Stress Management
Stress and Life Management
Do you ever feel like the stress levels in your life have become unmanageable?
Do you ever feel overwhelmed to the point where if feels like you are literally drowning in a sea of stress?
In this ever-changing world of ours, it is no wonder that stress levels are often in the “red zone”. According to a recent American Psychological Association (APA) survey, fifty-four percent of adults are concerned about the level of stress in their everyday lives. Teens and young adults all too frequently indicate being “stressed out”.
Stress management is a day to day activity. It’s a skill – almost like a muscle – that you learn to use to prevent stress from ruining your life.
On the other hand, stress can become a self-fulfilling prophesy– a daily issue that takes all of the happiness out of life.
-
Untreated stress can put strain on your work and your relationships, creating more stress.
-
Untreated stress can lead to the serious erosion of physical health.
-
Untreated stress can lead to the development of mental health disorders.
-
Untreated stress can change the way you see the world – turning positives to negatives.
Tools for Changing the Ways You Manage Your Stress And Your Life:
-
Recognize and adjust the unhealthy strategies you currently employ (e.g. denial or procrastination)
-
Replace unhealthy ways of coping (e.g. alcohol, drugs, food, or sex) and replace
them with healthier methods (e.g. exercise, outdoor activities yoga, creative/expressivearts, or spiritual practice).
-
Identify negative self-talk and discover realistic and positive ways to build yourself.
-
Be aware of ways in which you are contributing to the stressfulness of the current situation.
-
Get better organized. Become a more effective and efficient time manager.
-
Take greater control of the things you can control. Let the rest go.
-
Consistently do the daily basics of adequate self-care (eating, hydration, exercising, & sleeping).
-
Make regular efforts to take care of your physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
-
Listen to your body signals. Take regular breaks and extra rest when you begin to feel tired.
-
When feelings of tension begin to appear, stop, stretch, and do some deep breathing exercises.
-
“Take 5” daily, giving yourself the gift of visualizing yourself in a serene, tranquil setting.
-
Consistently set and enforce healthy boundaries (i.e. do not overextend yourself). Say no when you need to, and say yes when you truly feel you can without resentment/being drained.
-
Learn to slow down, so that you can identify what you need and feel at any given moment.
-
Learn about the kinds of stress can help you grow, enriching your live or challenging you to reach our potential (e.g. planning a wedding, buying a home, or growing a love relationship).
-
If, and when, you recognize that stress has become overwhelming to the point where it is affecting your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, seek the assistance of a therapist or join a support group.
At Counselling Connections, we can help you gain the stress and life management tools so you are able to make great choices to leave “survival mode” behind and maintaining a more joyful “living mode”. We strive to help you gain the tools and skills to better manage your life as well as your areas of stress:
-
Work/career stress
-
Relationship stress
-
Family stress
-
Parenting stress
-
Financial stress
-
Aging stress
-
Spiritual stress
Click here to download a goal setting template for life and stress management: