Stress Coping Strategies
It’s May! Time for end of the school year celebrations, graduations, vacation planning, preparing for summer, and striving to achieve a work-life balance-whew! While these situations can be stressful, you can control how you are responding, and this will lead to less stress.
Stress is a natural response to challenging situations and can have both positive and negative effects on our health and well-being. Coping skills are techniques and strategies that individuals can use to manage stress and promote a sense of well-being.
Let’s talk about some stress coping skills that you can start using:
1. Move your Body! When faced with stress, the body responds with the fight, flight, or freeze response (FFF). This might look like an increased heart rate, shallow breathing, or muscle tension. These physical reactions are the body’s way of responding to a threat.
Moving your body can help you relieve some of the physical stress responses which, in turn, can soothe psychological stress. Movement can help your body complete the stress response cycle, allowing you to come back into balance when you stop the activity and rest. Making time to move and stretch your body throughout the day can help you stay on top of stressful situations. You can get up and walk around your house, office, go outside for a quick 5-minute walk, turn on some music and dance for 5 minutes. Just move!
2. Deep breathing. Pause and take a breath First thing’s first: When you notice that you’re in a stressful situation, pause for a moment. Next, take a minute to relax your muscles and take a deep, belly breath. Push the air into your stomach like you’re filling up a balloon and slowly release it. Do this several times slowly until you start to feel more relaxed. The mind and body are connected, and your breathing rhythms can affect your emotions, so focusing on your breath can help calm your body and mind. Taking deep breaths can help slow your heart rate and reduce tension in the body. Taking a breath can help you hit the “reset” button, creating a small pocket of space between you and the stressful situation. This gives you more time to respond calmly to what’s happening instead of reacting emotionally. Breathing is the most accessible strategy to everyone, you can do this anytime, anywhere.
3. Meditation. Practicing mindfulness and meditation can help you stay focused and calm in stressful situations. What is mindfulness? It involves paying attention to the present moment without judgment or distraction. The premise is that you’ll be fully engaged in your current experience without being preoccupied with past or future events. You focus your attention on the present moment while observing your thoughts and feelings without judgment, and always returning your attention back to the present moment. You can practice this while meditating, deep breathing, and mindful movements like yoga and tai chi. Research has shown that regular mindfulness practice can reduce anxiety and depression, improve focus and attention, and enhance overall well-being.
4. Reframe your perspective. Sometimes, a small shift in mindset can make a big difference. Talking to yourself in a positive and supportive manner can help reduce negative feelings and improve your mood. When you change the way you view stress and stressors and reframe the situation, you start to recognize what you can control and what you can’t control. When you’re facing a stressful situation, try grabbing a pen and paper and writing about the stressful situation. Explain on paper why it’s stressful and describe how it’s making you feel in your body and mind. This can give you some perspective and insight into your thoughts and how they are triggering your emotions.
5. Get enough sleep. When you’re stressed, your body needs more sleep and rest. Lack of quality sleep can make symptoms such as stress, anxiety, and depression worse. Create a sleep routine and maintain good sleep hygiene (i.e., no caffeine after 12 noon, no eating 1-2 hours before bedtime, keep the lights lower and no electronics 2-3 hours before bedtime, try and go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, no bright alarm clock LED lights, limit alcohol use in the evening). I hope you found these strategies helpful in reducing your stress. If you’d like ore support with strategies and coping skills, please contact me or sign up for one of my overview classes. Thank you!