As
we’ve said before, stress is
a part of life. There’s no getting
away from it. In fact, some stress
is good stress. You may not believe
that, but sometimes stress can motivate
us to do things we may not normally
do in a relaxed state. Stress can
make us brave enough to go forward
when normally we might hesitate.
We
have to be resilient in order to effectively
cope with stress and help it enhance
our life instead of control it. How
do you get strong and resilient? By
learning how to take control of your
stress and make it work FOR you instead
of AGAINST you.
Recognizing stress symptoms can be
a positive influence in that we're
compelled to take action – and
the sooner the better. It's not always
easy to discern why you have the stress
in each situation but some of the
more common events that trigger those
emotions are the death of a loved
one, the birth of a child, a job promotion,
or a new relationship. We experience
stress as we readjust our lives. Your
body is asking for your help when
you feel these stress symptoms.
We’re going to give you many
suggestions in this chapter. Not all
of them will work for you, but we’re
willing to bet that some of them will.
There are three major approaches to
manage stress. The first is the action-oriented
approach. In this method, the problems
that cause stress are identified and
necessary changes are made for a stress
free life.
The next approach is emotionally oriented
and in it, the person overcomes stress
by giving a different color to the
experience that caused stress. The
situation, which causes stress, is
seen humorously or from a different
angle.
I
especially advocate this approach
to stress management. Sometimes if
you don’t laugh at a situation,
you’ll cry – uncontrollably.
That’s no solution. So learn
to see the humor instead of the doom.
The
third way is acceptance-oriented approach.
This approach focuses on surviving
the stress caused due to some problem
in the past.
The
first stress management tip is to
understand the root cause of your
stress. No one understands your problem
better than you do. A few minutes
spend to recognize your true feelings
can completely change the situation.
During this process, identify what
triggered the stress. If someone close
to your heart is nearby share it with
the person. If you are overstressed
and feel you are going to collapse,
take a deep breath and count till
ten. This pumps extra oxygen into
your system and rejuvenates the entire
body.
When
under severe stress meditate for a
moment and pull out of the current
situation for a little while. Stand
up from your current position and
walk. Stretch yourself. Soon you will
find that the stress has lessened.
This
is because you have relaxed now and
relaxation is the best medicine for
stress. Smiling is yet another way
of stress management. If you are at
the work place, just stand up and
smile at your colleague in the far
corner. You will see a change in your
mood. Learn some simple yoga or mediation
techniques.
You can also invent your own stress
management tips. The basic idea is
to identify the cause of stress and
to pull out from it for a moment and
then deal with it. Taking a short
walk and looking at objects in nature
is another stress reliever. Drinking
a glass of water or playing small
games are simple stress management
techniques. The whole idea is change
the focus of attention and when you
return to the problem, it does not
look as monstrous as you felt before.
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