In life, stress is often difficult to avoid so you must continue to deal with stress in a positive way. Various things can cause stress, such as work problems, financial difficulties, health problems, or even the death of someone close to you. It is very important to identify the cause of stress (because in some cases, stress is a natural thing), then take the necessary steps to address the root cause and treat the symptoms. Most importantly, don't try to deal with stress alone – ask your friends for help, and if necessary, a healthcare professional.
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Method 1 of 3: Coping With Stress With Lifestyle Changes
Step 1. Exercise regularly
Exercise can free your body of stress hormones and can simultaneously increase levels of endorphins – which are responsible for feeling happy. Take time to exercise in between your busy life to maintain a healthy body and as a natural way to deal with stress. You will feel the difference.
- Try to speed up your heart rate to 120 – 160 beats per minute for about 30 minutes a day. If you don't have 30 minutes at a time, don't worry, you can divide the time, as long as you stick to your schedule.
- Walking for 20 – 30 minutes every day is enough if this is all you can do. Walking is not only great for reducing stress. In fact, adults over the age of 40 who walked at least 150 minutes a week had an increased life expectancy of 3.4 – 4.5 years.
- Swimming and cycling are also known to reduce stress. The advantage of swimming and cycling over jogging is that they don't put too much stress on the joints, making them perfect for people with joint problems or those who want to avoid them.
Step 2. Get Enough Sleep
Give your body the sleep it wants, and your stress level will decrease quickly. Sleep is the body's mechanism to recover and restore its energy reserves. If you are sleep deprived, your body will use stress to keep you active and awake without any energy reserves.
- Most adults need at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Meanwhile, children and older adults need a longer night's sleep, around 9-10 hours per night.
- Get regular sleep. If you can, try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every night and morning. A regular bedtime routine will teach your body when it should feel tired, which will help you sleep better and avoid sleep deprivation.
Step 3. 49% of Americans who experience sleep deprivation state that stress is the cause
If you feel your sleep cycle is constantly lacking or causing stress, see your doctor for more specific advice.
Step 4. Eat Well
Your body should be healthy, happy and well-nourished to help you deal with stress. Like it or not, stress is a natural reaction to anything that disturbs the body's natural state, meaning your body has a huge influence on generating and dealing with stress.
- Water has been known to reduce stress. This is because the body that lacks water will produce cortisol which is a stress hormone. The body that lacks water creates stress to encourage the owner of the body to take good care of himself.
- Reduce caffeine and alcohol intake. In some cases, alcohol intake can increase the stress response in humans, and is also associated with substance dependence, which is a stressful condition. Caffeine is also responsible for increased stress, especially at work, so try drinking water as a general rule.
- Eat a healthy breakfast and healthy snacks throughout the day. Eating small meals several times a day is better than eating three large meals.
- For a stress-free diet, eat more complex carbohydrates such as whole grain breads and pastas, foods high in vitamin A such as oranges, foods high in magnesium such as spinach, soy or salmon, and black tea and green tea which contain antioxidants.
Step 5. Learn to relax
Relaxing your body in any natural way is a good way to reduce stress. But don't expect your stress to go away right away, as this takes time. In most cases, try not to think about stress as you try to relax. Think of something relaxing, or think nothing in particular. Let your body reassure your mind that all is well.
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Listen to soft and soothing music. Music can make you relaxed and happy. Try listening to music without vocals and opt for music with an instrument like the flute, piano, or violin. Classical music, jazz, or folk songs are usually great for relaxing, but if you don't like it, choose whatever music makes you feel comfortable.
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Bath. Add bath salts or other scented salts for a soothing sensation. Pamper yourself and relax.
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Massage. You can use professional massage services or ask your partner to massage you. Use lotion or oil and dim lighting for the most relaxing atmosphere.
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Keep a diary. Writing down things that are bothering you, busy, and your other feelings will help to get the negative emotions out of your mind.
