6 Ways To Reduce Stress
“Joy, collected over time, fuels resilience.”
—Brené Brown
Stress is often used as an all encompassing term that lumps things that are in our control with things that are out of our control. This can make us feel stuck and without any options. The best first step when trying to manage stress is to start by breaking it down into stressors and stress.
Stressors are external factors that activate stress. This includes things like work, family, time, cultural norms, discrimination, self-criticism, body image, identity, memories, THE FUTURE, etc. Stressors may or may not be chronic, and they may or may not be within our control.
Stress is the physical, mental, and emotional symptoms of experiencing stressors. This includes muscle tension, headaches, clenched jaw, mood swings, appetite changes, problems sleeping, indigestion, etc. These initial reactions to stress are often involuntary and they do an imperfect job at desperately trying to regulate the body. The good news is that have you options to continue to reduce stress beyond what your body does on auto-pilot.
The second step in trying to manage stress is to recognize that sometimes that best thing to do is to step away from trying to solve the stressor and instead take action to address the mental and emotional symptoms. Before we go on, let me ask you this, “How is your current method of dealing with stress working for you?” Since you’re reading this article, your answer is probably '“not great.” Next question, “Do you feel ready, willing, and able to try a different approach?” If your answer is, “yes,” or even, “maybe,” keep reading.
The third and final step in managing stress is to build a toolbox of actions you can take to reduce the symptoms of stress in your body. Here are six ways you can do just that:
Physical activity: Movement is widely accepted as the most effective tool for grounding the body and the emotions. It can be as simple as dancing in your room to good music, or going for a walk around the block.
Positive social interaction: Being with friends and/or family can bring a comforting sense of safety and connection.
Laughter: Laughter is one of the quickest ways to feel carefree, even if it’s just for a moment. Even better, is laughing so hard that you feel like you just did a core workout.
Affection: Ask your friend, partner, or family member for an extra long hug. Sometimes a long hug is just what the body needs to let go and relax.
Creative Expression: This can be as simple as filling in a coloring book, singing in the shower, playing an instrument, putting together furniture, or doing a DIY art project, pretty much anything that requires you to work with your hands and focus your attention.
Crying: Do you ever watch a sad movie that makes you cry but oddly feel a little bit better afterwards? That's probably because crying helped you expel some stress you were holding in your body.
Moving forward, you can always refer back to this list for a reminder about ways to find relief when you feel stuck in your stressors.
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If you find it challenging to fit in physical activity on your own, I’d love to work together to help you discover the wonderful stress-relieving benefits of movement.
