For many, stress is an all too frequent occurrence that can be a paralyzing drain on energy.

In addition, we all know that if not managed properly, stress can have many terrible long term effects on our health and livelihood.

Many times stressful situations are unavoidable and a sign of life, so we must learn to prepare ourselves better for battle.

Here are some behaviors that I’ve found can naturally help you manage stress.

 

Understand the Causes

Stress is a complex reaction that your body makes due to external stimuli, and likely comes from a mixture of things, but stopping to examine the causes is a great first step.

Ask yourself what exactly is going on in your environment that is causing you stress?

You could be feeling pressure due to a time constraint, worry from fear of failure, or just too many things going on at once. Stress can also be disguised as anxiety from something such as feeling like you don’t know what you doing.

Our nervous systems are wired for survival, so anything we don’t completely understand can appear as a threat and we naturally react to it.

By better understanding our environments and our reactions to stimuli, we can reduce their influence over us.

For me, knowing the reasons why I’m feeling a certain way greatly reduces my worry of it.

In addition, practicing awareness and noticing patterns of your environment is an excellent habit for increasing emotional intelligence and being more in control of your behaviors.

You learn to trust yourself more and build self-reliance.

 

Implement a Mitigation Strategy

Once you’ve pinpointed the causes of your stress, you can work on building a specific plan for dealing with each of these issues.

List out each of your stressors and see if there’s something you can do to remove or reduce each issue.

Different types of stress probably require specific strategies for management.

For example, if you’re feeling overwhelmed from too many things to do, you might create a “to-do” list and a task schedule for it. Once that’s in place, your brain doesn’t have to worry and remind you because now you have a working plan.

Sometimes stress is just a reaction to problems, problems that need to be solved. Our body is trying to tell us we really just need to deal with something right now.

Get organized and make your plan of attack.

 

Use Different Language to Change Your Perception

A stress management tactic that has really worked well for me is to use more positive and less intense language to describe your stressful situation.

For instance, instead of telling yourself or others that your situation is terrible, frantic, or intense, you could describe it as exciting, challenging, or invigorating.

Using different language out loud to yourself and others can actually work toward changing your biochemistry and trick your brain into feeling less stressed.

Actively manipulating your perception also helps you start making better choices and enhances the ability to change your emotional state.

You can change your experience from draining to energizing.

Changing your language can also attach more meaning to the situation and create internal rewards to justify the effort, which is known to increase dopamine levels.

Practicing these habits can really increase drive and willpower to attack even more challenging circumstances as you progress.

 

Realizing that Stress Can Actually Be Good for You

Scientists are finding that, if viewed correctly, stress can actually be good for your health.

This post discusses this in detail, but according to the experts, the way you think about stress matters.  During times of stress, humans release specific hormones that build physical resilience.

If you consider stress as just your body’s normal reaction in preparation for focus, it actually leads to improved health and brain functioning.

Deliberately viewing stress as helpful unlocks biological benefits.

 

Understanding that You’re Growing

As discussed in a previous post, stress can be a sign of personal growth and should be acknowledged as such.

Stressful periods can be times where we are building new skills, gaining new experience, and bettering ourselves or our careers for the future.

Consider this when you’re slaving away and wishing it was over. Your stress might be reduced if you realize it might just be really worthwhile.

 

Melt Stress Away with Physical Activity

Using exercise to melt away stress is a well-recognized tactic, but I wanted to mention it here because it really is SO important.

Exercise changes your biochemistry and state of mind, leading to better emotions. With better emotions, stress has less impact and you make better decisions.

Plan breaks throughout your day to hit the gym, go for a run, or at least go outside for a walk.

If you don’t have that kind of time, pause near your desk and do a quick set of squats, jumping jacks, or push-ups.

I promise you that getting the blood and endorphins flowing will give you a boost of energy and focus and help you reset.

Also be sure to drink a ton of water!

 

Deep Breathing

Oxygen is perhaps the most important element for human existence.

We can go without water for several days, but only several minutes without oxygen.

Our bodies thrive on oxygen, and deep breathing floods our cells with oxygen and also improves focus and relaxation.

Taking just ten deep breaths in a row can help change your mental and physical state quickly.

You can implement more complex breathing habits such as Wim Hoff’s famous breathing technique if you want, but just get as much oxygen in your body as possible.

 

Conclusion

There are several ways you can change your behaviors to better manage stress naturally.

Pinpointing the sources of your stress helps you reduce the impact by being more aware of your triggers and specifically what to do to mitigate them.

Using different language to frame your perception of stress is key. You can actually trick your brain into thinking the situation is less intense than it is and increase your emotional health.

Scientists are finding stress can be good for your health if viewed correctly, so your perception is important. Viewing stress as a sign of personal growth is also necessary to consider.

Lastly, physical activity is essential to so many things in life, and stress can be melted away through exercise and deep breathing. 

Stress is a normal aspect of the modern and emerging world we live in. If we aren’t feeling stressed, maybe we aren’t even pushing ourselves enough to grow. Learning to manage your reactions to stress and environmental stimuli is an essential skill that we all can benefit from.