How To Handle Stress

Stress has always been a part of our daily lives. In this hectic time, people live a more and more stressful life. Specialists indicate that a little stress can be good; it keeps you sharp and ready to move forward, and is sometimes vital for achieving the best performance. However, medical research has determined that prolonged stress is very bad for the body, and could potentially block the body's natural capacity to repair, regenerate and protect itself. Over ninety percent of all diseases are caused by stress. Stress is both a physical and psychological response. It could lead to chronic disease, insomnia, obesity, deteriorating relationships, depression and more.

Stress is such a dominant and harmful force that it is crucial that you learn at least one effective stress management technique to live a successful, happy and healthy life.  We should remember that we will always encounter unavoidable factors that cause pressure and anxiety on us.  What we don't know is that it is not actually the problems that are complicated to deal with, but our attitude towards them.  So practically, the reason of stress is your attitude toward these things.  But what, then, is an effective way to deal with stressors?  

Here are 5 great tips on how to handle stress. 

1.  Identify what makes you stressful and uneasy.   Making a list of your stressful experiences in your life is very helpful.  Right away cope with the problems that you could change, for example waking up earlier for work in the morning, not leaving things until the last minute, and delegating tasks in case you're taking responsibility for everything.  Ignore the issues that you cannot solve, such as being stuck in a traffic jam or not getting into the elevator since there is no room for you. 

2.  Relax.   A couple of minutes break would do you well.  Wash your face, breath gradually and deeply, and find out if there is tension in any part of your body and release it.  You could also listen to relaxing music, or even call a friend to distract you.  Discharging your inner feelings to a friend is a healthy way to calm down. 

3.  It will pass and it will be over before you know it .  Keep reminding yourself that the stressful event will end in the end could make you learn the positive sides of things.  Simultaneously, calm down your emotions and think of what is the best advice rather than take your energy away from what needs to be done. 

4.  Know yourself.   Ask yourself: What triggers anxiety in you?  If for example it is your job, then perhaps it is time for you to reconsider if it would be best to find a less stressful job.  You could also make your job more tolerable by getting that vacation you want or leaving 

5.  Learn to use your relaxation response.   Just like we all have within us the stress response, we also have an opposite response.  This is the relaxation response.  A person must obtain that habitually.  The relaxation response involves two steps.  Repetition - the repetition can be a word, a sound, an expression, or a repetitive movement.  The second step is to ignore additional thoughts that come to your mind while you're doing the repetition and return to the repetition.  This stress technique must be used once or twice a day for around fifteen minutes.  Sit silently and choose a suitable repetition, like a prayer, the sound Om, or the word love, or calm.  Or you could do a repetitive exercise, for instance jogging, yoga, Reiki, etc.  Other repetitive activities involve knitting or handicraft.  When you incorporate this into your standard of living, you become calmer and better able of handling stress.  Practice makes perfect and the more you practice relaxing your mind, the easier it gets.   

The right causes of stress aren't the problems or negative experiences that you come across in your life; but your attitude toward them.  Therefore, the trick here is simply to change your attitude and to develop a relaxed state of mind, because you cannot be stressed and relaxed all at once.  It is essential to know that what we concentrate on, we energize.  The more you continue to think about the factors that cause your stress, the more energy you are giving it.  So it is crucial to release and concentrate on relaxation as an alternative.  Consequently, you're less likely to be upset by a stressor, and thus less likely to have its harmful cause occur.  In the end, it is your option.  You can either continue to react in the same stressful way, or you can choose to improve your life by changing your attitude and becoming relaxed.  There's really no other way around it.