
Two relaxation exercises:
Free breathing exercise download found here: http://www.holycross.edu/wellness_programming/stress/breathing/
Various Relaxation resources can also be found here: http://www.loyola.edu/campuslife/healthservices/counselingcenter/relaxation.html
Jason Newland has provided many free relaxation audios for download here: http://freerelaxationaudios.com/
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