Stress Management: An Essential Life Skill
By Empowered & Poised
First, I think it is important to note that we all deal with stress on some level.
Did you know that there are healthy levels of stress that can help you? Eustress is moderate or normal stress that can actually be beneficial. A couple examples of eustress may be having to develop new skills or making your way through a challenging work or school assignment.
The following graphic illustrates that with too little stress we can become bored or dissatisfied, but with too much stress we can become anxious and unhappy.
This blog will dive a little more into how to manage stress on the high end of the inverted U-curve.
Source: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/inverted-u.htm
Have you ever dealt with high levels of stress? I know I have! In fact, I’ve dealt with the extreme side of stress: anxiety. Yes, I’ve had panic attacks and they are not fun. But, thanks to stress management techniques I am much better at becoming empowered and poised in situations that stress me out.
What stresses you out? Take a minute to write it down. Learning your triggers can help you manage your stress more effectively.
Here are just a few triggers for high stress that I’ve noticed amongst many of my students in Empowered & Poised: exams (especially math!), parents, friends, and pressure to achieve in school.
Below are a list of 5 ways to manage your stress more effectively:
1. BREATHE!
This strategy has proven effective for many of the girls at Empowered & Poised. When discussing stress we teach girls a few breathing exercises to perform to help manage stress. Words that are often used to explain how the activity made them feel are “calm” and “relaxed”. This is a great stress management tool for anyone because it can be done silently at school or work when feeling overwhelmed.
2. TALK IT OUT
Keeping your feelings bottled up inside isn’t always healthy. Talk to a trusted loved one, mentor, or professional to vocalize your struggles. Talking to someone else can help you gain new perspective on the situation and remind you that you are not alone.
3. EXERCISE
Have you ever heard of endorphins? Endorphins are a type of hormone that acts as painkillers. They are released when we exercise and help to relieve stress, enhance pleasure, and sleep better.
4. WRITE IT DOWN
Writing things out helps you to clarify your feelings. Once you understand your feelings and the causes of your stress perspective can be gained on how to better cope. Writing can also help to pull you away from your triggers and avoid any judgement, as you can express yourself in any manner you’d like.
5. MEDITATE
Meditating has so many benefits, including but not limited to: helping you to focus on the present instead of a situation that was a trigger, giving you new perspective, increasing patience, and causing you to become more self-aware. For some meditation music click HERE
Next time you get stressed try out some of these strategies. It can be challenging and even feel paralyzing to deal with high levels of stress, but learning your triggers and finding coping mechanisms that help calm you down will help tremendously. An Empowered & Poised female knows that life can get tough but she is able to conquer her challenges!
What is a stress or trigger for you? What helps you to manage your stress? We’d love for you to share in the comments below!
