Tips for Stress Management

There are many ways to manage unhealthy stress in your life. As you begin to understand more about how stress affects you as an individual, you will develop your own ideas to help relieve your stress.

Remember, some of these stress management strategies will be new skills and require practice before they come naturally to you. Remember what it was like to ride a bicycle? There was a time when this was a new skill and felt very unnatural and awkward. You probably needed help at first. With some coaching and practice, stress management, like bicycling will becomes easier.

 

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1. Take a Deep Breath!

• Mentally scan your body for physical tension.

• Does your chest feel tight? You may be holding your breath without even knowing it! Stress can cause us to breathe more quickly and therefore our breath is shallower which puts less oxygen in the blood stream, producing an increase in muscle tension. You may experience headaches; you may feel more anxious and uptight.

• The next time you feel "uptight," try taking a minute to slow down and breathe deeply. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to inhale enough so that your lower abdomen rises and falls. Count as you exhale - slowly!

 

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