In this episode, I will share 5 stress management tips for resilience that may surprise you.
Stress Management is the 7th and final area on the wheel of health.
Resilience is your capacity to return to a state of wellness again and again.
Stress Management is an important aspect of resilience.
There are hundreds of very real ways to manage stress...meditation, breathing, sleep, exercise, etc. however, the five tips I’m sharing are meant to help you before you even take physical action. I like to think of them as stress management preparation.
If you use these five tips before jumping straight to taking action you will find that when you do take action, it will be more aligned with what you actually need and therefore be more effective.
#1 Identify The Type of Stress
Major, acute stress is quite easy to identify in my experiences, such as stress from loss, grief, or physical pain. Long, slow-burn stress, as I call it, can be trickier because it gradually sneaks up on you. For example, chronically skipping meals, ongoing financial stress, unrecognized painful self-talk, and more. If it’s slow-burn stress, we likely have more influence over the stressor.
#2 Recognize Your Unique Capacity To Cope
Everyone has different wiring and capacities to cope with various stressors. What’s stressful to me may not be stressful for you. If you can recognize and show compassion to yourself you begin from a place of acceptance and everything is easier when you are not in an adversarial relationship with yourself.
#3 Be 100% Honest
Completely own how you are feeling in a raw, unfiltered way. You can move towards a place of understanding, acceptance, and even gratitude later, but for now, lay it all out there.
#4 Get To The Core
Try to find out what’s at the center of the stressor. Likely it’s an unmet need that you may not even be aware of yet because you are too distracted by the surface layers, conflicting emotions, and unhelpful self-talk.
#5 Ask and Listen
Ask yourself what would help, then wait. Don’t answer with an automatic response. Wait for your gut to feel aligned with the answer even if it doesn’t seem to make logical sense just yet. Remember you don't need to solve it all right now. You are just taking the next inspired step.
Resources used for this episode:
The Mindful Diet by Ruth Wolever, Beth Reardon, and Tania Hannon
Yours In Health,
