As April 2021 is stress awareness month we wanted to dedicate this weeks blog to stress management and how stress is affecting everyone.
Stress is a normal human reaction that happens to everyone. In fact, the human body is designed to experience stress and react to it. When you experience changes or challenges (stressors), your body produces physical and mental responses. That’s stress.
Stress responses help your body adjust to new situations. Stress can be positive, keeping us alert, motivated and ready to avoid danger. Here are some small tips you can use to help cope with stress.
Take care of yourself:
Eat healthy, exercise, get plenty of sleep, and give yourself a break if you feel stressed out
Talk to others:
Share your problems and how you are feeling and coping with a parent, friends, counsellor, doctor or pastor.
Take a break:
If news events are causing you stress, take a break from listening or watching the news.
Have some ‘me’ time:
We recommend setting aside a couple of nights a week for some quality ‘me time’ away from work.
Try to be positive:
Look for the positives in life and things for which you are grateful. Try writing down 3 things that went well, or for which you are grateful, at the end of each day.
Manage your time:
At times, we all feel overburdened by our ‘To do list’ and this is a common cause of stress. Accept that you cannot do everything at once and start to prioritise your tasks and set aside time for each one.
Laugh:
The act of laughing helps your body fight stress in a number of ways.
Meditate:
Take up a relaxation practice. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing activate the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the fight or flight or mobilization stress response.
With that in mind enjoy all your favourite things and spend as much time outdoors as possible as fresh air and sunshine will give you instant relief from stress!
