4 Ways To Stress Less

Chronic stress depletes your energy, increases the risk of suffering traumatic shocks, and can induce a variety of mental and physical health conditions.  At its worst, it may cause serious disability, or even lead to premature mortality.  The good news? Chronic stress is preventable and treatable.  Research highlights four key components for effective stress management.  If applied well, these methods can either eliminate, reduce or prevent symptoms of chronic stress.  In this month’s blog article, I will explore each of these elements so you know how to master chronic stress and transform your health and wellbeing.  

1. Reframe perceived threats into manageable challenges through knowledge and understanding

What has perception got to do with stress? Everything.  Studies show that the stress response is activated when the brain registers a threat.  By shifting your perspective and viewing stressors as manageable challenges, you can deactivate this response.  Understanding how stress works – its causes, key symptoms, and effects, is the first step.   With knowledge, it becomes easier to apply practical strategies that address stress at its source.  

2. Focus attention on stimuli that encourage relaxation 

Why does shifting attention to something positive facilitate a relaxation response?  Because when the brain focuses on positive stimuli, it reinforces a sense of safety, and the body relaxes.  For those of us that have experienced chronic stress we know how challenging this can be.  However, it is possible.  With awareness, intention and consistent effort, you can begin the process of transformation.  For this purpose, techniques such as EFT can bring about amazing results.  This is because EFT targets the mental, emotional and physiological components of stress.  Once the nervous system calms, it becomes much easier to focus on positive stimuli, such as gratitude or mindfulness of breathing.  

3. Build healthy coping strategies 

How do you cope with stressors that can’t immediately be changed? Start with a willingness to invest in yourself.  Then take action: educate yourself, seek support, and implement daily routines that support resilience.  Effective coping is not just about managing acute symptoms, it is about adopting long-term lifestyle medicines like: 

• EFT or other mind-body techniques which can bring about a calmer state.  
• Regular physical activity
• Balanced diet 
• Reaching out for social support
• Quality sleep habits

These can act as a protective base to reduce your vulnerability to chronic stress over time.  

4. Take proactive steps to reduce environmental stressors

In therapy, I’ve seen client’s chronic stress dissolve, without having addressed any external circumstances.  Why? Because chronic stress is often anticipatory – it is a fear of a future threat, rather what is actually happening.  Moreover, therapy can effectively help people shift their perceptions so that a real threat is seen as a manageable challenge.  

Still, addressing only psyco-biological symptoms of stress may not be sufficient.  If you struggle with financial difficulties, debt, or the possibility of redundancy, it is critical to take proactive steps to think of and find ways to resolve the problem.  This may include a practical solution that minimises the stressor, eliminates it or helps you to cope better.  Sometimes, only altering environmental stimuli can suffice, although this too requires a shift in perception.  Where there are real stressors, effective stress management addresses both internal perceptions and external circumstances.  

Using Solution Focused Change Techniques, you can acknowledge stress, stressors, and set achievable goals to resolve the problem.

Discover More About How To Stress Less

The nature of many modern day stressors are that they often require us to think of constructive solutions, rather than getting stuck in a fight or flight fear response.  While acute stress, that lasts minutes or hours, may be beneficial, the impact of chronic stress is alarming.  For instance, it can shrink the hippocampus, impair memory, disrupt emotions, cause physical ailments and seriously impair day to day functioning.  Fortunately, much of this is preventable.  

In this blog, I’ve introduced four practical strategies you can start applying straight away to manage chronic stress effectively.  However, to discover more about the science of how stress works, ways to reframe your mindset, how to facilitate a relaxation response and build healthy coping mechanisms, as well as guidance on how to take proactive steps to reduce environmental stressors, join me for my upcoming online course:

You can register here: masteringstress.eventbrite.co.uk 

Remember, with the right knowledge and strategies, you can master chronic stress and positively transform your health and wellbeing.   If you’re ready to create a life with more clarity, energy and calm, take the next step today.

Wishing you health and happiness.  

Sadaf  

🙂