Stress Management Techniques
The simple realization that you’re in control of your life is the foundation of stress management

Living with high levels of stress, can putt your entire health at risk. Stress wreaks havoc on your emotional stability, as well as your physical health. It tapers with your ability to think clearly, function effectively, and enjoy life.

Causes of Stress

Stress may be because of any physical, chemical, or emotional factors that cause bodily or mental unrest and that may even cause physical sickness. Stress also has effects on the immune system. Chronic (long-term) stress has the effect of “wearing down” the immune system, leading to an increased susceptibility to colds and other infections.

Physical and chemical factors that can cause stress include trauma, infections, toxins, illnesses, and injuries of any sort. Emotional causes of stress and tension are numerous and varied.

How to Manage Stress

Stress is a daily part of our life; it would be absolutely foolish to think that we can eliminate it from our lives completely. What we can do is to manage it and not let it cripple us.

 Learn to say “no” : This is the most important step, know your limits and stick to them. Whether in your personal or professional life, refuse to accept extra responsibilities that you know will cause you distress.

 Avoid people who stress you out : If someone constantly causes stress in your life and you can’t turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person or end the relationship entirely. 

 Take control of your environment : Avoid environments that stress you, if traffic’s got you tense, take a longer but less-traveled route. If shopping is an unpleasant chore, do your grocery shopping online or ask someone to help out.

Avoid heated topics : If you get upset over religion or politics, avoid talking about them. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people you are bound to be stressed.

Know your limits: evaluate your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you’ve got too much on your plate, drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom or eliminate them entirely.

 Express instead of bottling up- If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and polite way. If you don’t voice your feelings, resentment will build creating unnecessary stress.

Compromise- When you ask someone to change their actions, be willing to do the same. If you both are willing to bend a little, you’ll find a middle ground.

Be more assertive- If you need something ask for it. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them.

Manage your time better- Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you’re stretched too thin and running behind, it’s hard to stay calm and focused. But if you plan ahead, you can avoid these stress-inducing pitfalls.

Don’t try to control the uncontrollable- Many things in life are beyond our control— particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control.

Look for the Brightside- When facing major challenges; try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth.

Share your feelings- Talk to a trusted friend or a therapist. Expressing what you’re going through can be very therapeutic, even if there’s nothing you can do to alter the stressful situation.

Learn to forgive- Let go of anger and resentments. Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.

Include relaxation time-Include rest and relaxation in your daily schedule. Don’t allow other obligations to encroach. This is your time to take a break from all responsibilities and recharge your batteries. Make time for leisure activities that bring you joy, whether it be stargazing, playing the piano, or working on your bike.

Create a Support system- A strong support system will buffer you from the negative effects of stress. Spend time with positive people who enhance your life

Exercise regularly. Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventing the effects of stress. Make time for at least 30 minutes of exercise, three times per week. Nothing beats aerobic exercise for releasing pent-up stress and tension.

Eat a healthy diet-  Start your day right with breakfast, and keep your energy up and your mind clear with balanced, nutritious meals throughout the day.

Reduce caffeine and sugar- The temporary “highs” caffeine and sugar provide often end in with a crash in mood and energy. By reducing the amount of coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, and sugar snacks in your diet, you’ll feel more relaxed and you’ll sleep better.

Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs- alcohol or drugs may provide an easy escape from stress, but the relief is only temporary. Later the stress simply piles on plus your health starts to suffer.

Get enough sleep-Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally.

Shabbar Suterwala: Guide on How to Mange Stress

Stress Management is more than anger management and relaxation. It is self management. There are many different ways to manage stress. I have compiled the various stress management techniques that are simple and most effective to follow and practice. Please feel free to use as many as you can, keeping an open mind, so you can have a collection of techniques that are the most effective for you.

1. Feel Good about your Self

If you want to bring down your level of stress level in a matter of minutes, these techniques will help you. Use them as needed to feel better quickly; practice them regularly over time and gain even greater benefits.

Ø Deep Breathing from the Abdomen

Ø Meditation

Ø Having a dose of Laughter

Ø Progressive Muscular Relaxation

Ø Listening to light music

Ø Practicing Yoga

Ø Aerobic Exercises

Ø Creative Visualization

2. Take Care of Body

When we’re stressed, we don’t always take care of our bodies, which can lead to even more stress. Here are some important ways to take care of yourself and keep stress levels lower.

Ø Eat Healthy low fats – high protein meals

Ø Have six to eight hours of regular sleep

Ø Exercise regularly

Ø Develop a Hobby

Ø Have healthy Sex Life

3. Develop the Right Attitude

Attitude plays a great role in managing stress. Much of your experience of stress has a lot to do with your attitude and the way you perceive your life’s events. Here are some resources to help you maintain a stress-relieving attitude.

Ø Let go your Ego

Ø Have a Optimistic approach to life

Ø Do not react under pressure

Ø Stop Worrying and Start Living

Ø Accept that everything cannot be perfect

Ø Find an opportunity in every problem

Ø Say good things to your self – affirmations

Ø Have a health sense of humour

4. Develop the Right Environment

Having ambiance and pleasant environment make stress management very easy. Your physical and emotional surroundings can impact your stress levels in subtle but significant ways. Here are several ways you can change your atmosphere and less your stress.

