Stress can be defined as strain or pressure. It is part of all of our lives. Stress can be seen as positive and healthy when it challenges us and helps us better our performance and improve ourselves. It can help us to learn and to grow. Excessive stress, however, depresses the immune systems and leads to problems with anxiety and other negative emotions. Here are 5 hints for better coping with the stress in your life.
1. Change the things you can. Whether stress is good or bad has a lot to do with our sense of control over what is happening in our lives. Taking charge of what is within our power to change, for example our own actions, is one way to better cope with stress. Rock climbers talk about focusing on the immediate 5 feet around them, the zone where they can do something, rather than getting overwhelmed by focusing on the long climb ahead of them. Focusing on what we can actually can have influence over can help restore a sense of control and balance to our lives.
2, See stress as an ally. This is what athletes and performers do all the time. They reframe stress from distress to being “pumped,” “jazzed,” or “ready” to face life’s challenges. Your body’s stress reaction is actually your nervous system trying to take care of you. The heart pumps harder, your nervous system gets activated in order to enable you respond to a challenging situation. Reframing stress as a friend rather than an enemy can change your whole experience of stress.
3. Create healthy, balanced eating and exercise habits. Developing a regular, balanced diet and exercise can have huge payoffs for mental and physical health. Studies have shown that 30 minutes of cardio 4-5 times per week can be equally or more effective than prescription medications for anxiety and depression. Small meals at regular intervals and low glycemic index foods (fewer processed and refined foods, complex carbohydrates, less sugar) can provide steadier sources of energy.
4. Get in touch with the present moment. Take three minutes to just slow down and notice what is happening right now. Our minds are constantly jumping to the past and present, trying to solve problems and prevent disasters. But what is going on right now in this one precious, fragile moment? Notice your breathing and your five sense. What do you see, hear, taste, touch, feel?
5. Make self-care a top priority. Don’t wait until the symptoms of stress become unmanageable. Begin to exert control in your life over those things that are in your power.