Stress can be good for you, but it can also be very bad. It can keep you engaged and improve performance during important work or social activities, however, if not managed properly it can lead to serious physical and mental health issues.
With National Stress Awareness Day almost here, we explore some out-of-the-box ways you can destress so that stress only plays a positive role in your life.
Acknowledge Happiness
Sometimes, stress can build because we feel like we’re constantly discontent, unhappy or far away from our goals. However, if we take more time to acknowledge moments of happiness and times when we’re doing something meaningful and enjoyable, we can put bad days into perspective and see them for what they are: simply blips.
Also, by knowing what makes you naturally happy you can alleviate stress by doing more of it. You can plan activities that are rewarding and fun, while leaving less room for activities that aren’t good for you.
Embrace, Don’t Avoid
Sometimes stress is uncontrollable. If your job or daily life involves certain variables that are not in your control, there may always be a certain amount of bad energy or ill feeling generated from your day. Equally, if you have a job that involves giving speeches, meeting deadlines or achieving a certain level of performance, then you will always face a certain amount of stress.
In these situations consider whether it would be better to embrace the stress rather than shy away from it. Sometimes understanding that the only way for you to get past stressful moments is to be bigger, stronger, more prepared and better.
By spending more time on your meeting preparation, for example, you might be able to ensure it goes well and limit the stress that comes when you feel like you’re about to underperform.
Go with the Flow
Somewhat in contrast to the last approach, going with the flow and accepting that stress exists in your day can help you overcome it and not blow it out of proportion.
If you find yourself getting stressed because your mornings are complete madness (maybe because your job involves people), try acceptance as a stress-reduction strategy. This might lead to less disappointment from feeling like you can somehow escape the reality of things. And thinking about the future (after the stressful event) may help you breeze past any short-lived stress.
Try Acupuncture
You may not have thought of this before, but many people use treatments like acupuncture to help deal with stress to great effect. We’ve offered acupuncture for stress in London for several years and would be delighted to hear from you about building a program that could help you overcome the worst of things.
