How to deal with stress on your own – 7 psychologist practices

In my professional piggy bank, I have collected more than a hundred different ways to cope with stress on my own, and I am ready to share them.

Perhaps by now you are thinking: “Why so much? Isn’t there one universal way? “ Unfortunately no. We are all very different and what works great for one is absolutely useless for another.

I usually recommend, having tried the effectiveness of each of the methods in practice, create your own individual “card of coping”, on which you write down 3-4 methods that help you better than others.

This card will help you not to get lost in a critical situation and quickly return to a stable emotional state.

Content:

7 effective methods of how to cope with stress on your own from Victoria Paksevatkina

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1. Physical activity

In my opinion, the best way to quickly regain emotional stability in a stressful situation, and to neutralize the effects of stress on the body on a daily basis, is physical activity.

This is due to the fact that in a stressful situation, our body prepares to save itself, “beat or run,” and both of these actions involve physical activity. As an emergency self-help, it will be enough to actively move for about 15-20 minutes, and you will feel a rapid improvement in your condition.

But daily physical activity should be longer and take 50-60 minutes. However, no one expects Olympic records from you. Enough just active movements that give you pleasure. It can be both indoor activities and seasonal outdoor activities – cycling, jogging, swimming, skating, skiing and even sledding.

2. Light finger movements on the lips

The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for the state of rest in our body. You can relax by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system by brushing your fingers over your lips. Parasympathetic fibers are found on the entire surface of the lips, as a result of which it is launched. This technique will help you calm down, even your breathing, feel lightness and comfort.

3. Breathing practices

One of the best anti-stress remedies is breathing practices. In addition to the well-known diaphragmatic breathing, breathing with a delayed expiration helps well. In this case, the exhalation should be twice as long as the inhalation. For example, if you breathe in at the count of 1-2, then the exhalation should take 1-2-3-4.

4. Muscle relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation works well as an anti-stress method. The author of the method is an American scientist and doctor Edmund Jacobson… It is based on an understandable principle: after any tension, the muscles relax. So, in order to relax, you need to strain. It is recommended to tense the muscle strongly for 5-10 seconds, and then relax for 15-20 seconds and focus on the feeling of relaxation.

5. “Hugs”

In difficult times, it is important to feel a connection with loved ones. The benefits and results of cuddling are increased levels of the hormone oxytocin, which can help you feel happy. But if there is no one next to you with whom you can immediately hug, try to hug yourself, you will feel warm, and this will positively affect you. Anti-stress toys – “crinkles” can be a great alternative. Buy yourself a small toy and actively wrinkle it with your hands during emotionally “hot” situations.

6. Talking to friends

What can provide greater relief than talking with friends? This is a great way to speak out and share everything that has accumulated. Only here it is worth sharing only with the closest ones, those whom you trust and who will support and help you in any case. If you are not sure that your best friend is good at keeping her mouth shut, it is better to seek help from crisis lines and helplines. This will provide you with the support you need and save you from unpleasant surprises in the future.

7. Mindfulness – the practice of “secular meditation”

In short, mindfulness is the practice of focusing attention on the present moment. It may seem that this is not such an important thing. But observe yourself for at least one day, and you will be surprised how often your thoughts are occupied with worries about the future or replaying situations that happened during the day.

Do mindfulness – meditations can be done not only at home, they can accompany you throughout the day. Whatever you are doing at the moment: working at a computer, washing dishes, playing with a child – try to approach this consciously, delve into what your body is doing, feel every movement. You are simply developing concentration skills by doing your daily activities.

Here are examples of exercises you can do daily.

Exercise “Cup with a drink”

• Pay attention to the cup from which you drink any drink: tea, coffee, juice, milk or something else. Look carefully at it, feel its weight and the material from which it is made;
• Take a breath and feel the aroma of the drink, and then slowly enjoy its taste;
• Try to listen to how you feel from each sip.

Exercise “Breathing pauses” (can be done in the morning, during the day and before bedtime)

• Take a comfortable posture, analyze the state of your body, find tense areas and try to relax them;
• Make your breathing conscious, feel each inhalation and exhalation;
• Do not drive thoughts out of your head, let them come and go, watch it as if from the side and focus your attention on breathing.

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• Keep the music in your head

You will notice that positive and optimistic people often hum something. It could be a song they heard or a set of melodic sounds. Scientists have shown that the combination of sounds and vibrations has a beneficial effect on pressure, which always rises during stress.

• Wash your hands in warm water

Nature has laid in us many amazing things that we do not even know about. One of them is immersion of any part of the body in warm water, which has a calming effect on the nervous system. You can not only wash your hands, but also take full warm baths.

• Chew celery

When you chew something, the level of the hormone cortisol, which is responsible for stress, decreases. The experiment was carried out with chewing gum, but there is another way, without cheating on your stomach. Eating has a calming effect on the nervous system. In addition, it allows you to relax the jaw muscles, which are compressed and tense during stress. Of course, this does not mean that you need to gorge yourself. Instead, it is better to chew celery, it helps with anxiety and insomnia.

• Massage your face

During stress, the muscles in the face tense up. Often the face seems to freeze and you need to revive it with the help of massage. It also helps with headaches. The massage should begin with pinching the eyebrows, moving from the bridge of the nose to the temples. Then you can massage your eyes, walk along the temples, behind the ears and reach the neck.

• Curse yourself in front of the mirror

Stress also affects the muscles in the face. Symptoms of stress are clenched teeth, a tense face, and headache. You can fight stress by relaxing your facial muscles. Grimaces act as an internal massage and exercise for these muscles.

As a result of stress, there is a disagreement between two parts of the brain: high – making logical decisions, and low – emotions and feelings. It’s important to be distracted by something light and creative. Have a notebook or notebook with you in which you can draw all sorts of drawings, scribbles and other nonsense.

• Eat salad

With stress and anxiety, there is a wild desire to seize everything. Better to replace your carbohydrate, fat and sugar intake with salad. It does not increase the appetite and therefore it is a good remedy for satisfying hunger. The salad is healthy and contains soothing substances.

• Take off your shoes and ground yourself in the truest sense of the word

Daily wearing of shoes has a negative effect on blood circulation not only in the legs, but also in the entire lower body. That is why be sure to take off your shoes and give your legs a rest. If you can walk on the ground and grass, it will be much better.

• Unlearn biting and learn to moisturize your lips

Do you often bite your lips when you are excited? This is what the majority do. Carry a moisturizing lip balm with you to stay comfortable and not bite your lips.

Now that you’ve seen a portion of my collection of stress management techniques, you can choose your top 3, add them to your coping card, and use them as needed.

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that stress is a natural reaction of our body’s mobilization in response to the changes taking place around us. This reaction does not harm us as long as the state of mobilization is followed by a phase of relaxation and restoration of resources. Therefore, the main task facing those who want to protect themselves from the negative effects of stress is the ability to relax and restore the resources of their body.

How do you deal with stress? Share with us in the comments!