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Step 6. Practice yoga and meditation
While you can think of yoga as your daily practice, deep muscle stretches and slow movements will help clear your mind. Meditating – clearing the mind – while doing light yoga will have a double effect in reducing stress.
- Use certain fantasies to imagine a place where you feel at peace. Imagine a place where you feel happy, focus your mind on the details so that your mind will be completely distracted.
- Do yoga alone or in a group to help you learn new poses. As you get better at yoga, you'll be able to do stretches that are complex enough to force you to focus and take your mind off stress.
- Deep relaxation exercises by doing progressive muscle relaxation. This can be done by tensing your muscles, holding them for ten seconds, and then releasing them. This will relieve and reduce your muscle tension.
Step 7. Do what you love
Often when you're stressed, you don't have time to do the activities you love. Whether it's drawing, writing, reading, exercising, or cooking. For that, set aside time to do what you love every day.
- Pick a new hobby to help reduce your stress. If you've always wanted to learn to ride a horse or build a model airplane, then go for it! Learning new things will take your mind off whatever is bothering you, and at the same time give you a new hobby for you to enjoy.
- If you are very busy, spend at least ten minutes a day doing what you enjoy. While ideally, you need a thirty minute to an hour break from your busy schedule to lower your stress levels.
Method 2 of 3: Coping With Stress With Mind Activities
Step 1. Avoid negative thoughts
Find the positive things in your life and start balancing your emotions. Avoid focusing only on the bad things that happened throughout the day, think about the good things too.
- Stop and count the gifts you receive. Write down the things you have and enjoy even the smallest things: your home, your bed, healthy food, warmth, security, health, friends and family. Understand that not everyone is lucky enough to have this.
- Say positive things to yourself when you wake up. This will give you energy and keep your mind focused on positive things. Grateful for your every day; You never know which is your last day.
- Give yourself a positive spirit. Use positive statements like “I can get over it, one at a time,” or “Since I've done this successfully before, there's no reason I can't do it again.”
- Think positive things; it may not last long, but it can help you to refocus. Don't admit defeat until you actually lose. You don't have to punish yourself.
Step 2. Organize Your Life
Determine the goals you need to achieve in one day, then make a "to do list". Add a break in the middle of the day so you have time to recharge. Taking control of your time and priorities will lower your stress level quite a lot.
- Know your limits. Be realistic about what you can and can't achieve in one day. Taking on more work than you can afford and then punishing yourself when you can't get it done isn't a good thing.
- Prioritize. Start doing the most important things first. Put the thing that has a lower priority at the end.
- Do the thing you don't like the least or the hardest thing to do at the start of the day while you're still fresh, thus avoiding the stress of rushing work. Procrastination will only add to the stress!
- Emphasize quality in your work, rather than just quantity. Be proud of being able to get things done.
- Create a daily schedule, if possible, so things that stress you don't overlap to reduce the number of stressors you have to deal with at one time. Set deadlines for big projects.
- Review your goals in the afternoon or evening and think about what you have accomplished. This can reduce your tension and help you sleep better. Mark things you've done on your to-do list.
Step 3. Identify what is stressing you out
Make sure you know why you are stressed so you can avoid it. Knowledge is important, and self-knowledge is very important.
- If you notice, for example, that you are constantly stressed at certain times with certain people, do something different to prepare your brain for the stress to come. If that person is someone you care about and trust, gently tell them how you feel. If you are not comfortable sharing your feelings, remind yourself that these are temporary and that they will change, and you will have complete control over yourself soon.
- Exercise. Once you know that you are going to face a stressful situation, practice how you are going to deal with it. Imagine yourself tackling it successfully. Make a recording in your mind so you can repeat it over and over again.
Step 4. Stop worrying about the things you can't change
Especially about politics, and other people. Learning to accept things as they are is an important stress coping mechanism, although it's not as easy as it sounds.
