Self-Help for Stress Relief of Body, Mind, and Spirit
Note: The information contained in this article is for
educational purposes and is not medical advice.
If you are very stressed, the first step is to take care of yourself.
The subsequent steps address the problem causing the difficulty and
increase your ability to handle stress.
Step One
Recreate balance and harmony in your body, mind, and life by calming your
mind and emotions and by relieving your physical distress. To calm mind and
emotions, get your mind off external problems by turning your attention to other
things for a while. Rest. Relax. Take some time alone. Do something fun. Take a long, hot bath and listen to some
soothing music. Take a break from your work. Take a walk or visit a
friend. Get a relaxation massage. To relieve physical distress, eat a nourishing
meal, get out of pain by getting a professional massage, using muscle creams,
stretching, or applying moist heat. Rub your feet. Have a cup of chamomile or
other relaxing herbal tea.
Step Two
Identify the source and nature of the stress. General examples are:
financial stress, workplace stress, social stress, environmental stress. Get
more specific than that. If it's workplace stress, what exactly is causing it?
For example, are you always uncomfortable with a particular type of interaction
with a co-worker or boss? Get more specific than that. What exactly is
it about those interactions that is problematic? Try to understand the nature of the problem.
Are you also aware that stress is not only related to psychosocial causes?
Many forms of stress are invisible including nutritional stress (i.e., food
allergies), chemical stress (i.e., taking prescription medications),
electromagnetic stress (i.e., electromagnetic wires), and physical stress (i.e.,
repetitive use of body parts, poor posture). For other sources of stress, become
a detective and search for possible "invisible" stressors. Investigate
environmental influences like dietary stressors (junk food, food allergies),
prescription or over the counter medications, chemical products you use such as
make-up, deodorants, or additives in food or tap water, time spent in front of
the computer, etc. (See the Self-Help Book/Video List for several books on this topic. Also search Amazon.com for books and materials on environmental stressors.
)
After you have named the stress or become very specific about
exactly what is causing the stress, then you can go to the next step.
Step Three
Identify strategies for reducing and managing stress. For psychosocial
stress, look for ways to improve your situation through problem solving,
communication and negotiation, time management strategies, increasing your
social support network, or changing your own negative behavior patterns to be positive and productive. You may
also find it helpful to restructure your thinking: learned optimism,
self-esteem, change your negative thought patterns to be positive thinking, skillful self-regulation.
Take a class in stress management. Depending upon the problem, you may do other things like take a class in
financial management or learn better communication and negotiation skills. With
interpersonal matters, it can be very useful to obtain help from people like
counselors or therapists who are experienced in crisis intervention, effective
relationships, and people skills.
(See the Self-Help Book/Video List and
Mental/Emotional Links. Also search Amazon.com for books about stress management.)
For nutritional, chemical, electromagnetic and other sources of stress,
reduce or eliminate the source of the problem, if you can.
Step Four
Increase your resistance to stress, so that stressful situations bother
you less. This step may be more effective and easier to achieve than the last
step and gives you great results! You can start to increase your resistance and
resilience to stress by:
getting more exercise and make your body stronger (Right Exercise)
Website Claimer and Disclaimer: In the holistic healing model, each person is responsible for one's own health and makes one's own choices in healing. The information in this website is provided for your information and education. It is not medical advice. Any application of the information is at your own discretion. If you feel you need to do so, consult with your physician or other knowledgeable health care practitioner before or while making use of this information.
