 7 Steps To Stress Management
Her eyes had deep, dark circles. She told me, "I
haven't slept in weeks." I asked her why. She told me that was because
she "was all stressed out." It was stress from her job and stress from
her kids. She was stressed out from driving an hour each way to work
and her boss was "driving her crazy." You could see that her stress was
eating her alive. People come to me all the time with similar
stories, of how stress is negatively affecting their lives. Stress is a
killer. It has been linked to everything from headaches and digestive
problems to reproductive ailments and even heart disease. Stress has
been shown to age us both mentally and physically and over time can
kill us. When you are stressed your body releases stress
hormones. These hormones can cause inflammation to your cardiovascular
system and, if left unchecked, can affect your immune system,
metabolism and other body systems. Bruce McEwen, PhD head of the
neuroendocrinology lab at Rockefeller University says, "Normally, in
small amounts, these substances help the body adapt, but when they are
chronically elevated they cause wear and tear." Let's look at the
categories of stress. The first type is acute or short term stress.
This is known as the flight or fight reaction where the brain produces
chemicals that tell the body to speed up, making it perform more
effectively. This is the type of stress you'll experience when another
car pulls out in front of you causing you to hit your brakes suddenly.
This is also known as distress. The positive form of acute stress
is known as eustress. This is the stress you experience when you
receive a promotion at work, get married or buy a new house. These
events are desirable but, just like distress, eustress can be equally
taxing on the body, and if added together with other stressors can have
negative results on our health. The second type of stress is
chronic or long-term stress. Although it can be triggered by the same
type of stressors as acute stress, this type of stress can cause
physical problems. Chronic stress occurs when we can't, or won't, let
go of stress. So how can we reduce our stress? Here are seven ways to cope with stress. 1. Recognize Some Stress is Good Some
stress is good. The stress an athlete feels right before she bursts off
the starting blocks. The stress you feel to make a deadline that will
get you that promotion you've been wanting. The energy you get when you
see an old friend or a lover. This stress gives you that burst of
energy that enhances your performance at just the right moment. Used
wisely, this kind of stress will allow you to push yourself that little
bit harder when it counts most. Make stress your friend! 2. Avoid Stress Infected Individuals Overly
stressed people are infected with stress germs and they spread them
around indiscriminately. Soon, before you know it, you are infected too! If
you know that Charlie is always stressed at the first of the month when
his reports are due, avoid him! If Sara is constantly complaining about
how busy she is and how her kids are driving her crazy, avoid her!
Protect yourself by recognizing stress in others and limiting your
contact with them. Or if you've got the inclination, play stress doctor
and teach them how to better manage themselves. 3. Model Calm People Modeling
is a way of making yourself into the type of person you want to be. So
model calm people, people who seem to naturally handle stress well.
When people around you are losing their head, who keeps calm? What are
they doing differently? What is their attitude? What are they saying to
others? What are they saying to themselves? Have they been trained in
stress management? What experiences have they had? You might watch them
or, better yet, sit them down and talk with them. Ask them how they
cope with the things that seem to stress everyone else out. Learn from
the best and model what they do. 4. Breath, Really Breathe As
a martial arts instructor I can assure you, you can't stay calm unless
you control your breathing. When new students would start to spar
(fight in a very controlled manner) they would inevitably hold their
breath and soon their faces would be red, they'd be sweating profusely
and, within minutes, they'd be out of breath. Does this sound like you
under stress? Well the good news is you can trick your body into
relaxing simply by using deep breathing techniques. Focus on bringing
your breaths into the bottom of your stomach and then push the air out
completely. Breathe in slowly for a count of four, hold your breath for
five counts and then breathe out for a count of eight. Repeat the 4-5
-8 breathing for a minute or so and your heart rate will slow, your
sweaty palms will dry and things will start to feel more normal. If
you would like more information about learning breath control, see a
qualified martial arts instructor or yoga teacher. I teach Tai Chi and
other breathing arts so if you're in San Diego give me a call. In
addition to helping you with your breathing, these types of activities
can definitely help you reduce your stress levels. 5. Cancel Stress Provoking Thoughts Do
you sometimes hear yourself saying, "If this happens, then that might
happen and then we're all up the creek!" Then, when you look back on it
all a few days later, you find you stressed yourself for no reason?
Sure, we all have. Most of these types of things never happen. So why
waste all your energy worrying needlessly? Now this isn't saying
don't think problems through. Good planning means thinking about
different possibilities and then deciding on the best course of action.
But once you've made your decision, see it through and trust that if
another decision needs to be made you can make it. These types of
thoughts give you F.E.A.R. (False Evidence Appearing Real) If you find
yourself being tangled up in a stress knot by these types of thoughts
you can gain control. See them for what they are and make the decision
to focus on what you want, rather on these types of fears. Since
many of us have been programmed to focus on the negative rather than
the positive you might want to try meditation or hypnosis. These types
of activities can help you learn to control your focus. If you are in
the San Diego area, give me a call. Stress management is one of the
things that Total Mind Therapy can definitely help with. 6. Know What Sets You Off We
all have different trigger points. Presentations, interviews, meetings,
giving difficult feedback, tight deadlines, tight budget, kids grades,
traffic jams. My heart rate is racing just writing these down! Make
your own list of stress trigger points or hot spots. Be specific. Is it
only presentations to a certain audience that get you worked up? Is it
one project that causes more stress than another? Did you drink too
much coffee? Knowing what causes you stress is powerful
information, because once you know what the cause is, you can take
action to make it less stressful. Do you need to learn some new skills?
Do you need extra resources? Do you need to talk to your kid's teacher?
Do you need to switch to decaf? 7. Take Care of Yourself Lack
of sleep, poor diet and no exercise wreaks havoc on our bodies and
minds. If you only get five hours of sleep a night you double your
chance of dying of a heart attack. The same goes for eating fast food
and forgetting to exercise. Just like you car needs good fuel, you need
good food for your body to run properly. Just like your car needs
regular maintenance, your body needs exercise to maintain it in good
working shape. If you really want to reduce your stress take a good
look at your lifestyle because these are things within your control. So
let's review quickly. First remember that some stress is good for you.
Second, stay away from the stress infected. Third, find calm people and
model their behaviors. Fourth, learn to breathe, really breathe. Fifth,
focus on what you want. Sixth, understand the things that cause you to
react and, seventh, take care of yourself. There you are, seven easy
ways to help you manage stress. The bad news is that stress is
always among us. The good news is you now have some easy methods to
cope with it. You can find inner peace. You just have to recognize what
blocks its way and then work on removing those blocks, or if you want a
fool proof method, you could move to a mountain cave or a deserted
island. The choice is always yours. Wil
Dieck is the founder of Total Mind Therapy, a combination of hypnosis,
NLP, breathing techniques from the martial arts visualization used for
goal setting. His practice is located in San Diego, California. For
more information about Wil and his practice please go to http://www.TotalMindTherapy.net Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wil_Dieck
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