Resources For Women

Managing Stress During Tumultuous Times

During these tumultuous times, it is harder to manage our stress than ever before. Headlines blare the latest catastrophe to our well-being while the day-to-day stresses also remain the same, which in turn make the burden seem insurmountable at times. It is more important than ever to learn important techniques for managing and relieving stress so that we can push forward into a bright and productive future.

Managing stress does not mean living with the status quo. It actually means that we adopt tools that help us to decrease the stress, which in turn increases our creative ability to charge ahead and to deal with the day-to-day problems of life. Consider adopting the following tools to manage your own stress:

1. Recognize Your Stress Levels and Find Support
   

   The first step to dealing with stress is recognizing it and what it is doing to your life. Only then can you begin to manage it and relieve the negative impact. Look at how you're feeling, how you're sleeping, and what you are doing with your life. If all areas feel affected, then it's likely that stress has a deep hold on you. It's time to get out, find friends, and communicate your feelings with those that care about you.

   There are a thousand ways to find support and comfort. Many websites are now geared to bring people together to talk and exchange ideas. Take advantage of these tools. Bookmark these websites to turn to during the day. If you work from home this is especially necessary as the isolation can make this problem worse.

2. Laugh Your Troubles Away
   

   Humor is proven to relieve not only stress, but other illnesses as well. Cancer patients often use humor to increase their immune system. Find humor in all its myriad ways, from websites, to newsletters, magazines, to funny television shows and movies. Give yourself a laughing break at least two times a week. Not only will this increase your immune system and make dealing with life easier, it will melt away the stress.

3. Journal Your Way To Mental Health
   

   Journaling allows you to release the negative emotions and move past them. Just the act of writing something down gives you more power over your life. It also allows you to leave the stress on paper rather than keep it bottled up inside. Give yourself a break by buying yourself a journal and start writing today.

4. Exercise The Stress Out
   

   Exercise is not just needed for sound health, but also for great mental health. Nothing works as well as exercise for beating the stress out of your system. Find exercise that you enjoy, something that makes you smile, not another dreaded chore of the day.

5. Create Daily and Weekly Rituals
   

   It is within the rituals that we create healthy habits that help us to manage our stress on an ongoing basis rather than do crisis control when it gets to be too much. Create habits or rituals for caring for yourself. Don't fall under the mistaken impression that taking care of yourself is selfish. In truth NOT taking care yourself is selfish because everyone else must also deal with the fall out of too much stress. Take time for yourself and you will be a better person for everyone around you.

Kathy Peet is the owner of WomensFun.com, a website geared to helping women from all walks of life have fun and let go of stress. Have a laugh, join the fun, meet new friends at www.womensfun.com!