Stress Management: 7 Ways To Manage Your Stress

Stress is a feeling of anxiety that you experience in response to an event. Stress creates internal physical and emotional tension, which can lead to a variety of physiological, mental, or behavioral responses.

Stress is rooted in the human fight-or-flight response, which keeps you alert and responsive in the face of danger. Stressful situations that mimic fight-or-flight stressors cause your body to release two primary stress hormones; adrenaline (which increases your heart rate and blood pressure) and cortisol (which increases your blood sugar, alters your immune system, and spikes your energy).

Studies show that unmanaged stress leads to an array of physical and mental health problems including heart disease, weakened immune system, high blood pressure, anxiety disorders, depression, or other disorders that can reduce your overall quality of life.

Stress can have an impact on your short-term and long-term wellbeing, and stress management is a way to reduce any detrimental effects it may have on your body. Being permanently stress-free is not likely, nor is it necessarily healthy—a small amount of stress can be beneficial. However, it is possible to adapt your stress response to reduce the negative impact stress may have on your life.

There are certain symptoms indicating that stress may be negatively impacting your life. Some common symptoms of stress include:

1. 1. Headaches: Tension headaches occur when our muscles contract for long periods of time. When you’re stressed, your body unwittingly tenses up. When suffering from chronic stress, constant tensing can lead to headaches, which can interfere with your daily routine.
2. 2. Teeth grinding: Tension from stress can cause clenching in the extremities or in the mouth. For many, teeth grinding occurs at night while they’re asleep, leading to headaches or jaw pain that worsen over time.
3. 3. Sweating: Stress can raise your heart rate and increase your body temperature, activating the sweat glands in order to cool down. Some people have very active sweat glands, making them prone to sweating even at lower levels of stress.
4. 4. Nail-biting: When we are under stress, our bodies look for ways to cope with feelings of anxiety. Some people find the repetitive motion of biting their nails to be an effective short-term stress reliever.
5. 5. Burnout: Burnout occurs when you reach peak exhaustion emotionally, physically, and/or mentally. Burnout can make you feel depressed and inadequate, which can impact your performance at work or your relationships.

It’s important to know how to effectively lower stress levels to reduce the likelihood of stress having a negative impact on your life. Some helpful stress reduction methods are:

1. 1. Practice meditation. Mindfulness meditation or walking meditation are two relaxation techniques that can provide stress relief. When you give your mind something to focus on other than the stressor, you can help create space between yourself and the stressful situation. This allows you to challenge negative thoughts and gain perspective.
2. 2. Get some exercise. Exercise is one of the most healthy ways to naturally mitigate stress. When you exercise, you release endorphins, which act on the opiate receptors in the brain and produce a feel-good effect. Increasing the amount of endorphins in your brain can reduce the physical pains of stress, and increase your dopamine production, which can help you feel happier overall.
3. 3. Try yoga or Tai chi. Yoga is a physical and philosophical practice that originated in ancient India over 5,000 years ago. It is also a stress reliever that benefits the mind, body, and spirit. Certain forms of yoga incorporate mindfulness with low-impact physical activity. Tai chi is similar to yoga, except that it consists mostly of standing poses in motion, rather than seated and standing poses held in place. Each practice has been proven to be beneficial to those who experience chronic stress.
4. 4. Take deep breaths. Deep breathing can help you refocus your mind and physically calm your body down. Pranayama breathing, or yogic breathing, can help you improve your overall well-being and reduce stress.
5. 5. Get better sleep. Stress can cause you to lose sleep, and losing sleep can cause you to feel more stress. Improving your sleep hygiene can make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep at night, which can reduce your stress.
6. 6. Practice positive self-talk. Sometimes, your internal monologue can contribute to your stress levels. Try altering your perception when you respond to a particular stressor. For example, instead of saying you can’t do something, ask yourself what you can do instead.
7. 7. Avoid triggers. Everyone’s triggers are different, but it’s important that you impose distance between yourself and a triggering variable (like social media, the news, or a particular person). Take note of which variables create more negative feelings than positive, and try to limit those as much as you can.

Find something comfortable to sit or lie on, grab a MasterClass Annual Membership, and dial into the present moment with Jon Kabat-Zinn, the father of the Western mindfulness movement. From formal meditation exercises to examinations of the science behind mindfulness, Jon will prepare you for the most important practice of them all: life itself.