- Is the problem a real problem you're currently dealing with, and not a "what if" expectation? If the problem was hope, how likely would it be? Is what you're worried about realistic? Are you able to do something about it or prepare for it, or is it beyond your control
- Admitting that there's nothing you can do about certain things will help you adjust. Admit that maybe your own thoughts are causing the same stress as an adrenaline junkie taking adrenaline, only in your case it gets out of hand.
Step 5. Take responsibility for making your life the way you want it to be
Making decisions and doing something about your life will reduce your stress compared to doing nothing and depending on others. Decide what you want and do it!
- Learn to say no to certain things. You can't do everything you're asked to do, and even if you could, you probably wouldn't.
- Fight your urge to be perfect every time. Perfectionism can cause great stress if you hold on to unattainable standards. Be realistic about what you can and cannot do. Don't trap yourself into failure just because you want to feed your ego.
- Don't beat yourself up for failing if you've tried your best. You've done everything, and no one asks for more from you. You are responsible for the failure, but there is no need to make that sense of responsibility hurt you.
- Be a good friend to yourself. As spoiled as it sounds, it's necessary: Love yourself, depend (mostly) on yourself, and enjoy what you are good at. Loving yourself will eliminate questions like “Am I good enough?” and replace it with "I know I'm good enough."
Step 6. Develop your sense of humor
One of the things that hinders stress reduction is the desire to take things too seriously. Reduce your seriousness a little and observe that having humor in life is a good thing. Laugh! Know that there is humor even in stressful greetings.
Learn to laugh at yourself. Don't punish yourself, or reduce your self-confidence, but try to criticize yourself in a fun way every now and then. How can you laugh at anything else if you can't even laugh at yourself?
Step 7. Try to ask your friends and loved ones for help
This is one of the most important things. Your friends, if they are your true friends, will try to understand what you are going through and will accompany you with empathy and a genuine desire to help you if possible.
- Ask your friends for help. If you want to get something done but don't have the energy or time to do it, it's a good idea to ask a friend or loved one for help. Express your gratitude and offer help in return.
- Seek mutual respect from the other person, not their approval – including your friends. Your friends will appreciate you because they love you, even if they don't agree with you. And your enemies (if you have any) will appreciate you for your genuine motivation. Fight the desire to be loved and accepted by everyone, because this is impossible. You will feel less stressed and happier if you can do this.
- Look for people who think positively. This is true because being around people who are fun, cheerful and kind will help you avoid the stress you would feel around people who are pessimistic, cynical and mean.
Method 3 of 3: Fight for yourself
Step 1. If someone threatens you so that you feel stressed and anxious, tell them how you feel
Step 2. Tell people you trust everything about your stress and what's bothering you
Opening up is a good way to express how you feel and how to deal with them.
Step 3. Buy something like a ball or punching bag, use it and scream
This can help you express the stress you are feeling so you feel relaxed. Holding back your feelings is not good for your body.
Tips
- Plan something you are looking forward to in the future. Use your imagination to reduce stress.
- Be honest about how you feel. Don't resist or pressure him as this will only add to the stress. Don't be afraid to cry as this can reduce tension and let your emotions out and so can help you cope.
- Keep your point of view and find that certain things are not as bad as you think. Think about what's important in your life to combat the stressors.
- Massage
- Bask in the sun. Sunlight can make you feel happy and reduce seasonally-affected disorder (SAD).
- Apologize to someone if necessary. Make sure that this will not make the situation worse. Guilt will add pain to stress.
- Find something you want or have neglected and focus your mind on it, making sure this is not an escape.
- Chew gum. Chewing is known to reduce stress; this is the reason why people who are constantly under stress tend to overeat. Chewing gum is a healthier alternative.
Warning
- See a healthcare professional immediately if you have chest pain or dizziness.
- Avoid self-medicating using alcohol and drugs, both prescription and non-prescription drugs.
- Avoid running away as this will not help with your problem, especially in extreme cases where you need to get medical help.
- If you are chronically stressed – if you cry a lot, gain or lose weight rapidly, or lose sexual desire – see a doctor to address this. You may have an anxiety disorder or other illness.
