How are your Stress levels? Here are 4 Steps to manage Yours!

Stress is something everyone feels at times and stressful situations can play a part of daily life.

Stress is our body’s response to pressure as it produces stress hormones, such as cortisol, that trigger a fight, flight or freeze response and activate our immune system. This helps us respond quickly to dangerous situations.

Sometimes, this response can be useful: it can help us push through pain or fear, so we can run a marathon or deliver a speech, for example. Our stress hormones will usually go back to normal quickly once the stressful event is over, and there won’t be any lasting effects.

However, when we are subjected to too much stress and our body is reacting to stressful events regularly, our body does not have chance to return to normal it can leave us in a permanent stage of fight, flight or freeze. This can mean we feel overwhelmed or unable to cope mentally or emotionally. Long term, this can affect our physical and mental health and is classed as burnout.

I know what this is like, I’ve been there; it would make me feel irritable, anxious, unable to see things clearly and rationally and reduce my confidence.

The signs that told me my levels of stress were too high were:-
• I would snap at people
• I couldn’t retain information
• I drank too much coffee (and wine if the truth be told!)
• I chose unhealthy eating options
• I didn’t sleep well
• I would be close to tears at a moment's notice.

I wish I knew then, what I know now because I did not know how to manage my stress nor did understand how my mindset was creating that stress. Now, I recognise my own stresses before they reach that point.

I am more aware when something is causing me stress by my slight physical changes:-
• It starts with a clenching of my jaw
• Then my breathing becomes shallower
• I notice a tightness in my stomach.

Then I use these 4 key ways to take a moment to manage or overcome those feelings and you can too:

1. Breathing – Close your eyes, sit up right and breathe in for 4, hold it for 4 and breathe out for 8. Repeat several times as you focus on breathing into your tummy and keeping your shoulders down.
2. Feel your body – With your eyes still closed, become aware as you sit there of the weight of your body pressing down into the chair, your feet on the floor, your hands on your lap. And perhaps rub your hands together and focus on the sensations you can feel as you do that.
3. Listen – keep your eyes closed and notice the sounds you can hear that are furthest away e.g. traffic or a lawn mower and then become aware of sounds closest to you such as your breathing or rumbling tummy.
4. Look – open your eyes and look at a particular object (or if nothing around use your hand) and focus in on the details, the colour, the texture how the light touches it and consider it from different angles.