Managing Stress

We live in a world that normalizes managing high levels of stress to reach success or acclaim. It is widely accepted that to thrive in today’s marketplace you should expect to endure a lack of sleep, heavy workloads, and limited time with your loved ones. What is often overlooked is that frequent exposure to stress can take a toll on our overall health. 

As you encounter internal and external pressures, whether they are in the form of imagination or physical events, our body produces a physiological response.

We all know that every day brings its own set of challenges and triggers. From unfiltered thoughts rehashing the 'what if's' about an important decision you must make to random life events that are completely out of our control, stressors can take on multiple forms. When these unpredictable moments arise, stress occurs. Stress is the body's response to reclaim balance.

In some instances, how your body responds to events and internal reflections can be an indicator that there are parts of your life or environment that need additional care and attention. The increased heart rate or labored breath that occurs when you rehash past mistakes you have made could be an indicator that there are feelings of unresolved guilt or worry and your emotional health needs additional care.

The pressure that you feel in your chest when you pull up to your place of employment every morning may be an indicator that you may need to make changes within your workplace.

In other cases, physical symptoms like panic attacks, fatigue, or sleep problems may be a cause for alarm.

There is a myriad of factors that will determine how we are affected by a stressor. An individual's gender, age, personality, physical, and mental health are all considerations that will help determine their unique stress response. One thing to note is that there is no 'one-size-fits-all'. Everyone responds to their environment differently. How we internalize events is unique to our biology and subjective experiences.

We are all doing our best to navigate the human condition and manage the daily internal and external challenges that we face. And while our efforts vary, living in a modern world comes with additional pressures that challenge all of us.

As we navigate these challenges, stress becomes inevitable. It’s important to have (and continue to build) a 'toolbox' that helps you recognize stressors, learn how to prevent them, and understand how to manage stress when it’s unavoidable.

Building your Toolbox

There are going to be moments when stress is unavoidable. Whether it’s a sudden influx of work demands from your job or new challenges in your relationships, there are some stressors that cannot (nor should be) ignored.

While they appear to present an opposition to the day-to-day grind, some stressors present opportunities for growth.

Mental health toolkits are tailored self-care activities that help you manage everyday emotional and mental challenges that you experience. They help to build resilience to address daily pressures and reveal healthy coping mechanisms when you are unable to avoid these challenges. While there is a list of self-care activities that have proven to be effective, discovering the 'perfect' combination of activities and coping mechanisms is a journey of self-discovery. We invite you to start with the following tips to help uncover your own.  

1. Build a (trusted) support system 

 A social support system is a network of people that you can depend on for assistance or support. Most times, these relationships are often viewed within the context of day-to-day friendships.

However, we need support in every facet of our lives. And if we are open, there are supportive relationships that can be found within various pockets of the institutions that we contribute to - from the schools that we attend to our workplaces.

Emotional support has been known to help manage the pressures of life that would typically contribute to stress. Building (or maintaining) a secure support system increases your level of resilience by improving your self-esteem and determination. Calling up a friend in the midst of a stressful situation can provide you with an added perspective and help you identify better ways to deal with what is causing you stress. Reaching out to a manager in your workplace can provide clarity about workplace challenges that may be preventing you from reaching your goals.

2. Focus on improving your self-care

Engaging in self-care practices may be the last thing that we think about when we feel overwhelmed but focusing on our well-being can be essential to managing stressful events and environments. Maintaining good self-care is also a great preventative measure for stress. By ensuring that you receive adequate sleep at night, eating well, and increasing your physical activity, you can build your mental resilience to combat the pressures of the day. It's also important to recognize when rest is needed. Many of us take on additional responsibilities with little regard to how it will affect our overall well-being. Practicing self-care means that while we are juggling life's demands, we still prioritize sleep and rest.

3. Learn relaxation techniques

While relaxation may be found in your passions and hobbies, it includes various techniques that aid in lessening the effects of stress on the mind and body. Many techniques can be done in the comfort of your own home and are beneficial to your health and overall well-being. They have been proven to slow your heart rate, regulate stress hormones, and improve focus and sleep quality. Even though stress can be our body's indicator that there is an area of our life that needs additional care, we may not be aware of our physiological responses. Activities such as deep breathing, meditation, and yoga can help you to have a deeper awareness of tensions in your muscles and discover additional ways that your body reacts to stress.

4. Write your thoughts in a journal

Keeping a journal can help you manage overwhelming emotions by having a safe place to dump negative thoughts. Sometimes having the space to journal your thoughts and feelings can help you discover hidden struggles and fears. Instead of these thoughts and feelings running an endless loop in our minds, keeping a journal can help to reduce the stress and anxiety that we may not realize that we feel.

It can also help organize our thoughts and ideas in one centralized place. This provides a safe space for you to reference new ideas or gain clarity about a problem that you may be facing. Ultimately, journaling provides us with an opportunity to self-reflect and examine the relationship that we have with ourselves.

5. Ask for more help

If you find that you have taken extra steps to apply these methods but still experience stress related symptoms, reach out to your health care provider. Transformative Thinking offers coaches that can help you identify other causes and provide you with resources to connect with helpful clinicians in your area that specialize in stress management.