How To Manage Stress In Seven Ways

Jun 7
07:43

2010

Jovita Orais

Jovita Orais

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We cannot avoid stress. As long as we are living, stress is going to be a part of our lives. The bottomline is we need to learn how to manage stress and have a positive outlook so our bodies are not controlled by the stressful events happening in our lives.

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Each of us reacts differently to the exhaustion caused by poorly managed stress. That is due to environmental factors as well as hereditary predisposition. Some people are muscle reactors,How To Manage Stress In Seven Ways Articles some gut reactors and some are vascular reactors .

Muscle reactors constantly brace their skeletal muscles such as in the neck and shoulders, causing tension headaches. In some cases, the tension moves down the spine. This is the cause of up to ninety five percent of all low back pain. Not knowing how to properly relax, these people become constantly frustrated in their attempts to relieve their hurting muscles. Thus they build up more frustration, causing more bracing and more pain. It’s a vicious cycle.

Gut reactors are those who always brace the muscles of the stomach and intestines and suffer ulcers and colitis, we all knew them right? Those people who pop antacids like m&m’s.

The vascular reactors are those who constantly brace the smooth muscles such as the arteries in response to stress. They suffer excruciating pain of migraine headache when the inner blood vessels in their brain constrict, pushing blood into the outer cranial vessels which in turn are forced to dilate beyond normal capacity.

To lessen these physical symptoms we have to learn to constantly challenge ourselves to think positively, expect good things to happen, learn relaxation techniques, meditate and start exercising.

If you want to master how to reduce stress you have to know that it is ideal for people who are ‘left brained’ like lawyers, accountants ,writers etc. to have hobbies like gardening, chopping wood . carpentry etc.. For people who stand on their feet all the time and do manual labor for a living, should indulge in hobbies like scrabble, chess, painting to balance between physical and mental activities.

If a certain activity bores you like, you can’t get over why people like to carry binoculars and watch birds then don’t do it because it might just add to the stress. There are many ways to swerve off the path of anger, anxiety, frustration, sadness or simply lethargy into a state of happiness once or several times throughout the day. Here are practical ways to reduce stress:

1. Pad your schedule. Always be reminded that goals and projects will take longer than you initially anticipated to accomplish. Allot yourself enough time, like give yourself twenty percent more time than you think you need to do the task so you won’t get anxious or jittery till the project will be accomplish.

2. Make a to-do- list. Writing down your tasks to help you organize your thoughts to calm and soothe your nerves. Checking off each items on your list as you accomplish then provides a great sense of fulfillment.

3. Do one thing at a time. It’s okay to multi task if you’re doing chores. But for relaxing activities like chatting on the phone with your girlfriend, watching a very good movie, practice mindfulness. Happiness comes in moments, if you multi task all the time, you are not really there and experiencing it in the moment.

4. Carry a canteen. Keep bottled water handy. If you are under stress, you sweat more and feel thirsty, you feel better if you hydrate every now and then.

5.Tune out the news. Particularly nighttime news just before going to bed. Take a breather from the misery were exposed to everyday via the media. Instead read inspirational books or listen to uplifting subliminal cds or podcasts.

6. Declutter. It is impossible to think clearly if you are physically and deeply submerged in a sea of bills, magazines and all that knickknacks. Repetitive motion of tasks such as cleaning, wiping or scrubbing can be meditative in itself. It can be a way for to you focus on what you are doing plus the house gets all clean up. Double whammy.

7. Shout. Blow off emotions at ball games and let the tension out of your system. Sports bars, pep rallies and political conventions are other places to yell something really nasty and let out that adrenaline squirt in your heart. Just don’t yell at church services, snow covered cliffs and your father in law’s house.

You have just read seven new ideas on how to reduce stress why not begin to apply it now?