Their hearts start pounding. Their skin gets cold and clammy. They feel overwhelmed. Their emotions may run from rage to euphoria and back again for no apparent reason.
Let’s face it, most of us would rather avoid stress if at all possible.
Well, it may surprise you that you need stress in your life. Stress gives you that added challenge, builds character and helps you explore creative solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems. Without stress, life would be slow, dull and boring.
To make stress work for you, it is important to understand that it is unique to everyone. The things that you find highly stressful may be another person’s form of excitement.
However, too much stress can threaten your mental and physical well-being. When we reach our saturation point, we warn ourselves to slow down. We frequently miss those stress signals, however, until a crisis confronts us. Either we blow up at a family member or co-worker or develop symptoms of one sort or another, which forces us to recognize and deal with the overstressed condition.
Undoubtedly, you are aware of what stress you out. But are you aware of how to reduce stress in your life? If you find yourself feeling close to a stress overload, use some of these stress-reduction techniques.
Say no when you mean no, when your schedule is already full, when someone leans on you. Say no to needy people who tend to drain you, say no to added responsibility.
Take good care of yourself by eating, sleeping and exercising in a healthy manner. Avoid drugs and avoid excessive alcohol use.
Act rather then react. Give up being the victim. Take charge of your life, make decisions, go for what you want and do not take no for an answer. Consider that you are responsible for the situation and circumstances in your life—-no one else.
Limit yourself. Realize that you are human and have limits to your time, energy, and resources. The world will turn without you.
Take periodic breaks from work. Even 5-10 minutes breaks every couple of hours will allow your mind to be refreshed.
Organize your time. Make realistic lists. Plan and learn to delegate.
Have fun. Do something different and spontaneous such as driving a different route to work, eating at a different restaurant or getting a massage.
Schedule your stress. Spread out stressful events in a way that is most comfortable to you. Do the most difficult tasks first. Avoid procrastination.
Don’t put off learning more about coping with stress and how you can improve your life.
Judy A Daus CRNA, has been a Nurse Anesthetist for over 35 years specializing in pain management. She owned a stress and pain management center for 10 years that was one of the first centers in the Cleveland, OH area to utilize physical therapy in combination with holistic modalities such as massotherapy, yoga and meditation.
Her website http://stressmanagementforyou.com has many resources for managing stress, anxiety, and panic attacks.
You will be able to find out easy and practical ways to alleviate your stress. The website reviews courses, books and ideas on how to effectively manage stress. There are frequent guest writers.
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