Ø Clutter free home, office and working desk

Ø Green and Clean surrounding

Ø Light instrumental music

ØMotivational Posters

5. Short Tips for Busy People

Busy People add a lot of stress to their already stressed life. People who may have more stressors in their lives is because they have more activity in their lives, and less time to devote to stress management. If you’re a busy person, these resources can help you to manage stress efficiently in a short amount of time, and eliminate some of what’s causing you stress in the first place.

Ø Time Management Tips

Ø Communication Skills

Ø Listening Skills

Ø Managing Priorities

Ø Enhancing Team Work

Ø Enhancing People Skill

Article written by

Shabbar Suterwala

Corporate Soft Skills Trainer, NLP Practitioner, Psychological Counsellor

Many people practicing yoga techniques had reached to the point where they are seeking more advanced yoga exercises. Most yoga sessions focus on the meditation and breathing exercises. These basic yoga techniques give emphasis on providing relaxation and flexibility to the body in order to attain beneficial health effects. There are other yoga techniques which exceeds the norm of the commonly used yoga postures namely Ashtanga yoga, Bikram Yoga and Kundalini yoga. The asana poses involved in these yoga practices require proper concentration and dedication to achieve mastery of the involved yoga techniques.

Ashtanga Yoga – Muscle Building Yoga Technique

This yoga technique is much different from other forms of yoga exercises. The asana postures to be performed in this yoga exercise focuses on enhancing the strength and endurance of the practitioner’s body. The Ashtanga yoga technique is often restricted to those with proficient body status, due to the intensity involved in performing the difficult poses on this exercise. The yoga sessions for this yoga technique are often subjected to a fast pace of exercise procedures which would perfectly suit those people who are into building up their body’s strength and stamina.

The level of difficulty offered by the Ashtanga yoga asana postures gave it the name “athlete’s yoga”. The yoga techniques to be performed in this type of exercise require hard work, constant practice and great concentration. This is a good choice for people who are physically fit.

Bikram Yoga – Heating while Bending Yoga Technique

This 90-minute yoga session involves flexing your body while inside a sweltering room. The training room for this yoga technique is preheated to at most 105 degree Fahrenheit and 40 percent humidity. For those people who are interested on this extraordinary yoga experience, preparation is very crucial to survive this yoga technique. Students of Bikram yoga sessions should follow important reminders before starting the yoga exercises. Due to the heated environment, this yoga technique regulates breathing and releases the body’s fluids at faster rate compared to other yoga techniques. The extreme temperature applied with the constricting movements benefits the body’s blood flow. This yoga technique is advisable to those who can endure heat while performing the asana postures.

Kundalini Yoga – Releasing Inner Body’s Potential Yoga Technique

The postures involved in this yoga technique excite the endocrine and nervous system of the body. This is a very interesting type of yoga exercise since it gives serenity and ecstasy to the body if mastered. Kundalini yoga techniques compose of unique poses, meditation and chanting. The chanting is considered as the most crucial part of this yoga exercise. The chanting provides the practitioner to experience inner peace and at the same time enhancing the body’s senses. Most Kundalini yoga sessions require the assistance of a professional guru. This yoga technique is an excellent choice for those who want to experience the soothing effect of concentrated meditation.

The American Institute of Stress acknowledges that no single definition for stress works across the board. Since stress affects almost everyone differently and what stresses one person might not another, nailing down an agreed upon description is often difficult. One thing experts do agree upon, however, is the fact that stress can have some very serious implications. One of the most common places for people to experience stress is in their daily working lives. When battling its effects becomes important, learning office stress management techniques can help.

Office stress management techniques can be very important for helping people stay in focus and in control on hard days. While most people would love to say they enjoy their jobs and derive no stress from them whatsoever, this simply is quite often not the case. When stress builds up in the office, releasing it effectively is not only good for the body, but the measure could preserve or even advance a career.

Some of the best office stress management techniques to use in high-pressure situations or even on days when everything just seems to be going wrong include:

* Taking a break. This is one of the best office stress management techniques possible. If tension is piling up, taking five to regroup is always a good idea. Whether a person just sits at their desk and closes their eyes for a few minutes, visualizes themselves tackling the problems facing them or gets up and walks around, the result can be a calmer feeling and a mind that is more focused on the job at hand.

* Exercise. Some people find that this is among the best office stress management techniques going. Cutting a lunch hour short to walk the stairs or just walk around the building can relieve some of the tension of the day. Plus, it’s good for the body and helps get the blood flowing and the brain working.

* Deep breathing, relaxation techniques. If stressors pile up too high, or a meeting is going out of control, working relaxation techniques into routine before responding can result in the desired performance. Taking a deep breath before answering a complaint call, spending two minutes meditating before facing an angry boss or co-worker or even working muscles to make them relax a bit can also put a person in a better position to release stress and face the day.

Even people who work in the fields they want and truly enjoy their jobs can carry the baggage of stress. When working some of it off and making sure reactions and behaviors are appropriate matters, office stress management techniques can come in handy. Just a few minutes here and there to refocus and recharge can make all the difference in the world.