Stress happens to everyone, it’s a normal part of life, and not all stress is negative. What’s important is to be familiar with the different types of stresses and how to handle them.
What is stress?
It’s our body’s natural reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or a response. Whether it’s an upcoming deadline at work, having to plan a huge event, or having an increase of financial obligations – our body will have a reaction to this.
Because April is Stress Awareness Month, I wanted to take the time to learn about how to reduce stress. Especially with everything happening in our world right now (COVID19, Xenophobia, Unemployment rates). But in order to learn how to reduce stress, we have to recognize the different ways we react to stress.
There are mainly three ways we can react to stress and it’s a mix of physical, emotional, and mind but everyone varies here. For example, someone might be 50% mind stress, 30% emotional, and 20% physical or 75% physical, 10% mind, and 15% emotional. Let’s talk about what the symptoms are.
Physical Stress
As I list some of the common physical stresses, you might agree that you might have felt many of these before. Physical stress includes sweaty palms, rapid breathing, and a racing heartbeat. Do you often get an upset stomach, tense muscles in your back or neck, or have difficulty falling asleep when you’re stressed? These are all examples of our body’s physical reactions to stress.
Mind Stress
When you stress in the mind, you might find yourself thinking about the same thing over and over again – leading to pessimistic thoughts or even self doubt. Another common mind stress is the inability to focus, getting easily distracted, having racing thoughts, and being forgetful. For me, when I mind stress, I find myself having a difficulty detaching from work.
Emotional Stress
I was less familiar with the emotional stresses but these are also common. Have you felt overwhelmed, angry, impatient, or hopeless when dealing with stresses? What about being confused, agitated, unhappy, or mistrustful? These are some emotions that we may feel when we’re stressed and it’s also very normal.
Controlling or Reducing Stress
It’s good to reflect on how our body and mind naturally reacts to stress (and this may vary depending on what it is you may be stressed about) because it allows us to be purposeful on how to reduce it.
Personally, I stress most in my mind – I overthink the situation, I lose the ability to fall asleep, and I get feelings of self doubt. But now, I can recognize that and can consciously tell myself to control it so that it doesn’t affect my well-being and doesn’t negatively affect the people in my life.
Be observant to your stresses and then think of ways you can cope through it. Some easy tips include setting clear goals and priorities – knowing when to say no, rewarding yourself on achievements (big or small). Implement daily exercise at least a few days a week – I’ve started doing a lot of yoga and pilates as my work got more stressful and now it’s become an integral part of my life. Even by finding an activity that you personally enjoy (taking walks, listening to a podcast, a meditation app) and do this without the social media distractions can heavily reduce stress.
On a more serious note, If stress is beginning to take a toll on you, don’t be afraid to seek professional help, talk to friends – you’re not alone.
