Dealing With Stress: Seven Useful Tips

Stress is one of the biggest problems in our modern world, especially in the more developed parts. It’s not easy to keep calm in a world that is running at full throttle. Nor is it easy to deal with the noise and hostility of today’s big cities. Because of all this, dealing with stress is not an easy task.

In both the short and long term, stress can damage our bodies and minds. Many physical illnesses stem from too much stress. At the same time, stress blocks our minds, preventing us from thinking clearly and affecting our relationships.

However, don’t be afraid. Dealing with stress is possible by using some simple methods. It all comes down to taking a break and applying some of the tricks we’ll explain here.

1. Dealing with stress: identify when the stress started

Recognizing stress is not as easy as it may seem at first glance. Often we don’t notice that we are stressed until it has already reached a high level.

Stress manifests itself in both physical and emotional ways. It can quickly increase in intensity or hide behind the scenes.

The physical signs of stress are muscle tension, especially in the jaw, neck or shoulders. Stress can also cause tension in the face, which often causes your lips to form a thin line.

Emotionally, there is a feeling of irritation mixed with fear. These emotions tell us it’s time to end our stress.

2. Use Breathing Techniques

Breathing is something we already do anyway, so it’s a tool we always have on hand when it comes to dealing with stress. It is an excellent way to bring some calm into your life. Slow, rhythmic breathing has been proven to activate the vagus nerve. This nerve helps you relax so that you can fight stress.

Sometimes all you need to do is find a comfortable position and take a deep breath. Try to focus on your lungs filling with air. Then exhale slowly. After two or three minutes your stress will decrease.

3. Distract your attention

Stress is associated with fight or flight responses. Therefore, we focus all our attention on the thing that gave rise to the tension.

However, the more you fixate on these sources of restlessness, the more stressed you will feel.

That’s why it’s so important that you try to divert your attention. Look at something around you. Try to describe it mentally, with as much detail as possible.

Then repeat the same exercise with two other objects. This will help you control your stress, regulate your impulses, and expand your immediate emotional outlook.

4. Look at a relaxed image

Images convey sensations to their observers. That’s why it’s good to always have a photo or other image of something relaxing at hand. Pictures of landscapes are good, especially if we are in lonely places or places where it is often cold, and of very green environments or environments with a lot of water.

When you’re feeling stressed, watching these images can help you relax. It is also a way to focus your mind on something pleasant, reducing restlessness.

5. Reinterpret the experience

Sometimes stress gets worse when we focus on it. You feel too much fear and want to get rid of it as soon as possible. Because this isn’t always easy, we just worry more instead of calming down.

So it is important to identify and accept our stress and then use methods to control it.

Try to recognize all the ways your stress is occurring. What do you feel in your body? How are you or are you standing? How fast is your heart beating? What kinds of thoughts come to your mind?

These questions will help you reinterpret what you’re feeling. The feeling of tension can gradually disappear.

6. Adopt an anti-stress attitude

There are stress postures and anti-stress postures. By the first kind of postures we mean, for example: sitting cross-legged in a twisted way, convulsions in your leg that occur at a steady pace, having a hunched back and tense facial muscles.

On the other hand, if you stand up straight and move your face, you will be able to deal with stress much better. It is a position that brings confidence and security. According to a study by Health Psychology, this position also inhibits the production of cortisol.

7. Do a simple exercise with your hands

It has been proven that by making strong fists with both hands and then opening the hands again, we can reduce stress. It is an aggressive gesture and for that reason it helps to release tension.

All these little tricks are very effective for dealing with stress. It’s not surprising that we experience stress in our modern world, especially if we live in big cities. The important thing is not to let stress overwhelm you and instead use these tools to control it.