Avoiding Stress Is Easy If You Know How

We can consider stress as the process that begins when a person perceives a situation as threatening or overflowing with their resources. The cornerstone of this definition is the term “perceive”, it is not a matter of whether or not the threat exists in reality, but rather that the person perceives it as such.

Often times, the events that trigger stress are related to changes, require an individual to overexert themselves and, therefore, endanger their personal well-being. That is, stress is not directly related to not stopping doing activities  or having little time to meet many goals.

It is about perception rather than the situation itself. The same situation can be stressful for one person, but not for another. In the same circumstance, there are people who have the feeling that they cannot give you an answer, while others believe they can.

What situations cause us stress?

1. Stressful life events or events

They can involve extraordinary and extremely traumatic events, but also more or less normative events (marriage, divorce, dismissal…).

The most studied, according to their impact on health, are war situations, terrorist acts, mistreatment, rapes, terminal illnesses, emigration, natural or man-made disasters, as well as highly traumatic life events (divorce, loss of life). dear …).

2. Daily events

We refer to “minor” events that occur on a regular basis. Events such as family disputes, financial problems, traffic jams, small forgetfulness …

The accumulation of events of this type have shown a great predictive capacity of the psychological and somatic functioning of the individual. Also of their well-being, an effect that is even higher than that found in the case of stressful life events.

3. Situations of sustained chronic tension

They are the most important source of stress, as it joins the intensity of the situation (similar to stressful life events), the fact that their presence is daily.

We can give as examples a conflictive job position, with constant work overload or with uncertain future prospects; ongoing family disputes; situations of social marginalization; caregivers of the chronically ill, elderly or insane; etc.

 What can I do to avoid or reduce my stress?

1. Get physical exercise

Moderate physical exercise (for example, 30-minute walks) improves your health and appearance, and reduces stress. You know, there are no excuses for not exercising or practicing some kind of sport, whether or not you suffer from stress.

With physical exercise , we also release endorphins, which are substances (endogenous opioid peptides) that our body produces naturally to reduce pain and / or produce a feeling of well-being. That is why endorphins are also known as happiness hormones.

2. Take care of your health

It seems obvious, but for that reason we do not take enough care of our health. Follow a balanced diet, sleep the necessary hours and avoid harmful habits such as tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. People with a tendency to suffer from anxiety are more likely to develop unhealthy behaviors.

Think that when we feel stressed we are more likely to neglect our diet. These imbalances correspond mainly to overeating and eating high-calorie foods with few nutrients; that is, eating foods with “empty calories”.

3. Organize your time

You better have plenty of time to be overwhelmed by leaving everything for the last minute. Prepare meetings and get-togethers in advance and, if necessary, get up a little earlier in the morning so you don’t start the day at full speed. Think that your body needs a “warm up” time.

An agenda can help us a lot to organize our time. In that diary you will write down everything you have to do during the day and you will classify the tasks as urgent, not very urgent and postponed. You can use a color code to classify these tasks so that you can identify them with the naked eye.

4. Establish schedules and routines

The routines are especially soothing for people who feel overwhelmed easily. Keeping a routine creates a sense of order and control. It also combats the tendency to do a thousand things at once without concentrating on any, typical of those who are stressed. If we establish schedules and routines we can keep in mind what is important to do each day.

5. Try to be optimistic

Optimistic people have fewer physical signs of stress than pessimists. The predisposition towards optimism or pessimism determines the amount and intensity of unnecessary stress that a person experiences throughout his life.

Believe it or not, you can learn to be more optimistic and, consequently, to reduce stress. For this, it is essential to learn to speak to ourselves in a different way than we usually do and to look for evidence against what we fear in a catastrophic way.

6. Laugh, cultivate a sense of humor

Laughing helps to relax because when we laugh we see the friendly and absurd side of any situation. We also make difficulties seem less serious and serious.

This does not mean that we have to fool ourselves in certain situations. However, we can make the effort to bring out the comic side of what bad happens to us, or to put a touch of humor in our daily conversations with others. Everyone will appreciate it, including you.

7. Connect, share and cultivate your affections

Few are the stressful situations that cannot be reduced with the presence, support and understanding of a loved one. Thus, I recommend that you improve your communication skills as much as possible so that your relationships improve; both to be able to show appreciation to others, to resolve conflicts and negotiate skillfully.

Think that  having a good social support network  helps mitigate the effects of stress. It also improves low moods. In addition, regardless of whether others are there or not, the important thing is that the stressed or sad person perceives their availability and their closeness.

Final advice

Finally, there is something I have not talked about: keeping in touch with nature. Contemplating the wonder of nature is not only beautiful, it is also very relaxing because it helps you focus on something external to you. Feeling part of the life that surrounds us allows us to relativize worries and reduce tension.

If the implementation of these tips has not managed to reduce your stress levels remember that you can always go to a professional. It will help you live in a more relaxed way, enjoying and savoring every minute of your existence and it will teach you skills to relax and face everything that stresses you.