8 Stress-Relieving and Stress-Management Techniques
Before Covid-19 hit the world, Arjun was just busy catching up with his fast-paced life. To Arjun, the only motive seemingly was to keep running. All we ever worried about was how certain opportunities would be left out in case we do not hurry. A quote states. “You snooze, you lose.” No one ever gave themselves the time and mind space to stop and think about “why are we running?”
Peace over everything, if you just keep running around it will not help if you are not peaceful. Success in a career is important but not at the cost of losing yourself, your peace in the journey. It wasn’t until the raging pandemic impacted our lives that Arjun figured this out.
Ever since Covid-19 hit the world, everything came at a standstill. Many people even questioned themselves about things they never considered important like, “Am I happy doing what I am?” Self-realization has proclaimed their path, and it is the only one who has achieved mental peace. Before we go ahead and discuss techniques for stress management, let’s first try and understand stress:
What is stress?
We carry out several activities in a day, and some of them require proper time and attention. Thinking about the time and effort required may cause you to stress in case the time required is not sufficient enough or so.
The body’s reaction to any physical or emotional aspect is called stress. In case one is dealing with a harmful situation, the stress caused offers 2 solutions that may be a “fight-or-flight” response.
Stress in general is a very subjective thing to feel. For example, when Arjun feels stressed, he begins to feel frustrated. While his friend Arunima, when stressed, begins to feel angry. In some cases, a stressed person avoids all their meals until the event of stress has passed by and in another situation, a person may be over-eating while dealing with stress.
In some situations, stress may be considered healthy. It is possible only if one takes the right decision and not the flight one. With life passing by every day, stress has become a daily reality for many people. Constant stress can cause more trauma as it affects both mental and physical health.
There are 2 types of stress:
- Acute stress
Acute stress is a daily stress that one faces in their day-to-day life. It may be as simple as stressing over the fact that one may reach late to work.
- Chronic stress
Chronic stress occurs when one is exposed to a high-pressure situation. Also, when one has been accumulating their feelings of anxiety, depression, and other feelings of stress over a while.
Stress-Relieving and Stress-Management techniques
We have an issue at hand, but what is more important is the remedies one is wishing to undertake. If you are stressed, you cannot let your life just pass by hoping the stress will end. In some cases, the stress does not diminish even if the event causing the same has passed by. Serious solutions need to be undertaken to safeguard oneself. Stress harms our physical and mental health. If one stress themselves to a maximum level, the body begins to react. To manage the stress levels, below are 8 mentioned techniques:
- Take a step back
Every time you feel stressed and think you cannot deal with it at the moment. Take a step back and think. The event you are stressing about, is it worth it? If you look at this situation 5 years from now, will it matter? Think and then act. If the situation is too stressful, you need to take a step back and put the problem in perspective. Analyze it and take a deep breath that indicates moving on.
- Find solutions
Having a problem and realizing it is great but finding necessary solutions makes you win. Finding one solution limits oneself, and thus making a list of solutions is helpful. To find a solution, you can break the problem into smaller portions thereby, finding optimal answers. While you are in search of a solution some of the activities you can undertake are taking a walk, self-massage, listening to music, and so much more. Do things that soothe your soul and make you happy.
- Take a break
If you have been in a highly taxing situation and surpassed it, you need to take a break and relax. Our body needs to reboot itself after every harmful or stressful situation it surpasses. Treating yourself right helps you be more productive for the next day. The best way to make oneself feel better is to carry out 1 activity every day that you love. Clearing your mind helps you look at new things from a different perspective.
- Be yourself
Working hard and following your dream shall not make you lose yourself. Keep your toes on the ground and touch the sky, do what you love is the mantra here. You need to love yourself a little more and laugh a lot. Staying happy motivates a positive mindset, and so you can do everything you put your mind to do.
- Learn to accept
Not everything can be controlled in our life and so one needs to just accept things that are not in our control. Acceptance is the key. Many things or situations arise in our life that we may not be able to manage, and so it is better if you do not stress on it and, thereby accept and let the situation pass by. Staying calm and accepting the help received from others helps you to manage stress.
- Talk to a therapist
Stress can make you feel overwhelmed thereby not allowing you to think rationally and make decisions for the greater good. In such a situation, talking to a therapist and also a counselor can help. If you cannot get through a day without facing a lot of trouble, contacting an expert may also be advisable. A therapist, counselor, or expert can help you if you can explain the situation very well. They help you deal with the situation efficiently and improve your health. Getting in touch with a therapist was really helpful for Arjun. It helped him stay calm for longer periods of time without overthinking about trivial things.
- Distract yourself
Being in the same situation cannot help. You need to distract yourself. It can be done if you do something else like practice or follow your hobby, listen to your favorite music, read a good book, and so on. Being stuck in the same loop situation will not help, you need to avoid the trigger point that is causing you constant stress. In this way, moving on and finding inner peace is possible.
- Early realization
As you have already dealt with the situation and have been managing and relieving your stress, for future reference you need to take charge of such a situation at an early stage. It means one has to realize the stress-causing stimulus and an early stage of their life and take control of the situation. One shall not wait for the simple situation to become a crisis, thereby running down the same road.
Conclusion:
Feeling stressed can be harmful to one’s mental health. All that matters is how you handle the situation. Apart from the above-mentioned techniques, Arjun found that maintaining a stress journal or reducing the trigger points of his stress was the key. Following these methods and techniques help you to relieve, manage and combat the stress caused to you. Apart from this, Arjun thinks meditation played a huge role in helping him manage stress effectively.
FAQs
Is meditation a good practice while dealing with stress?
Yes, meditation is a healthy exercise to practice while dealing with stress. In meditation, although your body does not make any movements it focuses on the energy part. Your body begins to gather all the energy focusing on one good thing and concentrating. It helps one to feel more optimistic and have a positive mindset. Yoga is also a good or healthy alternative. It makes you flexible and makes your body move thereby, leading to form a good posture.
What are some common causes of stress?
The causes of stress may be very subjective to different types of people. It depends on the situation one is looking at. Some of the reasons why stress is caused are:
Someone putting a lot of pressure.
Worrying about something.
Overthinking.
Not having the time to complete a particular target.
Job pressure is like completing a sales target to get paid. Also, if a person is a stockbroker, buying and selling at the right market levels is important.
Facing big changes.
Getting married.
Losing a job or a loved one.
And more. There may be many causes, but all that matters is how you deal with the situation. Looking at the positive outlook is very important.
What are the health side effects caused by stress?
Being constantly under pressure can arise various health problems that one may not be able to control. As we know stress has positive as well as negative aspects, having effects on ones’ health is not a good sign. A person can undergo harmful effects such as:
High blood pressure.
Sugar level rising.
Heart stroke.
Heart disease.
Mental disorder.
Early aging.
And more. To avoid any of these dreadful effects, it is important to take the necessary precautions and follow stress relieving and management techniques. It helps combat stress thereby, allowing oneself to receive inner peace.
