How to manage daily stress?

Whether it is recent events or the pace of life imposed on us, the society in which we live is conducive to stress. And the latter is pervasive, affecting most people and sometimes in problematic ways.

Stress, when triggered over short periods in the face of exceptional situations, is quite natural. But in the long term, this can have harmful consequences, on our state of mind and our mind, but also on our body!

Whether you are very sensitive to it, or more relaxed, let's learn together to differentiate positive stress from negative stress, and explore the possibilities available to us to combat the latter...

Stress: positive or negative?

It is essential to know that if stress is a completely natural reaction, it can be of two types. Positive stress, which poses no problem and will only have beneficial effects, and its negative inclination; which is unsuitable for him, and will have harmful effects.

Positive stress is a completely natural response of the body to a new stimulus (for example, a new task to do, or an unfamiliar environment). It creates a temporary pressure that helps us to boost our intellectual abilities: concentration, memory, learning abilities… in order to react better to the stressful situation.

Negative stress, on the other hand, does not necessarily appear in the face of a specific situation. And above all, it has the unfortunate tendency to extend and settle over time. It is often caused by the accumulation of situations perceived as dangerous, or anxiety-provoking, and is very common these days.

Far from helping us to improve our capacities, this bad stress has a negative impact on our state of mind, which can thus impact other areas of our life and create a snowball effect... It is also a source of digestive disorders, pain or insomnia. In short, this stress that threatens us on a daily basis must absolutely be combated. And for that, here are some tips to apply as soon as you feel the negative stress invade you!

How to relieve stress?

The first step to eliminating stress is to determine where it comes from, in order to be able to attack it at the source by dealing with the reasons for its appearance. To do this, you can ask yourself a few simple questions:

• In what specific situations do you feel the most stressed?
• What are the areas of your life that cause you the most anxiety?
• Do you know why?

Once your main sources of stress have been identified, you can determine what strategies to put in place to calm or even eliminate this anxiety.

Easy to say, much less to apply, you might say. However, it is important to explore, among your sources of stress, which ones you are able to remove the most from your daily life. A change of environment, or habits, can perhaps limit or eliminate certain particularly stressful situations that you have identified. Some elements may seem insignificant; however, taken end to end, their absence could considerably reduce the anxiety-provoking potential of your daily life!

Despite this, there are certain aspects of our lives that we cannot control or change. Faced with these, other strategies are at your disposal to deal with them!

Here is one of the best methods related to breathing to reduce stress: cardiac coherence. Very simple to set up, it will allow you to refocus and reduce the physical symptoms related to stress, in order to regain control over the situation. Get into a quiet place, alone if possible, and just focus on your breathing. Inhale for a few seconds, then hold for a few seconds. Exhale for a few seconds, then block again. Continue for a few minutes, until you feel your breathing and heart rate calm.

Take time for yourself each week and devote it to an activity that you enjoy. Sporting or creative activities are often a good choice, because they allow you to focus on a goal and therefore forget about worrying thoughts. In addition, they cause the body to produce endorphins and dopamine, hormones essential to the feeling of calm and well-being.

Discussing and talking about what is stressing us out is a good way to release negative thoughts. To express your feelings, the important thing is to have someone you trust with whom you can share your discomfort and the situations that stress you out. Whether or not this person can provide solutions, the act of externalizing will always be a first step towards appeasement.

This trusted person can be someone from your friends or your family, but you can also choose to speak with your doctor, or with a specialized therapist who will be able to advise you best, and will listen to you attentively.

In conclusion, learning to manage the negative stress that can invade us is a real work on oneself, which is very important to do. Take some time for yourself, to identify your sources of stress, and put in place strategies to reduce or even eliminate each of them. To serenity to you!

No matter how long it takes, what aids you will need; there are solutions, and they can help you overcome the negative stress of everyday life, to keep only the positive stress, from time to time, which will boost you and allow you to surpass yourself!