The term “stress management” refers to tools, tactics, or procedures designed to help people cope with and overcome the harmful effects of stress on their physical and mental health. There is a multitude of ways to deal with stress. Mental, emotional, and behavioral methods all fall within this category. We may improve our overall health and happiness by practicing stress management daily and reacting to life’s stressful circumstances.
Why Stress Management Is So Crucial
Acute stress (such as when confronted by a lion) is different from chronic stress (when dealing with a demanding job that we’ve had for years). Stress can originate from outside of the body, such as in the workplace, money, relationships, etc. In the wake of these stressful events, the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis is activated. And the HPA axis is more active when we are under a lot of stress.
Stress might initially make us feel energized. As a result, cortisol provides us with the energy we need to combat sickness and inflammation. But when we are pressured too much, we might start to feel wired. Then some while, we begin to feel fatigued. Humans were created to acquire spurts of energy to chase after our next food or flee away from a lion. But today, in our contemporary environment, we have this type of continuing chronic stress that grinds us down over time. The effects on our emotional and physical health may be disastrous. And we may even require a stress detox to eliminate the piled-up stress chemicals and get our systems operating correctly again.
Tips For Dealing With Anxiety
Given how detrimental stress is for the body, regulating pressure is vital. Managing stress is straightforward, but it’s not always clear. There are a plethora of options available. We’ll discuss some of these methods in the following article.
Activities that Help Manage Stress
Optimizing sleep, nutrition, and physical activity are critical components of a stress-management strategy.
Sleep
HPA axis activation is exacerbated by sleep deprivation. As a result, stress treatment should involve enhancing sleep length and quality. At least 30 minutes before going to bed, make sure to filter off blue light from televisions, phones, and laptops [3]. You might also want to invest in some blue-light-blocking eyewear or a sleep-enhancing red light bulb for your nightstand lamp.
Diet
Limiting one’s caloric intake has the opposite effect of decreasing HPA activity. If you want to reduce stress, make sure you’re fueling your body properly by eating a balanced diet that includes a variety of healthy foods.
Exercise
Don’t do too much high-intensity exercise if you’re attempting to bring your stress levels under control. As an alternative, try low-intensity activities such as walking or swimming.
Techniques for Dealing with Anxiety and Depression
Developing our stress management abilities is an option in addition to simply doing stress management exercises. Here are a few things you can do to alleviate your tension.
Try meditating
Several studies have found mediation to lower cortisol levels in stressful settings. This shows that learning how to meditate might help us cope with stress. Try Emily Fletcher’s Meditation Masterclass if you’re interested.
Be kind to others
Compassion, appreciation, and loving-kindness are just a few examples of how we might reduce our stress levels when we express them to others. As a result, reducing stress via acts of kindness may be a beneficial strategy.
Make a mental shift
Under pressure, we may see the circumstance as a test that we must pass or as a danger that we must avoid. We can’t manage. According to studies, we can lower our stress levels by thinking of situations as challenges rather than threats. So, tell yourself, “You can do this! “and keep going. In addition, you’re more powerful than you realize!
Techniques for coping with stress
Changing our thoughts is only one method of coping with stress. Additionally, we may employ stress management methods that take advantage of the body-mind link. Here are some science-based stress-reduction approaches to experiment with:
Muscles get more and more relaxed as time passes.
As you inhale, you tense a set of muscles, and as you exhale, you relax them back to their original state. At a time, work your way through the different muscular groups. Starting with the hands, then forearms, biceps, shoulders, and so on is a good illustration of how to go about building strength. Progressive muscle relaxation has been demonstrated to reduce cortisol levels in studies, so it may be worthwhile to try.
Breathing Exercises
Deep breathing is an excellent strategy to engage the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest and digest mode). Reducing anxiety may be as simple as breathing slowly (2-4 breaths per minute), quickly (30 breaths per minute), and concluding with three lengthy “Om”s. The stress reaction may be turned off using breathing methods like this one.
Dip in the icy water
Bathing in cold water might also help to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. A cold shower or dip in the pool might help alleviate some of your stress.
