Tips for stress management.

Stress is a state when a person feels strained, worried and tensed. Most times your negative imaginations of a possible event cause the tension.

In times of great pressure your thought and emotional patterns are pessimistic. You will tend to over criticize yourself and others and display your fears consistently.

Prolong expose to stress results in burnout. There are a few symptoms to indicate that you are experiencing psychological exhaustion.

• Having trouble sleeping.

• Changes in eating patterns.

• Recurrent ailments and afflictions like backaches and pains.

• Increased addiction to toxic and unhealthy substance like alcohol and nicotine.

• Experiencing fatigue, lethargy and exhaustion even with sufficient rest.

• Increased impatience.

Your inability to handle and adapt to problems in your life is believed to result in illness like heart attacks and stroke. It can also accelerate the aging process.

It is imperative that you are able to manage the problems in your life effectively. Stress management should become a priority in your life and continues on an ongoing basis.

Recognize and respond constructively to your dilemma.

Whatever is worrying you may not have occurred yet. Or at times you might stew and fret over an event that has passed and out of your control.

You need to think through and identify your immediate concern. Is it something within your control? If it is, take at least one proactive and positive action.

If it is something that has passed, admit that you cannot change anything about it. The past is gone and no matter how you think about it, you cannot undo it.

Or is it something that has not happened yet? Getting anxious and creating negative imagination of an event that has not occurred yet is a waste of emotional energy.

Could the problem actually belong to someone else? If it is, look at it at a different viewpoint. Refuse to allow other people and their need to control and gain approval affect your state of mind and emotions.

Regardless of the situation, view it constructively and as non threatening. Your resistance will only produce more emotional upheavals. Focus on the present and look forward to the future.

There are positive actions, habits and activities that you can take on a daily basis for stress relief.

• Aerobic activities.

Walking, gardening and cycling are among the activities that can help release your physical and emotional strains. This is because when you exercise, you release endorphins, a natural substance from your brain that relieves pain. Eating healthy food and taking care of your body affect your emotions and state of mind.

• Laugh more often.

Humor heals pain and lightens up those days that may seem so dreadful. You can amuse yourself by watching comedy movies, listening to jokes or just laugh as you notice the idiosyncrasies that are happening around you.

• Set your priorities right and learn to manage your time.

Trying to adjust between work and family can become demanding and overwhelming. You need to draw a line between how much time you should spend on each.

In order to get more done from your job, you may need to break down your task and learn to delegate. It helps if you learn better ways to do your work so that you can get more done in less time. Long hours do not equal better productivity.

Your family and close friends are your inner circle. You have to make time for them. Your kids need you more when they are growing. Your presence will provide them with the love and security that they need most to ensure that they grow and develop sufficient esteem.

Your spouses and your close friends are the people who will provide the support and encouragement especially when you are down and out. And you in turn support them by being there.

You need to keep your relationships with these people in constant contact and pay attention to them.

• Develop a positive mental attitude.

Some problems are inevitable and mistakes happen, even disastrous ones. Without a positive mental attitude and looking at the situation from another perspective, you are most likely to feel stressful.

The antidote is to admit that things happen and they happen for a reason. If you have made a mistake, learn from it and move on.

If it is something beyond your control, have faith that it has a benefit behind and you may not understand or see it in the moment. Look forward for better things in the future.

Practice positive self-talks and affirmations and create images of what you want to happen in your life. Anticipating a better future changes your focus and will change your state of mind and your well being.

Remember that your response to events and people is the reason behind your stress and not the events themselves. It takes a conscious decision to change your thinking and interpretations.

• Letting go of suppressed emotions.

Letting go involves relaxing. When your mind is quiet and your body is relaxed, you are able to become aware of your suppressed emotions. Becoming aware allows you to listen to what your body and mind is telling you and understand your unconscious intentions.

During this moment of inner silence and peace you can let go of the things that are bothering you. This is a good time to affirm positive emotions and thoughts.

Letting go and relaxation allows your body to overcome the tension and contraction. When your mind is relaxed, your ability to solve problems increases.

You can put aside a little time off in between your busy and demanding schedule to relax and recharge your body and mind.

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